Thursday, November 5, 2015

Followers of Jesus Christ are to be a Counter Culture

Something has transpired over the years concerning Christianity, especially in the West, which has turned demographics on its head.

This was discovered and understood by many when Christians in America starting voting in their chosen candidates, and afterwards no meaningful legislation was enacted to represent the voters who put leaders in place. This was specifically true with Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bush II.

What has been concluded is Christians in America are no longer the majority, and it has changed the way some leaders are approaching our culture.

Instead of the counter culture that emerged in the 1960s, which at the time was a very vocal but significant and growing minority, it has now changed to them and their progeny representing the majority of Americans. This is why we need to change our tactics going forward if we want to initiate and enact long-term and meaningful change. That will require turning our attention from the national scene to a local focus.

The first thing to understand and embrace is Christians in America are now a minority in the country. If we aren't willing to acknowledge that, we will find ourselves in despair if we try to work at the national level to change the direction of the country.

It also has to be understood that I'm not just talking politics here, as that is simply an extension of what is happening in the overall country. If there isn't a return to the Bible and true Christianity, there won't be any hope on the national stage. For that reason we need to change our tactics to the local level, and realize we are now the counter culture, with the dominant culture being one based upon secular humanism and resistance to God. We can't and shouldn't operate under the assumption we are a Christian nation. We aren't. We were of course birthed and built upon Christian principles, but we are no longer that people.

The same is true for all other Western countries that had been influenced by Christianity over the centuries.

There is no reason to be discouraged by this, as the consequence of it all is to change our strategy and tactics, not our goals. The goal is for the knowledge of Jesus Christ to be spread through the world, and for the nations to learn of and obey His laws and commands, as the Great Commission tells us to communicate to the nations.

I believe Christianity, before the return of Jesus Christ, will be the dominant way of life on earth. But we also have to know that Jesus told us when He was on the earth that the wheat and tares would grow together (Mt. 13:24-30). There would never be a time when evil would be totally eradicated. It'll be here until Jesus rids the universe and heaven of it.

What that means is as Christianity expands and grows in conjunction with conformity to Jesus Christ and His will, the enemies of Christ will also grow in conjunction with their father, the devil.

That doesn't mean the tares will dominate the earth, only that those that continue to reject Jesus Christ and His ways will grow worse and worse. There will be an increasing distinction between the followers or Christ and those that reject Him.

We are a new creation, we are a peculiar people in contrast to those that aren't born from above. No matter what our numbers and dominance in this life, we will and should be always separate from those that reject God's commands and laws as revealed in the Bible.

Our job now is to continue to work on reducing the evil leaven permeating the world by limiting or cutting off access to the means of propaganda used to capture our children and grandchildren, and even us.

That means carefully considering what is allowed to be watched on TV and the Internet, as well as removing our children from the public school system. If we don't at least do those things, we will struggle to build a future because out children are the future of planet earth, and if the world wins them, there is nothing we can do to expand the kingdom of God in the years ahead.

In other words, we must be defensive and protect our children first, and from there go on the offensive. If we don't do that, we'll lose the battle for the hearts and minds of our children, while attempting to snatch those already deceived by the devil and those following him from the fire. It makes no sense to do one without the other. We must do both, with the first step being to protect our own house.

The importance of being a counter culture is we are seen as salt and light to a fallen world. We are an alternative to those that are deceived and being deceived. While our words are important, it's far more effective for there to be a people seen living out the requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ before the world. That the value of the counter culture, that's what it means to be a city on the hill.

So far there has been resistance from the majority of Christians to do that which is needed to separate ourselves from the world. We are indeed in the world, but we are not of this world. Being born from above means the very life of Christ comes to dwell within us by the Holy Spirit. That is not only totally different from the world, it is in opposition to this world.

Until we're willing to pay the cost, we will continue to be overwhelmed and ineffective in our pursuit of the kingdom of God. May God grant us grace and mercy through Jesus Christ to embrace our heritage and become true and faithful ambassadors on His behalf.

The stakes are high. The eternal lives of our children and grandchildren are the battleground. Nothing should stand in the way of us giving them a chance at resisting the corrupt culture of the world and the way it attempts to infiltrate and permeate their lives. If we don't do it, who will?

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