Lights in a Dark World

I’m revisiting a recent post I wrote. Mainly because this topic keeps coming up in conversations I’ve been having and listening to these past few weeks.

I’m hearing people talk about cultural relevancy and how do we keep on the message and yet reach out to as many as possible. I’m hearing people say they go to churches where the pastors are having to deal with how to reach the younger generation without having to become so “seeker friendly” that we lose the message of holiness. I’m hearing youth pastors saying “I’m tired of my youth group not caring about living for God.”, I’m hearing that the next generation has re-defined what tithing means. It’s no longer a biblical mandate for today, but was solely for the Early Church. And I could go on and on. So, what do we do and what does it all mean to us?

We live in a day where we are literally bathed in impurity. Messages from every possibly outlet hit us over and over in one day’s time. Internet, billboards, store ads, commercials on TV and TV programs themselves, movies, you name it, and it’s full of impurity. Our culture is drenched in it. I John 3:1-3 says this, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” This is what we are!!! We must consider the separateness, the distinct-ness, it’s who we are. My hubby said it so well the other day when we were discussing this. “The message of holiness and righteousness has not changed. It should not change!”

To love the world is to be the enemy of the Father. "But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior" (1 Peter 1:15). Holiness and purity are far-reaching, encompassing all of our lives, behavior, thoughts, and speech.

We say that we want to be like Christ, we come to church every Sunday, we go through the motions but do we really want to be like Him? Are we really desiring to “be holy in all your behavior”? Because “it ain’t easy” in the world we live in.

Not just in our world, be even our churches are looking more and more like the world. This is the part that concerns me. We dress like the world, talk like the world, are entertained by the world, act like the world. How can we possibly fulfill this command? Because the idea of being holy, separate and pure is really very counter to the message many of our churches are focusing on today. The real goal for many is “reaching the world”. That’s not what I hear Jesus saying, though, right before He left this earth. He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Yes, He said go but go and teach them TO OBEY everything… Where do we get the idea in the Bible that reaching the world means mirroring what the world does? I don’t see it. Maybe I’m slow or maybe I’m just old-fashioned but I just don’t see it. When Paul said “I become all things to all people” he was not saying that he was going to change his standards to reach more people for Christ. What a contradiction that would’ve been! Paul was not talking about changing how he lives; he was talking about loving as Christ loved. He said that he used his freedom to become a servant. The idea here is of love and servanthood, not becoming worldly.

We have to develop a passion for purity. A desire for righteousness and holiness. This is a far cry from where we, as a culture, are today. This passion has to come from the Holy Spirit, I can’t muster it up within myself. We have to see righteousness and holiness as they are described and characterized in the Bible. This is our standard, our measuring stick.

And here’s the problem. I think the big problem with our churches trying to be “culturally relevant” or whatever you want to call it, is that we are comparing ourselves to other churches. We shouldn’t be doing that! We are only to compare ourselves to one thing and that is the Bible and Christ. When we are lining up and living up to what the Word of God says about how we are to behave in this evil age, then we are doing what we have been called to do.

Personally, I feel we are chasing the wrong thing. We should be pursuing and chasing the Bible instead of pursuing being relevant. The Good News is relevant; the Word of God has and always will meet every person’s needs. The Bible will never be old-fashioned, out of date or irrelevant. Instead of the world becoming like the church, the church is becoming like the world. It should be the other way around.

So, I know I’m rambling all over the place. I guess my main point would be this: We have swung way over on the balance to try to meet the world. Personally, I think we’re missing it here. As a corporate church, I think our standards are lacking. I think the reason the world doesn’t like what they see, is because it’s not different. It’s not life-changing. Why should they come to church when they see the same lifestyle being modeled by people who are Christians? Why should they pursue something that doesn’t bring real, authentic change to their lives?

My husband has a really good friend that is not a Christian. He told my husband one day that he “did not want to go to church and do all the stuff that Christians do, because to him, it was no different. They go to church and still come out cussing, smoking, getting drunk, treating their families poorly. What’s the difference? I can live my life right now and be just as good as they are. At least I’m being honest with myself.”

Something to think about church. What are we modeling?

D.L. Moody said it so well: “I do not say that here we shall ever be like our model Christ Jesus in measure or degree. But light is light, whether it be candle-light, gaslight, electric light, or sunlight. It is the same in kind or nature, if not in degree. So we may really resemble Christ, although we do not realize the full measure of his divine perfection. A good definition of sanctification or holiness would be, conformity to His example. He is the Light of the world; we are to shine as lights in the world. He is the Word; we are His living epistles.”