INSIGHT: Confronting Cultural Change

By Dr. Rex M. Rogers, President of Cornerstone University

Contemporary Christians face the irony of knowing the Savior who changed our hearts, but not knowing how to evaluate change in the culture around us. Even as contemporary "postmodern" culture promotes a vigorous moral relativism, perhaps the most significant threat to biblical truth in the past millennium, we often equate our preferred cultural forms and practices, for example, music styles, fashion codes, or church worship format, with biblical Christianity. Instead of establishing codes of spiritual correctness, which we self-righteously employ against anything different or new, Christians need to develop adequate strategies for confronting cultural change.

We live "in the world"-we're part of a culture, and culture changes. But God tells us to be "not of the world"-to be identifiably Christian within our culture. This is the "in the world/not of the world tension." We must learn to live with this tension. In order for Christians to fulfill God's command to be "salt and light" in the world, we must learn God's Word, learn about God's world, and then apply the Word to the world.

Spiritual discernment, developed within us by the Holy Spirit, enables us to clearly define and differentiate truth from error.Christian spiritual discernment is based upon the Bible, which is written for all times, countries, and cultures. The Bible is forever relevant and includes God's moral absolutes-his unchanging principles defining right and wrong. These moral absolutes might be called God's "Holy list." We ignore these absolutes at our peril. God gave us the right amount of moral absolutes, ones that are applicable for every person that's ever lived or ever will live. But Christians too often try to "help God" and "add to God's list," creating their own standards of right and wrong that go beyond God's commands, and creating their own subcultures. When we harden the boundaries between us and the world, we lose our ability to infilitrate and influence the culture around us.

Instead of making our own "holy lists," we must develop a biblically Christian worldview. A Christian worldview is theistically focused, biblically grounded, thoroughly and self-consciously Christian, coherent, and comprehensive. With a Christian worldview, we can both care for the world (the Cultural Mandate) and carry the message (the Great Commission). In this way, Christians may become contemporary "men and women of Issachar," people who understand their times and know what they should do. After we develop our understanding of social change in the context of a Christian worldview and grasp the principles God provided us for applying and enjoying Christian liberty, we can then focus on the two great commands God gave us for Christian behavior.

If Christians are going to fulfill their Cultural Mandate and Great Commission responsibilities, they must understand contemporary culture in their countries and their mission fields. In North America, for example, we need to know how postmodern culture is influencing us, and then we need to develop our ability to influence it. Postmodern culture may be "current," but like all other periods of history that have gone before it, postmodern culture can and will change too. The question is, how will it change? And will Christians be faithful in sharing biblical truth in this time? Christians of all people most understand true "hope." We have something to say that is relevant and authentic.

Christians are too often confused when they should be confident-not triumphant or arrogant, but confident. We know the end of the story of history and our wonderful place in it because we know the author of the story. Redeeming culture, not fearing culture or cultural change, is and should be the Christian's modus operandi. We are charged by the Sovereign God and our Lord to make the most of every opportunity on his behalf until he comes back. We are agents in his Kingdom work. No cultural challenge, no matter how severe, has ever diminished, much less defeated, Jesus Christ or biblical Christianity.

This article is summarized from Rex Rogers' new book. For further reading on this subject, see the entire book, Christian Liberty: Living for God in a Changing Culture, published by Baker Book House in June 2003.