Christ and Culture

So we have been, as a church, working together verse by verse through the book of Romans.

You will note today that I had you turn to 1 Corinthians.

! We finished chapter 8 a couple of weeks ago and have decided for the summer not to go on to chapter 9.

We believe that in order to remain, keep some continuity going as we get into chapter 10 and 11,

as many of the college students come back in the fall,

we would always have to re-preach chapter 9 to catch everybody up to where we're going to be talking in 10 and 11

and some of the hard issues there.

And so we preferred to wait.

Now, that's not the only reason we're putting it off.

I don't want you to think that you're getting lesser sermons because we wanted to wait on that.

But there have been some issues both discussed amongst our church and cultural,

pretty massive cultural issues going on, that we feel deserve some discussion.

And so today we're going to start a sermon series called Christ and Culture.

And I'll explain as we go on what we mean by that term and what that's going to end up looking like for us.

But this morning, the text we're going to be using is going to be kind of the theme text for this sermon series.

And so starting in verse 19 of 1 Corinthians chapter 9, let's read together.

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

Paul writes,

If I was going to say, there's our theme.

Verse 24.

Let's pray together.

Father, truly, in this hour we need you, as we do all the time.

I need you, by the power of your Spirit, to enable me to speak with clarity,

to speak true things from your Word.

And all of us, Father, need your Spirit to apply them to our lives,

to understand it, to soak it in, to have it affect and change our hearts.

And I pray, God, for our church as we go through this study together over the coming weeks,

that you will show us how we can best honor you in all of the areas of our life.

We pray this in the precious name of Christ.

So in this series, Christ and Culture,

we're seeking to acknowledge culture, that it exists,

by discussing and demonstrating exactly how we ought to think, act, believe, and interact with culture.

But before we get going too far,

the main thing I want to show you from our text today

is Paul's unwavering commitment to the Gospel.

Paul's unwavering commitment to the Gospel.

And his success in it as well.

And I want to show you five things, two from the text,

others that are just general about Paul's life.

Number one, Paul was called by God's Father.

Paul affirms his apostleship in chapter 9, verse 1.

And in 1.1 of 1 Corinthians, he says,

Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.

And then in 9.16,

Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.

Paul had a definite, a firm call in his life to be a preacher of the Gospel of God,

as do we all.

None of us are exempt from this.

If we are in Christ, we are known by Him,

that we all have been given the same call.

We're all, in some sense, apostolic,

sent to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

Number two, he was given revelation of Jesus Christ.

He saw the Lord, and he therefore had clarity of message.

Chapter 9, again, verse 1, he says,

Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

He asked rhetorically, of course I have.

Galatians 1.11 and 12,

For I would have you know, brothers,

that the Gospel that was preached by me is not man's Gospel.

For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it,

but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

And in the same way, we as Christians today, in the 21st century,

have been given a blessed revelation of Jesus Christ.

We have the full, sufficient Word of God,

which is a clear picture of our Lord,

and we ought to, as a result, want to share it with Him.

Number three, he was guided by the Spirit.

You see the Trinitarian motivation of Paul.

Acts 13, 2-4, you see the sending, the commissioning of Paul.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,

the Holy Spirit said,

Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Then after feasting, fasting, and praying,

they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

So being sent out by the Holy Spirit,

they went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed, disciples.

Romans 8-14, Paul says,

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

And his point there in 8-14 is the affirmation.

If you are a son of God, you will be led by the Spirit of God.

Your motivations will change.

What you desire will be different because the Spirit of God abides in you.

And that motivates, pushes us toward an unwavering commitment to the gospel.

Now, in the text where we are today,

fourthly, he was encouraged by joy.

He was encouraged by joy.

Paul's life was a rough life.

By any American standard, Paul suffered greatly.

Paul had little to count for in this world.

But yet, he traded the things of this world for the joy that was in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We see in verse 23 that he does all of this,

all of his self-denial for the sake of the gospel,

that he may share with them those he's winning to Christ in the blessings of the gospel.

And we see in verse 25 that he's competing for a wreath that is imperishable.

That is ultimate and final joy forever.

So he was encouraged by joy.

And then fifthly, and where we're going to spend a bit of our time,

he was motivated by love.

Paul loved people.

And he cared for their eternal state.

And I could ask at each one of these points, is this you?

Have you been called by the prophet?

Have you been given a revelation of Christ?

Are you guided by the Spirit?

And I hope as Christians you can say yes,

because if you can't, then you're not a Christian at all.

You merely claim to be a Christian,

but you are not in fact a follower of Christ.

I hope that we're encouraged by joy.

But mostly this morning,

I hope that we're motivated by love.

Do you love people?

Are you self-serving or do you serve others?

And we see here that Paul is in a state,

as he's writing this,

of self-denial and self-nutrival.

So those are the two things I want you to see.

Self-denial we see through verse 23.

He starts in verse 19.

For though I am free from all.

He's free.

In the gospel, he is free from all.

No longer to serve the ways of man,

but to serve God.

But what does he do?

He makes himself a servant to all.

He denies himself

some of the rights he has in the gospel

in order that he might better serve.

The letter to the Corinthians

is all throughout flavored with this issue

that was going on in the church at Corinth.

That they were taking their liberty they had in Christ,

which they certainly had,

but they were taking it to its extreme end.

They said,

Well, I've been free from the law of God.

I can do anything I want to do, right?

Paul affirmed liberty.

He said,

Yes, you're free in Christ.

However, you're to be a servant to all.

We as Christians too often lean on liberty.

Notice Paul in verse 21.

He says that he's not outside the law of God,

but he's under the law of Christ.

We are still called to keep the moral law.

In order to what?

Look at the theme all throughout.

Verse 19,

That I might win more of them.

Verse 20,

In order to win Jews.

At the end of verse 20,

Win those under the law.

Verse 21,

Not being outside of,

Excuse me,

I don't know why I'm the wrong thing.

Win those outside the law.

Verse 22,

Win the weak.

And at the end of verse 22,

That I might save some.

Paul was willing to give up some of the rights that he had

in order to serve those to the end of the gospel.

Now hear me carefully.

When you don't practice a liberty,

as many Christians would say,

when you don't practice a liberty,

you're not denying yourself freedom in Christ.

You have the liberty in Christ

to do something and to not do something that's gray.

Let me give you the example of alcohol.

And I hope I'm not opening up a massive can of worms

because I'm not going to treat it today in its entirety.

But you would have those who would say,

if I don't drink,

then I'm denying my liberty in Christ.

The freedom that you've given to me,

I'm giving it back.

How dare I do such a thing?

But actually,

as I've done,

I've chosen not to drink because of my position.

I don't want it to ever be a stumbling block

for the gospel in my life.

Not necessarily the case for you,

but for me,

I'm practicing my liberty to not drink.

I don't have to do either.

I'm free to do what's best

and follow my convictions,

my conscience in that way.

And that's where we get into

as we talk about Christ and culture.

There's a lot of gray out there.

There's much this defined for us.

There's a lot of black and white in the scripture.

But as we live now in the 21st century,

believing that the scripture is fully sufficient for us,

God has left us some gray areas,

some places that we must be dependent on him

and led by his spirit,

act appropriately to engage our culture.

Look now to his self-control.

Verse 24 through 27,

he speaks of this race

that lots of people run the race,

but not all of them win.

So if we're going to win the race,

he's not saying that as Christians,

only one of us is getting to the end.

He's just saying that

if we're going to run the race well,

we must discipline ourselves.

We must be self-controlled.

Verse 27, he says,

but I discipline my body

and keep it under control.

This is such interesting language.

To keep your body under control

is to make it a slave by severe force.

That's what the Greek phrase means.

And if you have an ESV,

which is what I'm preaching from,

you'll actually see that the footnote for,

but I discipline my body

and keep it under control,

the footnote translates it,

I pummel the body and make it a slave.

So it's a fierce act

to keep the body under control.

For what?

Again, remembering the context

so that we can serve the end of the gospel.

What do we do?

How do we act?

What do we believe?

What do we say?

All these things should be highly disciplined

for the sake of the gospel.

When he speaks of this wreath that's fading,

the perishable wreath,

he's referring,

as he's talking to the Corinthians,

to some games that took place.

For the Greeks,

sport was very important to them.

There was games that took place,

yet the Olympic games,

we're familiar with those,

but the Isthmian games were held

every third year in Corinth.

And to even be considered,

to be able to enter into those games,

you had to have written proof,

you had to show that you've been training

for at least 10 months

to be able to enter into the games.

And once you were accepted into the games,

you moved to Corinth,

if you didn't already live there,

and you went through a 30-day training regiment.

There was somebody in charge of the game,

and they took you through

this rigorous training regiment

so that you would be ready

to run in the race

to earn the ultimate prize,

which there was only one winner.

Ultimately and finally,

there was only one winner,

and what they earned

at the end of it all

was an evergreen wreath.

Now in our Olympic games,

we get the gold medals.

You know the gold medals

only worth 110 bucks,

that little medal

that they hang around their necks.

Fairly trivial,

the prize was,

but what the evergreen wreath

symbolized was immortality.

You have won the Isthmian games.

You will be remembered forever.

Have any of you heard

of the Isthmian games

before I mentioned that?

Okay, we got one.

Okay.

But to prove my point,

none of you know

who won the Isthmian game.

None of you know that.

They weren't immortalized at all.

John MacArthur,

in speaking on this text,

spoke of his time in college

as he played football,

and he broke a number of records,

and they had a record board,

and he went back as an alum

to an alumni event,

and the record board,

he noticed many of his records

had been replaced

with new record holders,

and he returned the following year,

and the record board

had been taken down

for some remodeling,

and somebody had lost it.

So it didn't even exist anymore at all.

And not long after that,

the school that he attended

shut down altogether,

and he used how foolish he was

for training himself

and thinking that he would be immortalized

with his efforts in that way.

But we are to train ourselves,

to discipline ourselves,

to understand how we should act

and interact with culture

so that we might win prize.

So Christ and culture.

And I think we need to define those terms

to set us up for the next few weeks.

When we say Christ,

we're talking about the Lord.

The one who sits at the right hand of the Father.

The perfect spotless Lamb.

The only sacrifice that was worthy

of paying the sins of the church.

That's the Christ we're talking about.

We're not talking about hippie Jesus,

or good moral teacher Jesus.

We're not talking about all the perversions of Christ.

We're talking about the Christ of Scripture.

And his effect now in the world.

So Christ is currently,

if you don't know this,

he sits at the right hand of the Father

in the place of honor,

and he reigns there.

He holds the world in sway

by the power of his word.

That's providence.

Christ is totally and completely

in control of everything

that's going on in this world right now.

And he has commissioned us

by his Spirit as his soldier.

We are the hands and the feet

and the mouthpiece of Christ.

He multiplied us to the world.

I used to think,

how great it would be

if Jesus walked the earth now.

What could he accomplish now

if Jesus walked the earth?

He's accomplishing much more

at the right hand of the Father

because he's given his Spirit

to those who follow him.

And he's multiplied us

across the world

to advance his kingdom.

He ushered in the kingdom of God.

He inaugurated the kingdom of God

when he came, lived, died, resurrected.

And he's in the process now

of seeing it come to full culmination.

So we live in a place right now

where we're kind of in between two worlds.

What is the kingdom of God has come

and what is yet to be

the full realization of it.

That's the Christ that we're talking about.

So that includes us

when we talk about Christ in culture.

And that's primarily

what we're going to be discussing

over the coming weeks.

How is it that we function

within the world that we live in

as Christians

for the sake of the gospel?

So that's the Christ.

Culture.

We've got to talk about this

at a little bit greater length

and it deserves a short water break.

This is a much debated topic.

How do we define culture?

Now for a lot of people

when they think of culture

they think of high culture.

Like we need to get you cultured.

So we're going to take you to the opera.

We're going to have you

taste fine wines.

I'm going to teach you

how to use a knife and a fork properly.

That's what we think of culture.

That's not really what culture is.

Culture runs the gamut.

You could say

we're talking about both

high culture and low culture.

We could say

we're talking about those

who go to fine meals and opera

and those who play Xbox

and eat Twinkies.

We're talking about

all things in culture.

So here's your cultural definition

that we're going to operate under

although there are many others.

If you want this for your notes

see me afterward

because it's a little bit long.

So you hear me out here.

Culture consists of the beliefs,

behaviors, objects,

and other characteristics

common to the members

of a particular group or society.

Culture includes many societal aspects.

Language, art, customs, values,

norms, folklores, tools, technologies,

products, organizations, and institutions.

I'm sure that's not exhausting.

It includes basically everything

we encounter day to day.

Off the website

Christ and Pop Culture

which I'll commend to you.

It's a really fun read.

They say,

Culture is everywhere.

You can attempt to avoid it

but even if you succeeded

those around you are immersed in it.

Culture is more than just

television, film, music,

and the things people

indulge themselves with

the past time.

It's politics.

It's lifestyle.

It's the common knowledge

of our age.

You could say

it's the common sense

of our age.

Now some 50 plus years ago

a man named Richard Niebuhr

wrote a book

called Christ and Culture.

Culture.

And I would presume

that none of you have read it.

I haven't read it.

I've read a critique of it

but I haven't read

the book itself.

But it has been

the predominant narrative

in the church

and how we function

with culture.

And the danger of the book

is right in some aspects

but the danger of the book

is that it's reductionary.

It makes things

too simple.

And what it has tended

to cause the church to do

is one of two things.

It's either become isolationistic.

Totally withdraw culture

altogether.

The Amish would be

a good example of that.

They have said

all things of the world

are evil.

I'm not of the world.

Therefore we will do

everything of our own.

That's the one danger.

Fundamentalism would be

another example of that.

The other side of that

is an attempt to

totally meld the gospel

into current culture.

The emergent movement

would be an example of that.

Where the message itself

is actually being changed

to try to make it

culturally relevant

as if the gospel

hasn't always been

relevant to people

who need a savior.

So those are the two

end extremes

and that's kind of

tended to be what happened

and we could probably

find ourselves

in varying areas

of our life

doing one of those

two things.

That's why I think

that this is all

so important

for us to discuss.

So let's talk a little

bit more about how

complicated culture can be.

We exist in varying

cultures.

There is certainly a

meta-narrative of the world,

a broad culture,

the human culture,

in which we are all

sinners separated from God.

We all have a sin nature.

We all need a savior.

That's a shared commonality

between all of us.

A subset of that

would be those

who know Christ,

the church,

and I don't mean

anybody who attends

a church,

I mean those who are

truly regenerate

and belong to God

and those who don't.

Those would be

subsets of that culture

but think about

some of the other

things you do,

the operations

that you have,

the groups and societies

you belong to

that share beliefs

and commonalities

and symbols

and those types of things.

I used to

whitewater kayak a lot.

I don't get to do that

really anymore

but I used to do it a lot

and that was subculture.

There was a language

we had,

the term booth.

If you're a whitewater

kayaker,

you know exactly

what that means.

If you're not,

you have no clue

what we're talking about.

There's terminology

like that.

So there are tons

of subcultures

we exist within.

Each of us as individuals

exist within

multiple cultures,

all kinds of cultures

and they're not

these concentric circles.

They're circles

that overlap,

that are very fuzzy

at the edges.

You might have a group

that you identify with

but not in every way.

Your sorority

or paternity

may do that.

You share some

of the common values

of brotherhood

and sisterhood

but you may not

really appreciate

some of the parting

that goes on

within your paternity

or sorority.

The lines become fuzzy

and they overlap.

Very complicated

if we look at culture

and what that means.

It would be nice

to just divide it all up

into nice little pods

and deal with it

but we can't.

So really every individual

is their own set

of complicated

cultural interactions.

And what we're trying

to accomplish

as Christians

is we're trying

to filter all

of our cultural experience

through the gospel

of Christ

and ultimately

see everyone else's

cultural experience

come under

the auspice

of the gospel.

We want it to reign

in their lives

as well.

Which means it'll change

some of the things

we do.

It'll change some

of our belief structures.

That's what we're

going to be talking

about through the

varying topics

over the coming weeks.

How should Christians

believe about certain

things?

What are the gray areas

and how can we seek

the spirit

to live properly

in those areas

of our lives?

Important things

to discuss.

We're ultimately

waiting.

As we interact

with the world

we're trying

to disarm them.

I've heard a great

analogy this week.

The guy talked

about how every

person you have

a conversation

about the gospel

with is holding

a rock in their hand.

And that rock

is waiting

to beat you with it

but it's built

of preconceived notions.

It's built

of their past

experience with the gospel.

And what we're

trying to do

as we interact

with them

is get them

to put down

the rock

and listen.

Now I fully

recognize

the spirit

of God

must intervene

in somebody's life

for them to become

saved.

Must.

But he's given us

means by which

he uses.

So we should

have a methodology.

We should

understand people.

We should seek

first to understand

then be understood.

We should try

to get them

to put the rock

down.

The Protestant

Evangelical Church

as well as

many other

denominations

that claim

to follow

Christ

have put

a widening

chasm

between us

and the lost.

And it's

happening all

the time.

We live

in a

politically

charged

nation

that has

lots of

Christian value

pushed up

under political

decisions

and a lot

of that

makes that

chasm

wider

and wider.

The picture

in my mind

is always

of church

leaders

and politicians

standing on a

bank that's

crumbling in

and they keep

kicking the

sides of it

and they just

keep crumbling

and they take

a step back

and they keep

kicking the

sides

and this gap

gets wider

and wider

and wider

and our goal

as Christians

is not to

make the

chasm wider

but to build

a bridge

and we might

share the

gospel

with those

who are

lost.

So culture

is a complicated

thing.

What I really

want you to

see in all

of that

not to

dishearten

you

but to get

you to see

that you

cannot avoid

interacting with

culture.

There's no

way around

it.

And as a

Christian

as a follower

of Christ

he must

permeate

all of those

interactions

and all of

those things

that you do.

So let's look at

Paul a little

bit as to

how we should

then function

in our varying

cultural context.

He says in

chapter 9

verse 22

and 23

here's kind of

our theme

verses

I have

become all

things to

all people

that by

all means

I might

save some

I do it

all for the

sake of the

gospel that I

might share

with them

in its

blessing.

But we

know that

Paul doesn't

seek the

approval of

men

right?

Paul doesn't

seek the

approval of

men

Galatians

1 10

for am I

now seeking

the approval

of man

or of

God

or am I

trying to

please man

if I

were still

trying to

please man

I would

not be

servant of

Christ.

Interesting.

2nd

Corinthians 4

2 he says

remember in

verse 21

of chapter 9

he says

that he's not

outside the

law of God

but under

the law

of Christ

so we

don't

become

the culture

we don't

become

the people

we're trying

to share

Christ with

but we

figure out

how to

understand

them

that we

might

better

share

the truth

with them

you've

probably

if you've

been in

the church

long

heard the

phrase

we're called

to be

in the

world

but not

of the

world

and that's

not actually

found anywhere

in scripture

nowhere did

Jesus say

you should be

in the world

but not of

the world

it's kind

of an

extrapolation

it's kind

of a

combination

of a

number

of verses

so it's

certainly

true

we're

meant to

be here

we were

left behind

with a

very

specific

mission

but we're

not meant

to look

like the

set apart

Jesus said

that he was

not of the

world

John 8

23

he said

to them

you are

from below

I am

from above

you are

of this

world

I am

not

of this

world

Jesus said

that his

followers

are not

of this

world

John 15

19

if you

were of

the world

the world

would love

you as

its own

but because

you are

not of

the world

but I

chose you

out of

the world

therefore

the world

hates you

Paul taught

that we

are not

to be

conformed

to this

world

Romans 12

2

do not

be

conformed

to this

world

be

transformed

by the

renewing

of your

mind

so we're

meant to be

set apart

we're meant

to be

sanctified

that's what

that term

means

Sam and I

have a plate

a red and

blue plate

and it says

on it

you are very

special

and it is our

set apart

plate for

honored guests

and for birthdays

and things of that

sort

that's what that

term

sanctified

means we're

meant to be

set apart

we're meant to be

holy

as God

is holy

so I'm not

talking about

compromise

I'm not talking

about becoming

something that

doesn't look

like Jesus

Christ

what I'm

talking about

is operating

as Paul

operated

in the

gray areas

in those

things that

aren't explicitly

spelled out

for us

being led

by the

spirit of

God

so that we

might serve

those who

are lost

D.Ed Carson

who's a

professor of

New Testament

at Trinity

Evangelical

Divinity

School

wrote a book

called Christ

and Culture

Revisited

which I have

a copy of

here

if you are

in the mood

for something

incredibly petty

I tell you

this is a

great read

I'm working

my way through

it right now

but I wanted

to read you

a quick quote

from it

he says

the unease

we feel

at such

tension

the tension

of being

Christian

being in

the world

but not of

it

will not

be resolved

until the

last day

we await

the return

of Jesus

Christ

the arrival

of the new

heaven

and the new

earth

the dawning

of the

resurrection

the glory

of perfection

the beauty

of holiness

until that

day we are

a people

in tension

on the one

hand we belong

to the broader

culture in which

we find ourselves

on the other

we belong to

the culture

of the consummated

kingdom of God

which has

dawned among

us

our true city

is the new

Jerusalem

even while

we still belong

to Paris

or Budapest

or New York

or Lumpkin

or Hall

or Dawson

White County

and while we

await the

consummation

we gratefully

and joyfully

confess that

the God

of all

is our God

and that we

have been

called to

give him

glory

acknowledge his

reign

and bear

witness to

his salvation

by the

proclamation

of the gospel

we anticipate

the conversion

of men

and women

from every

language

and people

and nation

and as

redeemed

human beings

we seek

the peace

and prosperity

of the city

in which we

find ourselves

until the new

Jerusalem comes

down from

heaven

this is that

critique I was

talking about

of Niebuhr's

Christ and

culture

the reductionary

nature of it

and Carson

fully affirms

that we're going

to live in

this tension

but we must

as Christians

understand it

we must get

why there are

chasms between

us and a lot

we must

understand the

stones they

hold in their

hands

if we

love them

there's the

motivating power

of love

in Paul's

life that we

can see

that he was

willing to

become all

things

all people

he was willing

to lay down

some of his

rights

a wonderful

example of this

in scriptures

from Acts 16

when Paul

takes Timothy

with him

to go along

with them

to build

disciples

and plant

churches

do you recall

what Paul does

to Timothy

he was

Greek

he circumcised

him

he's a grown

man

he circumcised

Timothy

that seems

crazy to us

doesn't it

not if we

have this

perspective

what Paul knew

was that

Timothy's

uncircumcision

would be a

stumbling block

to weak

Jews

back in our

text in 1 Corinthians

he says

to the weak

I became weak

he's not talking

about weak

in physical

strength

he's talking

about those

who are willing

to see

who cannot

yet see

the liberty

that we have

in Christ

he's talking

about those

judgmental

narrow minded

people

that drive

all of us

so crazy

in the church

part of what

he's talking

about here

right

so as he's

taking

Timothy

along with

him

he knows

he's going

to encounter

those

type

of people

and as

such

he asked

Timothy

to also

be weak

to follow

some of

the old

law

in order

to

because it's

a gray

area

in that

case

it wasn't

necessary

that he be

circumcised

but it didn't

matter if he

was or was

not

so they were

led by the

spirit to

circumcise

him

that they

might

close the

chasm

have them

drop the

rock

and they

could share

the true

gospel

of Jesus

Christ

it's a

really

wonderful

example

of what

I'm

trying to

get you

to see

so we're

going to

be talking

about

what is

optional

and what

is not

optional

what are

the

closed

fisted

issues

that our

Christian

culture

should

have

and what

are the

open

handed

issues

we talk

a lot

about that

about our

church

here

the

non-negotiables

of the

closed

fisted

issues

there are

things

that you

should

not

even

come

and

talk

to

me

about

changing

about

our

church

our

statement

of

faith

don't

even

ask

you

want

to

add

something

to

maybe

we can

talk

about

that

but

those

are

doctrinal

statements

that we

have

affirmed

together

as a

church

and we

will

not

change

those

are

closed

fisted

issues

open handed

issues

those are

things we

can talk

about

the order

of the

service

we have

convictions

as we should

have convictions

about everything

we do

we have

convictions

about the

way we

do

things

but I'll

talk about

that

with you

talk about

if you'd

rather have

all the

music at

the end

or all

We split

it in

the middle

it doesn't

really matter

that much

right

we can talk

about these

things

but not

these

so that's

what we're

going to be

seeking to

find together

as we talk

about culture

and praise

God

we have

the spirit

of God

to lead us

in those

things

much of the

coming sermons

are going to

have some

opinion

I promise

you I will

state it

as opinion

I will tell

you I think

this would be

best but I

don't know

scripture doesn't

explicitly say

that is how

you must

interact

with your

culture

but there

are definite

things

that are

close-fisted

that we

must

believe

to be

true

to interact

with our

culture

around us

Mark

Driscoll

uses a little

easy to remember

deal to talk

about culture

he uses three

terms

reject

receive

redeem

so as you

filter culture

through your

life

you can think

about those

things that you

should reject

there are

definitely

things in

culture that

we shouldn't

interact with

pornography

for example

there's no

reason that

any Christian

should ever

involve themselves

in anything

like that

you shouldn't

watch pornography

with a friend

that you might

get a chance

to share the

gospel with

and you

shouldn't

you should

reject it

entirely

as a

Christian

there's

some things

we should

just receive

there's

some things

that are

just good

and enjoyable

food

can be one

of those

things in

our life

there's

just some

good food

and you

don't have to

really worry

about what

it means

for you to

eat certain

foods

you just

receive that

and there

are some

things that

should be

redeemed

and a great

example of

that is

Halloween

I don't

think as

Christians

and this is

opinion

I'm going to

tell you that

I don't

think as

Christians

we should

reject

Halloween

I understand

that it's a

pagan holiday

it's got some

roots in that

I get all that

but I think it's

something we should

be working to

redeem

the night of the

week that we

get together

and the kids

dress up

and we give

them candies

not inherently

evil

we should be

working on

building connections

with our community

and loving people

even though we

don't completely

agree with what's

going on

but there's an

example of

what it would

be to

redeem something

and all of

these things

these fuzzy

edges

these gray

areas

we can depend

on the Holy

Spirit in our

lives to bring

us conviction

so as we

study these

various topics

and I know

that some of

you may not

even be here

but as you

think through

these various

topics we

really need to

ask ourselves

two important

questions

how should the

Christian culture

true Christian

culture

Christ

think

believe

about

particular

topics

and then

how then

should we

interact

with other

cultures

to best advance

the gospel

do we love

people to that

degree

to the degree

that we will be

self denying

and self controlling

that the great

end of the gospel

is more important

to us

than the things

that we've

been liberated

to do

I hope that we

can all

confidently say

yes of course

we would gladly

serve the world

that way

and I'll tell you

if you can't

say that

then you don't

know the heart

of your savior

he certainly

wants to see

and save the

lost

to do so

in the most

effective means

possible

he wants

his kingdom

to advance

and he wants

to use us

praise God

he loves us

so much

he wants to

use us

to make that

happen

and so I

pray for us

as a church

as we meet

together

that we might

have this mind

that Paul

had

this willingness

willing

willing

the desire

to do

whatever it

took

provided you

to cross

the lines

but to

function in

those gray areas

in the second

of the gospel

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray