Jeff's Insight

Blog about Christianity and Culture

culture

Culture of Hate

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Hate has become an epidemic in our culture. Every few months you see in the news someone people killed or beaten up for ideologies. Just this past weekend there were two domestic terror attacks. A culture falling away from the truths of Christ is prone to destroy itself. Are we in a time judgement? However you answer the former question we need revival.

We used to come together after the remains of tragic evil. Now we attribute bad motives to others just for having different solutions. We view people as the other instead of another person created in the image of God. When we turn ourselves into a god everyone different from you is lesser. Our culture is adopting a horrible ideology. This ideology is if you think differently you are evil. Our thought leaders and politicians need to leave room for debate without assuming the worst. If not the outcomes will be so much worse.

Are we in a time of judgement or is it soon approaching? I’m not a prophet but I’ll lay out what is happening around us. Our culture is rejecting basic truths. We are created in the image of God, therefore our souls are extremely valuable in the sight of God. We are not seeing that value as a culture. Christians are even bending the bible to fit their will. Homosexuality, lust, greed, idolatry, envy and you name it is diluted in the Christian church. So should we fear God and come to repentance? Or are we going to give in to these sins we turned into as acceptable.

I honestly fear for our culture every time there is an evil tragedy in the news. We already have our narratives ready before we hear the facts. We troll and gaslight people instead of actually talking about solutions. First we have to recognize that the flesh is not inherently good. Also everything isn’t systemic. This is a logically fallacy that leads to nothing good. If we can’t accept these basic truths then hate is inevitable. Unfortunately, I don’t see an end to this with the craziness that exist in social media.

The topic of the increase in hate is depressing. The only hope we have is thru Jesus. We need to be preaching and exclaiming His truth. Don’t dilute the truth to have cultural acceptance. This is the most destructive thing we can do as Christians. Darkness doesn’t mix with the Light. The only way the culture of hate can end is from the Word of God. Don’t lament, ACT.

Bench Warmers

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While our culture declines Christians are sitting on the bench. We let false teachers and false prophets out onto the field. We separate ourselves in our own cozy communities. These communities are not just geographical; they are tribal. The real fight is on the field. We are afraid to publicly counter cultural norms. The pagans of this world want to upend western culture. They are not afraid to be on the field. Yet we are comfortable on the bench.

There are church leaders who tell us not to call out false teachers publicly. You cannot imply the Truth you convey will draw away sheep that follow false teachers. False truth is more appetizing then the Truth. This is a reality we have to accept. Our sinful nature is attracted to desires of the flesh. This is why false teachers need to be called out for the world to see. Who cares what people think of us when we do this. We are off the bench exposing the Enemy’s game plan.

A church stuck in infancy is stuck on the sideline. Many church leaders don’t want to provoke people away from the offering plate. When a church matures they become a beacon. Sin is exposed for church members and the community. Also Christ is exposed for all to see. A church is infancy is still defining sin. Trying to define what is acceptable and what is not. This should be self-evident in a mature church. A mature church makes the culture uncomfortable. The light of Christ should expose the pagan ways of the church. Unfortunately, a infant church can turn into paganism. Sounds harsh, but true.

Let’s take a look at the devolution of our own culture. The bible is quite clear on what is a sin. The bible is clear on the value of life and the act of sexual immorality in all its forms. Yet we have false teachers redefining terms. Turning God’s love into acceptance of evil. We have cultural leaders preach “your truth.” There is no, “your truth.” The only truth is the Truth of Christ found in the bible. Any “truth” contrary to God’s teaching is of Satan. Who is a church that follows “your truth.” A church that is on the bench or has the other jersey on?

Matthew 7:15 (NASB):

"Beware of the false prophets, 
who come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

Satan doesn’t take timeouts. He doesn’t have players on the sideline. He never stopped. We sit by the water cooler thinking this is where we are meant to be. It is not! We are always in the game. This game is played at home, at work, during recreation, and during church. If you don’t care about the culture at one point you will be forced to care. So, get off the bench!

Move The Culture

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Move the Culture
Preach the Word
Go tell the Truth
Live the Word

Move the Culture
Preach to the Earth
Go to every Land
Live all around the Earth

Move the Culture
Preach with your Love
Go spur on good Works
Live your life thru Love

Move the Culture
Preach objective Truth
Go find every false “Your Truth”
Live your life by Truth

Culture moved me
They preach “Your Truth”
They go dilute every Truth
I Live by My Truth

Culture moved me
They preach Vengeance
They go Destroy others
I live to cast Judgement

Culture moved me
They preach Group Think
They go live in there own Eco Chamber
I live with people who Think Like Me

Culture moved me
They believe the Word Changes
They go Manipulating the word for their biases
I live against God

Will You move the Culture?
Will the culture Move You?
Live by the word or Live against God

Lack of Grace

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Our culture refuses to give grace to people who seek forgiveness for sin. Instead we weaponize their mistake to end them. Our culture is currently setting a bad precedent. Anytime a popular figure has a past mistake we use it to end there career or influence. This tactic hinders the truth and allows the “social justice mob” to make their own truth.

The last few years people have had their social media dug up from many political leanings and ideologies. Instead of debating ideas we mark their ideas as a threat. Therefore, any threat deserves extreme measures. The truth still remains. Their viewpoints are not a threat. You destroying someone’s future over an opinion is not Godly. If it is not Godly who are you serving.

Let’s say someone has did something objectively horrible. What level of grace will you give them? Is this grace subjective? Objective? Also, what is justice in your eyes? Let’s say the person is apologetic of their horrible mistake. We love the sacrifice of Jesus and even sacrificial stories in general. If Jesus died for you why can’t you forgive. Even if the person is not apologetic how important is it to show the light of God to them? Are you selfish hypocrites by not offering grace to others even if they don’t deserve it? You are called to love others as Christ loved you.

Most of the stupidity in out culture on this topic is snuffing out opinions instead of calling out sin. You can call out sin but still forgive outline in the previous paragraph. We are not even calling out sin. We are destroying people over difference of ideologies and opinions. If you want to convince others that your opinion is right then engage in an open dialogue.

When our culture lacks grace we tend to lean on our truth instead of God’s. God tells us to forgive. If we don’t forgive we are hypocrites. Our goal is the great commission. We were saved from death thru the resurrection. We are punishing people to death when we lack grace.

Culture Of The Gray

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Our culture has been conformed to the gray. We have acceptable sin while being righteous in our own eyes. This shade doesn’t last long. Soon sides get determined. There is an internal need built in us to pursue something bigger than ourselves. Living in the gray benefits those who seek to destroy our culture. If you ask, “How did we get here?” the answer is that we refused to take sides when it mattered.

The biggest question is why has this culture conformed to gray? Is it fear? Is it sloth? Could it be greed? Could it be creating your own truths? Yes, all of the above. As Christians we need to justify behavior before a sin. That sounds bad but it is truthful. If we make the choice to ignore conviction an excuse must be made. Fear, money, excuses are examples of fear, greed, and sloth. Fear is a word that tends to be twisted based on natural instinct vs. calculated excuse. The main take away is that this culture starts from creating your own truth to avoid conviction.

Our culture doesn’t have a driver that is constantly trying to destroy your way of life. When that happens gray fades and choices must be made. We always have a positive view of this future in our culture. We would like to think that when a flash point occurs all the “Christians” will start to walk the narrow road. It is called narrow for a reason. The wide road to hell is much easier to travel. It has less persecution and more social acceptance. Apocalyptic fictional stories has many people running toward truth. Very few people will do that. If the grass is green right now and you’re still running to the gray why would it be better when the grass is brown?

The people working on behalf of the powers of darkness have a clear goal. They will stop at nothing to destroy what is left of our culture. People who don’t choose a side will cower at that level of fervor. People in the gray have more to lose while darkness aims to gain the world. If you don’t choose a side you’re leaving the lane open to the ones that have a side. You are helping the Enemy and not even knowing it.

The United States here is very unique. We don’t have massive persecution as many other areas of the world. It cultivates people to remain on the sidelines. During this time they usher in false teachers that give them what they want to hear. If we are not in the “game” then why are we putting on the uniform to begin with?