Counter Culture

Culture…We live in a world saturated by innumerable cultures, each with their own claim to supremacy. America is an interesting melting pot of many such mores. As believers, we exist in a chaotic hurricane of beliefs these cultures birth. Unfortunately, many of these also challenge the basic tenets of our faith. Furthermore, in this “postmodern” world, Christians are being pinched into an increasingly claustrophobic world of universal tolerance. As older believers, we understand the Biblical standards to be true, lasting, and unchanging; however, we must be concerned for the students, be they elementary, jr. high, or high school, whose beliefs are being formed in the midst of such a relative society. These kids are immersed in a culture that demands their attention. They attend concerts, watch television and movies, and read magazines that all cry out for them to conform to inconformity! The problem arises when they are exposed to Christianity. The gospel cannot exist within the psychological constructs of relativity. Christianity is inherently exclusive in that we have a jealous God who has made it clear through divine revelation that there exists only one path to salvation. Try explaining this to a kid neck-deep in a world preaching a “cant we all…” religion. What I mean by this is: “Can’t we all just get along; Can’t we all put our differences aside; Can’t we all get their our own way; Can’t we all just find our inner peace”? Christianity does not align with this relativity. As a twenty-one year old preparing to enter full-time youth ministry, I understand I will be fighting to repel one of the most potent and sweeping attacks on God’s Word Christianity has ever seen. This is a terrifying and sobering truth. Faithfulness to the Word of God will be of utmost importance if we are to come through this postmodern age a church still committed to the unwavering truths of God. See, the difficult task at hand is to engage this culture without compromise. We must know what these students are encountering; however, we must guard the Word of God from any temptation to compromise we may face. I Timothy 6:13-15 “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time-He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…” This is our answer when asked how Scripture fits into this postmodern culture. It is not a suggestion but a command. It is a charge to us as pastors to keep the Word of God from any stain of compromise, period. There are no conditional clauses suggesting we might bend Scripture to make us more comfortable. If I have heard one thing from pastors who have gone before me, it is that the fight does not become easier, but exponentially more difficult. The problem is, many pastors see this and flee, via the compromise of the Word, to the safe harbor of postmodern relativism. Christianity is too concerned with people’s comfort today. We are afraid to make someone uncomfortable in their sin! We are afraid to offend, and this takes all the power away from the gospel of Christ. Whether we like it or not, the perfect gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is inherently offensive. No one has discovered himself to be a sinner and gone on rejoicing in this fact. When confronted with the unstained Word of God we see our sin and our need for salvation. There is no way to make that comfortable. So what do we do in the face of a culture proclaiming otherwise? We hold fast to the preaching of the pure, unblemished truth of the Word of God. Scripture is not bound by any cultural paradigm, but it transcends time to minister to us as it did to its original hearers. II Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”