RESTORE: Engaging the Culture

Think of what your culture is like. How would you describe it? Are those descriptions good, bad, or neutral? Are they simply describing the culture or are they promoting or tearing down the culture in which you live? Is it describing a culture or a subculture in which you live?

Lots of things change in culture. Some changes may enough to create a subculture within the culture. Some changes are simply the culture evolving into something different.

When you see those changes come into your culture, how are you at adapting to them? Does the "previous" outweigh the "present"? In other words, are you standing your ground to make sure you are most comfortable or are you able to adapt?

Sunday we looked at the idea of "engaging the culture" in which we live in order to make our world restored back to the greatness of which God hoped it could be. We, as His body, are called to live it out. But, in order to, live it out, we must be able to engage the culture for best possible impact.

• Engage the Language ~ There are words that have changed in their meaning and context over the years. This is not new to the "2010s" decade. This has been going on for years. Bread used to mean something you ate, but when I was born it also meant money. Crack used to mean a break in the surface of an object (or could go all the way through) but it also points to a drug. Cell was basically a term in biology, but now will refer to a phone. Turn the channel used to actually mean what it said, but now you hit a button and nothing turns. The list could go on and on. The point is, we must understand where our culture is when it comes to language so that when someone responds to our invitation to come to our house to talk about their faith and they use the word "crib" we'll know what they mean!
• Engage the Fashion ~ Fashion is also one of those revolving changes in culture. When I was in the upper primary grades the "jean jacket" was coming back in style. My parents wore those when they were teens and I had a hard time believing them. Then a few years later, the "bell bottom" came back. Along the way, tie-dye has been in style again. Shoes have changed, too. I remember when I wanted nothing to do with a "dress up" shoe for everyday, but now I like that type of a shoe to wear with jeans, but now they are "casual" and not "dress up." How about another area of fashion is make-up and hair styles. They have come and gone over time. However, now it is a social norm to have a guy wearing some make-up. How do you feel about that? Or a guy in earrings? Tattoos - another subject. Hair length - another subject. Someone predominately dressed in black clothes, does that bother you? You will be amazed if you will just sit down and talk to the type of people you snub your nose at and you will see they have a "heart" and something worthwhile to share. But we can disengage them and lose out on being effective in sharing our faith.
• Engage the Challenges ~ When a person is learning something new, they are going to become frustrated and probably have times they will want to talk themselves out of trying to accomplish the task. My son picked up learning to ride a bike without training wheels really quickly. However, there were times he wanted to have them put back on - even after he had actually learned how. He was challenged to be able to get on the bike and start pedaling all by himself. I was there to encourage and foster his learning. When you look at something different in your culture with eyes that you've never looked at the possibilities before, it will come with challenges. The fun part is, it will also come with victories. Work through the challenges and failures to get to the victories. They will come! Anticipate them!

Keep in mind that "engaging" does not mean that you start practicing the things that you find odd. It means that you will take an active role in learning about your culture so that you can have the most impact you can have in order to succeed in being a follower of Jesus.

I can just imagine there were times which Jesus was not wanting to be with certain people, but He knew that in order to be the most effective, He would embrace them. He engaged the Samaritan culture, which is a great example of doing something He wasn't used to, but He did it anyway!

Now it's your turn...What can you do to effectively engage your culture/subculture?

Being Salty

“That’s disgusting” were the words my 2 1/2 year old said after he sprinkled salt on his fork, after the fork had been wet from the juice of canned peaches he had just finished.  I said something like, “I bet”. 

It didn’t take much for him to taste the salty flavoring from the salt on the fork.  He was curious and tries to be as independent as possible, but in this case he didn’t like it.

Salt has many positive effects it can make food flavorful, preserve foods, melt ice, or keep things from deteriorating.  As we are challenged, from the words of Christ, to be the salt of the earth, here are some applications to choose from to use this week…

1. Salt to Taste ~ As each person has their own level of preference for salt, keep in mind when you may be putting too much salt on their lives.  You don’t want to cause people to be put off by your efforts of sharing Jesus by having too much salt.  With each encounter, give them enough salt to make the situation “flavorful”.
2. Melt “Ice” ~ It can be frustrating when you are trying to be evangelistic and your attempts seem to be doing nothing. Who you are involved with may have a “cold heart”.  The way to get through to them is to have their hearts melted before you can continue.  Think about using the Fruit of the Spirit as “salt” to melt hearts.  Use love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Another “granule” of salt to use is prayer, as a method of melting.
3. Sprinkle Liberally ~ This is not in conflict with the first one.  Do not limit where you sprinkle the salt.  A little here, a little there, a little over the shoulder… When we start limiting where we sprinkle we miss other places that may need the salt. You have the salt to use…so start sprinkling!

Don’t forget to be the “salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors” in people!

Sprinkle away and create a more flavorful and preserved world!

Go Ahead and Jump

I still hear the words being sung from Van Halen’s “Jump” when I read through those words.  However, it pertains to the Devil asking Jesus to test His Father by jumping off of a very high point with the plan that Jesus would have been saved and not injured.

Sometimes the phrase is used “the Devil made me do it.”  Imagine how well that excuse would have gone over if Jesus would have went ahead and jumped.  Sounds pretty lame coming from the mouth of our Savior, doesn’t it?  He had just as much ability as the Christian does today…the Spirit.

Sunday, we reflected on the second of Jesus’ temptations in Matthew 4.  This one being about putting God to the test.  Here are some applications to choose from to use this week…

1. Misjudging the Height ~ Sometimes when we are looking to do something we may not fully understand what it will actually entail.  It may be tempting to us to jump, but we may need to evaluate in case we’re expecting God to just take care of us “just because” He’s God.
2. Looks Can Be Deceiving ~ The heat on the distant roadway gives that “water” look to it.  This can be similar to how life can mislead us.  People come in, jobs come available, or deals are offered, all sounding good at first, but it may actually not be good.  The benefit of the doubt part of the argument is that it may not all be totally evil or premeditated.  Someone may come into your life that is completely good, but in the end it may corrupt you just through the chemistry of your relationship.  The job may be offered that does pay, but you didn’t know gas prices were going to jump so high that the pay doesn’t really cover your expenses.

We think that life is going to be all good.  We think God will take care of us regardless of the situation we put ourselves in to.  If those are your thoughts, you need to rethink life.  Both of those thoughts are misleading.  Life can be good and God will take care of us.  However, there are areas in which we cannot expect God to take care of us when we put ourselves in reckless situations.

Do not test Him!