In a world already flooded with erroneous ideas, lies, and omissions, just telling people the truth isn’t enough. The world doesn’t just need to hear the truth, it needs to learn how to think with the truth. It needs to learn how to think accurately, and that means thinking Biblically.
Without the order of a Biblical Worldview, all you get is chaos.
To be an accurate thinker doesn’t require you to be a genius; you just have to be willing to be honest with yourself about the current reality and ask yourself challenging & interesting questions and be willing to struggle through the answers.
Today, those of us fighting this war on our culture and liberties tend to get discouraged because we are mistakenly placing too much hope just in short-term fixes.
Too many of us Christians mistakenly think that change will only come when we acquire some level of control – political or cultural. We think in terms of all or nothing.
God has called some of us to high places, but He has called all of us to be faithful right where we are, in our own circle of influence. We each have “our own personal mission field” and for the majority, that “field” is right in our own backyard.
Lies dominate our culture, but even though they do, TRUTH still exists. We as Christians are duty-bound to resist evil and speak only the truth.
We were given two great Biblical mandates and they are inseparable.
The Great Commission is the only one most Christians think about.
This is the command of Jesus to his followers to go into the world and make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey “everything I have told you”. Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission involves three steps – evangelism, baptism, AND education.
For the past 100+ years, many conservative Christians have shunned the idea of reforming culture and have instead focused solely on the Great Commission.
But is this implicit denial of a Christian/Biblical Worldview the reason we have lost our influence in the world? Salvation doesn’t consist simply of freedom from sin; it also means being restored to the task we were originally given in the beginning – creating a culture that honors and worships the Creator.
The Cultural Commission: Genesis: v 1:26 & v 1:28
For five days, God created the world/universe we live in, then on the sixth day, He created man in His image and gave him/(us) dominion over creation by ordering us to carry on where He leaves off: We are to reflect His image and to have dominion. [Genesis 1:26]. The development of His creation will be our responsibility and it will be to “fill the earth” through procreation and “subdue it.” From that moment on the development of creation will be primarily social and cultural: To fill and subdue the earth. (v 1:28)
Politics, the law, and art [all forms of media] are all part of the Cultural Commission.
The lesson we need to learn is that true Christians are saved not only from something [sin] but also to something [Christ’s lordship over all of life].
Only the Redeemed are filled with the Holy Spirit and can genuinely know and fulfill God’s plan.
Once redeemed, we are meant to move forward to Restoration, which includes both private and public virtue; personal and family life; education and community; work, politics, and law; science and medicine; literature, art, and music. We are called to bring ALL things under Christ’s lordship, in the home, school, the workplace, business, movie screen, theater, concert stage, school board, town, city and county council, and the legislative chamber.
Culture is a decidedly human phenomenon, arising out of our creation by God in His image and likeness. It is an essentially relational activity. We either build or we tear down, there is no middle ground.
“In every action we take, we are either helping to create hell on earth or helping to bring a foretaste of heaven. We are either contributing to the brokenness of the world or participating with God in transforming the world to reflect His righteousness. ” – How Now Shall We Live by Chuck Colson
So, every time you nod your head to a lie, you are helping to create hell on earth.
Our calling is not only to order our lives by divine principles but also to engage the world. We are to fulfill both the Great Commission and the Cultural Commission.