What’s Bothering You? (Part 1)

I. Introduction

Christians believe we are of God’s kingdom and our real citizenship is in heaven. However, for the time being we are also citizens of a nation and reside in the world. As such, we have a duty to work for the good of our country and the world, in addition to building God’s Kingdom. I read something recently that ties in with this theme, and I thought it was worth sharing with you.

1. The Survey

A Christian magazine took an informal survey to ascertain the key concerns people of faith had about our culture. I want to explore these areas of concern to help Christians more effectively engage the culture, educate our children, and avoid falling into some traps. I think it is important for us to deal with these real-life issues in light of what the Bible tells us. For example, we are not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The Bible says that we do not belong to this world, and warned us that we won’t always be popular because of that.

2. Frog in Hot Water

At this point, you may be asking, “Why is he talking about this? What’s the big deal?” Changes in the culture come about very slowly, so we are like the proverbial frog that is put in lukewarm water. As the temperature of the water is slowly increased, the changes are imperceptible so the frog doesn’t jump out. Eventually you know what happens to the frog (as least so the story goes).

Like the frog in the water, we might not quite realize what is happening, so we wonder why people are bothered by current trends. If you are younger, this culture is all that you have known, so it might seem normal and reasonable. But when looked at in light of biblical principles and history, the direction our society is taking is cause for concern. While I can’t go into much detail with 9 items to cover, I want to at least alert you to these trends and their negative consequences.

More about this survey in future posts. Note: Survey is from World Magazine, “What Ails Us” by Joel Belz, (July 28, 2012, Vol 27, No 15, page 3)