Acts 17: Cultural Awareness
This mornings message challenged us to be aware of whats going on in our culture, and to use elements of our culture to preach the Gospel.
Paul used the situation in Athens- their spiritual emptiness- to point to Christ. He also referenced and quoted their cultural icons to help give his message credibility and connect with his audience.
What would this look like today? Where do you see our culture showing spiritual emptiness? And how could we use the icons of our culture to preach the Gospel?
I see emptiness in the pursuit of religion in Hollywood (Kabala, Scientology, etc), as well as our cultures willingness to accept any religion as equally true and valid. I also see everyday people pursuing the religious, but not finding God. Just look at our book best-seller lists!
God is calling us to reach this culture. How?
How do you get the message to the media that the preacher isn't just "preaching the same sermon again this year" when all they see is something that isn't NEW?
Perhaps its getting out into the community and serving - Make a personal effort to not define "level's" but honestly invest in conversations and relationships and if you are authentic to your core belief as a christian I think some of the effort that we think needs to be made to proclaim the Gospel will just shine through in our effort to relate.
This summer's bible study is a good example of learnings to help respond to topics of our culture in such a way that is respectful and yet still not straying from our core belief. Quite sincerely, there were topics that I had yet to form an opinion on and from listening to the comments of others and educating myself with the excerpts from the Bible its been interesting to form my own opinion or response.
One the ways the Genesis community blesses my life is quite simply this: in the real, down to earth dialogue I can identify with what's being said and in that energy and "feeling", I appreciate the moments (like communion preparation today)that remind me REALLY of what worshiping is supposed to be about. I admit that the music and style were the reasons why I started worshiping during this service, but it's the movement of a thought (more than a song) that resonates deeper and that makes me want to invest more time and energy into continuing my growth as a Christian.
I'm really interested to see if anyone has any thoughts on the whole idea of using the icons of our culture to preach the Gospel?
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Wouldn't it be nice to have a cast of visible celebrities much like those that tout Scientology (aka Mr. Cruise and Travolta)defending christianity? Besides the obvious Mel Gibson reference, I'm sorry to say the only one that comes to my mind of late (and perhaps I watch too many of those VH1 Where Are the Now episodes) is Willie Ames as Bibleman. Who are the celebrities that endorse Christianity?
The media tends to only get involved in pursuing the topic when its controversial or confrontational - so is it really any wonder why a journalist would write the pastor will preach the same sermon every christmas and THAT's the only message we see? They buried the lead in that it IS the same beautiful message and by doing so it perpetuates the image of Christanity as some sort of dusty belief. (Comment this)
"Today people are looking for a community to belong to more than a message to believe in. Evangelism is about helping people belong so that they come to believe. Most people today do not 'decide' to believe. In community they 'discover' that they believe, and then they decide to affirm that publicly and to follow Christ intentionally." (Comment this)
"Today people are looking for a community to belong to more than a message to believe in. Evangelism is about helping people belong so that they come to believe. Most people today do not 'decide' to believe. In community they 'discover' that they believe, and then they decide to affirm that publicly and to follow Christ intentionally." (Comment this)
Anyhow, I was hoping it wasn't just me as I wandered around reading other blogs and whatever else came up when I googled "today's culture" and "christianity", it seemed to me that a lot of people were treating this like some sort of club with the "free gift with purchase" being forgiveness and everlasting life. It's easy to buy into nice feelings and easy investments and forget about where our hearts should be - "Yes Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts" (Isaiah 26:8)
What runs across my mind though is the idea of what makes a person turn their heart over to the Lord for the very first time? Is it possible to use the icons of today - the Oprah-isms, if you will, to "reach" people with the message of salvation without driving it home with "law" and "commandments" or "fire" and "brimstone"?
Or is my thought process part of this spiritual emptiness that has seeped through our culutre? (Comment this)
Unfortunatley in today world of moral relativism and the new god - "self esteem" it has become passe to talk about the law. (Comment this)
Two Sundays in a row we prayed for and sent off people who are willing to travel into dangerous countries to serve and help and undoubtedly listen. I think about the stories Peter Jennings shared with the world and the impact that resulted in his work and cant help but think of those four people and their efforts and what impact might result from their actions.
We live in a country with freedom to declare Gods Love for all. We have choices and voices and can individually take action. One of the first sermons I heard at Woodbury Lutheran years ago was about doing unconditional nice things in your every day life without any expectation. To this day it is something I still try to incorporate and it has enriched my life. Had I not HEARD that SIMPLE challenge, my life would never have been impacted. We each have talents to use, and maybe some challenges to incorporate and I can only imagine that, with effort by each person at WLC, how many more lives WILL be impacted.
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Its a short study on the importance of defining law and gospel. Peace (Comment this)