Popular Culture Has Reality Wrong
What drives the values behind secular culture is spiritual
Secularism is a cultural framework that works against belief and undermines anything supernatural
“Secularism is built on doubting. Secularism is set up to make you doubt. Many even Christians are racked by doubt because of the world we live in. Hundreds of years ago it would be strange to find someone who doubted, now it is difficult to find someone who doesn’t doubt.” – Mark Sayers
Romans 12:2 (Philips) Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within
Recap:
We hate the World’s values
We love all people
Two kinds of truth – Opinion Truth: True for you
Unchanging Truth: True for everyone
Good Tolerance: I will tolerate people I disagree with, I will accept all people as loved by God
1 Corinthians 5:12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
Twisted Tolerance: I must believe what others believe as true
The church has moved from being irrelevant to being evil because we espouse the wrong virtues. (Disappearing church)
Jesus is the only way to God
Jesus is the only truth of right and wrong
Jesus is the only life worth living
God gave Freedom to Choose: We are free beings able make choices
Twisted Freedom: I am free to do whatever I want for my happiness
Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Personal Freedom First, Enslaves You
Deny Your Self and Follow Jesus, Sets You Free
Our culture does good things
Since humans are basically good, individual sin is downplayed or non-existent
The two saviours in our World: education and economics
While North American audiences tend to characterize poverty as a lack of material things, those living in poverty often describe their condition in far more psychological and social terms… Regardless of geographical location, those living in poverty typically talk of their experience in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation and voicelessness. (Barry Slauenwhite)
Luke 5:17-20 One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
John 6:26-27 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you.”
Matt. 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father
We do good as a signpost to God
We literally don’t live on bread alone
It is just no good to try and get God to make us happy on anything else but himself. It cannot happen because it is not there, there is no such thing as life beyond God. (C. S. Lewis)
Quite often, media and mass marketing portray poverty in a way that leads us to see money and donation of goods as the answer to it. Christ provides the ultimate solution to the root of poverty. -Strategic Compassion
Set your mind on things above
Col. 3:1-2 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Jesus is the only way to God
Jesus is the only truth of right and wrong
Jesus is the only life worth living
Personal Freedom First, Enslaves You
Deny Your Self and Follow Jesus, Sets You Free
We do good as a signpost to God