Jump Start # 1850

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’”

My sermon yesterday morning, for Mother’s Day, was a look at the role of women in the kingdom. Within that we took a look what role culture has in shaping the New Testament message. Modern academia and the actions of most modern churches reflect a belief that society influences and shapes the will of God. One example of this is the role of women in the modern church. Before the 1960’s hardly any church used women in the pulpit, leadership roles or in the direction of the church. Today, it’s just the opposite and very common to find women in every role possible in the modern church. When pushed to explain the reason for the change, the most common explanation is “culture.” As society has opened up it’s understanding and views of women, the church has adopted those views. The same could be said about the use of practicing homosexuals within the modern church pulpit and leadership. Just a short time ago, that was never heard of. Society and culture has shifted it’s stance and the modern church has followed.

Multiple doctrinal and moral issues have been changed because of this cultural shift. Look at the history of divorce and remarriage, you’ll see modern churches following the steps of society. Look at the use of alcohol, and you’ll find the modern church following society. This has become so accepted and so normal that people do not see what is taking place. Even among God’s people this thinking is beginning to show itself.

There are a few basic principles that we need to understand concerning culture and the word of God.

First, as our verse illustrates, God never used culture to shape His word. God stuck a stake down in the ground and declared that this is what He says. This is true of a woman’s role in the kingdom and it’s true of what God says about divorce. Our verse today, loving your enemy and praying for those who persecute you, didn’t fit with the Jewish mind and it didn’t set well in the Gentile world. It was “counter cultural.” It wasn’t the common thought of the day. God didn’t take a poll of what people thought or wanted and then revealed His will. He placed His word into the world, whether it fit or not. The fact that women are included in the genealogy of Jesus and it was women who first saw the empty tomb shows how counter culture God’s word is. The fact that Peter tells husbands to “honor” their wives and the Galatians were told that the husband and wife were one and heirs in God’s eyes certainly didn’t flow well with the modern thinking of the first century world. When people declare that the reason men were preachers and elders in the first century world was because of the culture of the times, they really do not understand what they are saying. God never used the current culture to form or flavor His will.

Second, God’s word transcends all cultures. What God says in Romans 13 about the citizens responsibility toward the government, extends to all times and all governments. When those words were written, it was not a democracy that was in place, but dictators of Caesars ruled the world. Forms of governments have changed, but those principles remain valid and true.

Third, culture is always changing, and most times, it moves away from God. We see that in our times. Things are not getting better. People are accepting wrong more and more. States are legalizing drugs. Our times have moved past same-sex marriages to the transgender issue. A man looks like a man, but on some days, he feels like a woman, whatever that means. One day he is a she and the next day, he is back to being a he. Before long, he will be a dog or a tree. This goofy, mixed up, liberal, stand-for-nothing society is marching away from God. Do you really believe that God would allow a godless society, such as Rome or America to form His will? That’s where many people are today, even in the thinking of the modern church. Instead of changing our ways, we are changing the Bible. It’s easier for folks to say, “That doesn’t apply today, because times have changed. That was written for them and not for us.” And the sad thing is, folks are buying into that nonsense. If the Bible is shaped by culture, then it means the Bible is always changing. Jude said, “Contend for the faith once delivered…” And Peter wrote, “God has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” How could that be if the word of God is continually evolving and changing?

Fourth, not all cultures are the same, even at the same time. The freedom that women have in America, is not the same for women today in Iran. So which culture shapes the Bible? Is it possible that the message changes from nation to nation? So in America, women could be in the pulpit because our culture accepts that, but at the same time it would be wrong for a woman to be in the pulpit in Iran, because their culture does not allow that. Does that make any sense? How can God’s word be right in one place but wrong in another place?

Following the pied piper of culture is not the direction we need to go. We need to look at the Bible as it was written and understand and believe that God knew what He was talking about and accept that the Bible is not a fluid, ever changing message and means one thing to one person and something else to someone else. That’s goofy. Folks that say that need a backbone to stand where God wants us to stand.

Paul said that we are not to be conformed to the world. Friendship with the world, James wrote, is enmity with God. With such drastic passages, do you think that God would then go against that Himself and allow the feelings of modern man to dictate His doctrine and will?

It’s time we flushed modern thinking out of our minds, and out of the modern church. It’s time we got back to reading, studying and understanding the message of the Bible. Holiness. Commitment. Faithfulness. These are the themes throughout the N.T. Moderns have changed those themes into self awareness, happiness and doing whatever you feel like. Their message is without Biblical support. Their message may fill the heart and the church buildings but it doesn’t match what the Bible says. Modern authors have filled bookstores with this poison. Liberal professors who really do not understand the Bible message themselves are teaching gullible young minds this cultural theology. Modern preachers spend less time with an open Bible and more time trying to capture the flavor of the current culture. Stop being cute. Stop quoting MTV, modern movies and songs and dressing like you are going to the beach. It’s time to be a man of God. It’s time to stand up, stand up for Jesus. It’s time to stand upon the word of God.

If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything. And we see that. The old black and white Superman shows would begin with, “look, up in the sky…it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman.” The identity of the modern church is, “Look, it’s a coffees shop…it’s a homeless shelter…it’s a school…it’s a church.” No one knows. It’s changing all the time.

Stick with God. Stick with what God has said. Don’t change the message. Change your heart.

Roger