TEXT: (Romans 12:2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
INTRO: Last month the Lord began to deal with me about admonishing the church of its need to Counter the Culture.
To counter means living in opposition to the dominant values, beliefs, and practices of the mainstream society when they conflict with biblical truth.
There is a call for you and I to arise and stand firm in faith rather than conforming. We are often bold to take our stand against these things of the world when we are in the company of those who are like minded.
Yet, we will entertain it on our reels, tv shows, and social media. (Not speaking against those “things” but rather what comes across them into our view.”
We will whisper our stance when at the restaurant while looking around making sure no one hears us.
If I may, I want to give to you from a book entitled “Counter Culter: Following Christ in an Anti-Christ Age” by David Platt, I would also encourage you to buy it and read it yourself.
“Consciously countercultural. This is the only possible posture for individuals, families, and churches who have any hope of following Christ in contemporary America.The rate of social and moral change in contemporary America is both staggeringly swift and historically unprecedented. Indeed, only God knows where we will be by the time you’re reading this book. So how should Christians respond to such a rapidly changing American culture? Do we resign ourselves to pessimism, convinced that many of the moral foundations upon which our society once stood have collapsed and are now irrecoverable? Or do we reassure ourselves with optimism, confident that we can still win the culture war if we’ll just unite together spiritually, personally, politically, and philosophically? I propose that neither pessimism nor optimism is the answer. Instead, realism is. Followers of Christ need to face the reality that contemporary American culture is increasingly anti-Christian.Across the world, followers of Christ live in settings that are hostile to Christianity (many of them far more hostile than the United States). After all, Christianity was born into a culture of opposition two thousand years ago. Across the centuries, Christians in countless cultures have lived out their faith in settings where belief in the Bible has been viewed as offensive and commitment to Christ has proved to be costly. So how should followers of Christ today live in an American or any other culture that is intentionally and increasingly anti-Christian? I am convinced that every professing Christian in any such culture has two clear options: retreat or risk. On the one hand, we can retreat.
We can retreat from Christ altogether, although I’m guessing that for most professing Christians, we won’t reject Christ outright and all at once. Instead, our retreat can be far more slow and subtle. In the name of “progressive” faith, “inclusive” belief, and “open” minds, we can begin trading in the timeless truths of God’s Word for the changing opinions of the world.
The ruins of such retreat are already evident across contemporary Christianity, as many professing “Christians” deny that God is the Author of Scripture or that Christ is necessary for salvation. In efforts to accommodate the culture, scores of individuals and churches have already abandoned Christ. Most dangerous of all is that they’ve done so under the semblance of supposed Christianity. Even if we don’t retreat from Christ, we might retreat from culture.
In the face of anti-Christian sentiments and social challenges, many Christians who hold to a belief in the Bible may choose to hide in the comfortable confines of privatized faith. We might stand up and speak with Christian conviction in the privacy of our homes and churches yet sit back and stay silent about Christian conviction in more public settings.
When the conversation at the café switches to the topic of homosexuality, for example, we might sheepishly, almost apologetically, stumble through a vague notion of what the Bible teaches, or probably more likely, we might say nothing at all. Or when our boss at work asks us what we believe and we realize that our job may be in jeopardy based on how we answer, we might find ourselves masking, or at least minimizing, the parts of our faith that could be most offensive to him or her.
Or maybe our retreat will simply involve scrolling through headlines on social media each day where we see news of rampant poverty, refugee crises, racist violence, and regulated abortions (if abortion ever even shows up in the news we receive), and instead of deciding to do something in response to these realities, we might sympathetically shake our heads and move on as if there’s nothing we can (or should) do. One of the reasons I’ve written this book is because I see temptation to retreat in the above ways all around me. I see it in Christian students who don’t want to be labeled narrow-minded or intolerant and who are slowly (or sometimes swiftly) concluding that Christianity is outdated and irrelevant.
I see it in Christian singles who think the Bible’s teaching on sex is overly restrictive and Christian couples who believe the Bible’s teaching on marriage is offensively chauvinistic. I see it in Christian parents who either isolate their children from cultural challenges or send their children into the culture ill-equipped to face those challenges.
I see it in Christian leaders who are proud to stand up and speak out on social issues like poverty and slavery when they will be commended by the culture but prone to sit back and stay silent on social issues like abortion and sexuality when they will be criticized by the culture. I see it in churches who have practically given up the battle with materialism and others who have fundamentally contributed to the problem of racism.
Ultimately, I see temptation in my own life to retreat from following Christ in the culture around me.
I see a tendency in me, my family, and my church to prioritize my comforts over Christ’s commands and to elevate my thoughts over his truth, and I know that retreat on any of the above levels isn’t right. But if we don’t retreat, only one option remains: risk. Neutrality is not a possibility. Either we retreat from Christ or from the culture, or we risk following Christ by countering the culture. And risk is the right word.
As followers of Christ, we are fooling ourselves if we don’t face the reality that belief in and obedience to the Bible in an anti-Christian age will inevitably lead to risk in one’s family, future, relationships, reputation, career, and comfort in this world.”
As stated, there is a call going out. It is a call that absolutely must have a response.
I. THE CALL TO TRANSFORMATION – WHY GOD DESIRES RENEWAL OVER CONFORMITY
A. (Romans 12:2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.Transformation is a spiritual process, not just a behavioral change. IT MOST DEFINITLY IS A CALL THAT INVOLVES BEING CHANGE FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, FROM DEATH TO LIFE, FROM THAT WHICH IS UNHOLY PROGRESSIVELY INTO HOLY.Our actions, attitudes, thoughts, and deepest desires will be and must be altered to match the truth of His WORD!
B. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.God calls for believers to reject worldly influences and embrace His truth.We will be what we are influenced by, may we determine to be influenced by the Word of God and the Spirit of God!
C. (Ephesians 4:22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (Ephesians 4:23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (Ephesians 4:24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.Renewal happens through Scripture, prayer, and dwelling in the Holy Ghost and He in you.
II. THE BATTLE FOR THE MIND – HOW CULTURAL INFLUENCES SHAPE THINKING AND HOW SCRIPTURE RESHAPES IT.
A. (2 Corinthians 10:5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
B. (Philippians 4:8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
C. (Romans 8:6) For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.The world bombards believers, through various means, with messages that contradict God’s truth. From this bombardment comes spiritual warfare which begins in the mind, where the thoughts begin to shape our actions, words, and desires. However, victory over these comes through the intentional focus on God’s Word and rejecting the lies of the enemy.
III. LIVING OUT THE WILL OF GOD – PRACTICAL WAYS TO WALK IN HOLINESS DESPITE WORLDLY PRESSURES.
A. (1 Thessalonians 5:16) Rejoice evermore. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
B. (Ephesians 5:17) Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
C. (Colossians 1:9) For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;Living counter-culturally means choosing obedience over convenience.
We must understand that our obedience does more for us, than any earthly, fleshly, sinful convenience could. The best way to know what God expects is to seek His will and God’s will is revealed through daily prayer, Scripture study, and surrender. We must come to realize that holiness is not isolation – it’s engaging the world while remaining distinct. Its wearing a hazmat suit in the middle of the cesspool of sin.
Countering the culture does not happen naturally, as our fleshly nature leans in the direction of being one with the world. Yet, the call is for you and I to be transformed. Where our desires no longer match that of the world. It beings internally and manifests externally.
The battle field which the enemy has chosen to work is the one of the mind, we see if every day and as the old adage says, The eyes and ears are the windows to the mind. This battle is won by being filled with truth and the intentional focus of the individual on the things of God.
Us living out this truth and living God’s will requires absolute daily surrender and a bold faith that declares, “Come what may, I will serve the Lord. I will stand for truth!”
Our prayer should be, “Lord, transform me in body, soul, and mind. Empty me and fill me with you. Let me to desire truth and live truth! Help me to be bold and declare your gospel to all who will hear. For this is the purpose I have been saved. To worship you and to declare your name among the heathen!
THE LAMPLIGHTERS PROJECT 