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.
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 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
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
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