Culture, take it or leave it. Part 3

My belief is for the eternal truths to exist there must be someone behind it to set up a system that is bound to those truths. It is always better to love someone than it is to hate them. Even if it ends in death, somehow God can work it out for the better in the end. 99 Balloons Why is that always true? The bible tells us what those eternal truths are. Jesus shows us what it looks like to live them out in a real human way. Only someone who lives outside of the linear world and time could do that. Fully human, fully God. So for our beliefs, attitudes, and tastes to be shaped by Jesus and His way it means that we need to get to know Him and learn about Him so that we can live our lives like Him.
All truth belongs to God. If you know Him you will know when you have spotted His truth. So many people lose their faith once they start to go to college. Why? My belief is that it is because they learn about real truth from their non-Christian teachers and incorrectly think that they must choose between the bible OR this new found truth that the college is teaching them. The teacher says “all people should help each other”. That is true, it feels right. That is because it is an eternal truth. Then the teacher says “you don’t need religion to help people”, again that is true. Then she goes on to say “so you don’t need Jesus”. Not true. The teacher can speak truth one sentence and then falsehoods the next. Only when you are seeking God and His wisdom will you be able to tell the difference between truth and falsehood. Affirm truth when you find it no matter who speaks it. But don’t fall prey to falsehood and deception just to feed your own desires of not wanting to be held to a higher standard. “I want to help people and feel good, but I don’t want to give up my sins and emotional desires for Jesus”. In the depths of our minds we have all thought that thought, whether or not it was clear, it was there. In the bottom of our souls the battle rages on.

Our culture should be made up of Jesus’s culture. The cool thing is that if we do take on His culture we still retain our own personality. We can still have our own way of doing things. We can still be unique and still have our own beliefs, attitudes, and tastes regarding things that are “disputable matters”.  The bible tells us that there are things in this world that do not matter to our salvation. Things like what you prefer to eat, what art you think is good or not, what you like to do in your spare time, and what kind of clothes you wear. The caveat is that none of those things should distract you from following and seeking God’s will and desire for your life. If what you eat takes away from your walk with Him, change what you eat. If who you hang out with leads you to sin, hang out with other people. This freedom in Christ allows us to be completely unique, but also helps us to remain in His arms and to be a part of the church of God. That is our culture; the heirs to the throne, the children of Christ, the followers of the Way, and the massagers of truth. That is how the Chinese person in Hong Kong and the American person in Seattle can have the same culture and mind set. No matter where we come from or how we were raised we can have the same perfect wisdom that comes from God. Without Him we can only see glimpses of it in the world around us. We see it in nature, we see it in the lives of people who dedicate themselves to humanitarian work, and we can see in our professor’s lectures. With accepting Jesus into our hearts and starting on our journey to see all of His wisdom we will get to see past the glimpses and start to see the whole picture. It is not just about seeking truth, it is about living truth, living love, and living holy. Only through Jesus can we enter heaven. Only perfection is allowed there and only the perfect One can redeem us into that perfection. The choice is simple, the road is hard. Drop your culture and pick up His.

To sum up I will answer the questions I ended my first post with. Should I conform? Only to Christ and His will. Should America conform to the world? No. Should the world conform to America? No. Should you seek refuge in a group of people? Seek refuge in Christ. If so, how should you go about picking a group? Pick the source of truth, Jesus. You can test Him in His ways and He will always come through. Should you leave the group you are currently in? Yes, even churches can as a group lose sight of God’s will. The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages were up to no good from time to time. How much of yourself should you “give up”? All of it. Die to sin and live to Christ. Give up your selfish desires and take on God’s will as your own. Is it possible to live outside of a culture and only be your true self? Yes, in Grace Jesus accepts you for you, but calls you to be holy and to love Him with all of your heart, soul, and mind. What would a life like that look like? Jesus.

I should not have shunned the people in high school that did things differently. I in my own way was looking for my own group of pessimists. I didn’t care what group you were from as long as you were as negative as I was. I didn’t love people like I should have. Looking back on it I should have gone to the park and been Jesus to those dorks. I should have hung out with the basketball jocks and showed them that you can have fun and live a fruitful life without drinking beer until you forget your own name. I should have been a better friend to that emo girl and showed her that she does not have to act weird and emo to feel unique, different, and loved. But alas I am a linear being so from now on I will do my best to be Christ to people. The choice is easy, but the road is hard. Pray for me.

ALB