As Christians, our challenge is to go back as close as we can to the gospel and truly to be the church. Increasingly, we’re likely to be a counter-culture.
Os Guinness, Interview with Marvin Olasky, World Magazine
One of the advantages to having a television set hooked up to an antennae is being able to watch the new digital channels. Many of these channels specialize in TV shows from past decades that are enjoyable to watch again here in 2013.
Now, while I realize some of the 1950s and early 1960s shows portray a more perfect world than it was, they also are a reflection of the culture as a whole from those years.
One need not watch for long to realize one huge difference between now and then... that being the way the general population viewed religion as there is often a mention of going to church, Sunday School, praying, etc. Just last week on an episode of Father Knows Best, Jim read a poem to his children which reflected faith in adversity.
The Church in general (and Bible believing Christians specifically) are laughed about, scoffed at, and have become the center of jokes in the general media today. Long gone are the days when a television dad would offer his child wisdom from Scripture. Not to mention these days in the media, the annoying children are often portrayed as smarter than the parents.
When did the Church begin to lose the culture?
My husband has read that 1968 is considered the year the culture changed in the United States (Europe changed long before that year). That may be correct even if one only looks at movies, TV, music, etc.
We must remember that some of the events which brought about huge changes later did not seem all that big at the time. I was a child when prayer was taken out of the schools and I can't recall my parents even talking about it.
I had become a Christian when Roe vs. Wade brought about the changes in the abortion laws but I didn't think much of it. Abortion was very rare at the time and I saw the new law as protection against a woman dying because she was afraid of being arrested if she went to the hospital with complications from an abortion.
Few Christians (if any) could imagine a time when there would be thousands of abortions performed each day, many as a method of birth control. Pandora is often let out of the proverbial box with no thought to later consequences.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard a younger person say past decades were not as "Christian" as the older folks say they were. Which should not surprise me given what is taught in the public schools the past twenty-plus years. However, I grew up in a home where my parents did not go to church but society in general held fast to Biblical values. It is true.
No wonder our media is full of couples living together, alternative relationships, women wearing revealing clothing, all forms of romantic interludes... and those who would walk in purity portrayed as naive and stupid.
So... what do we do when, as Bible believing Christians, we are now considered walking against the main stream of the culture? Well, for one thing... as the Word says... if you are persecuted considered it joy for that means you truly are following Christ. It is happening more often with each passing year.
We can only take that next step in being salt and light even when those around us prefer the darkness. Remember the posters with the saying "Bloom Where You are Planted"? God has placed you in a unique place to show the Truth of His Word to those around you.
As I wrote last week, He has given you the gifts you can use even if it is the spiritual gift of making good cookies. Okay, so that one was missed in the Book of Corinthians... but it is a gift.
Also, as makers of the home, there is still much we can do. I've written much about making our home a sanctuary for both ourselves and our family and never before in our culture have we needed such a safe house.
I'll talk more next week about making our homes places that are Christ centered and grace filled. God willing and the proverbial creek don't rise...
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