Instead Of “Engaging” Our Culture, Have We “Embraced It?

I came across a statement the other day in a book that grabbed my attention. It said, “The early church engaged its culture and transformed it.”(Preaching With Passion, p. 46). How true this is! Paul and his company at Thessalonica were accused, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”(Acts 17:6). They said this because an uproar was created after Paul had reasoned in their synagogue for three weeks and “persuaded” many of the devout Greeks and leading women.(Acts 17:1-3). The early Christians set out to change the world, to persuade men to come to Christ and to leave their false ideas of worship. Paul urged the Corinthians, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”(2 Cor 6:14) and said to them, “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord…”(2 Cor 6:17). Yes, they engaged(Webster says, “to enter into conflict or battle.”) the culture of their day.
What a change when we look at the present day church. In many instances, instead of “engaging” our culture, we have “embraced” it. “Cultural correctness” is often seen as more important than “Biblical correctness.” Many flatly reject God’s teaching on unpopular subjects, saying, “We are living in different times.” What Jesus said about divorce (Read Matthew 5:32; 19:1-9) is seldom mentioned for fear of offending someone. The Bible’s teaching about the horrible nature of homosexual offenses and other immorality is not taught (Read Romans 1:26-32). Why? Because it is offensive to so many in our day. Preachers who confront the false doctrines of denominationalism are said to be wasting time that could be better spent on “relevant issues”(i.e. felt needs). We could site many more examples, but many churches and “Christians” have thrown in the towel, being changed far more by the culture, than changing it.
Yes, Jesus taught a gospel of love, and the teaching of the church should always be in love. But in the very context where Paul said we should speak the “truth in love”(Ep. 4:15), he warned against being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”(Ep. 4:14). God’s children should be loving, but they should be determined to believe, teach and obey the truth- not error, and to teach the gospel to the world that they might repent and be saved. Jesus knew that love and rebuke were not at odds, for John quoted him as saying, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Rev. 3:18-19). We do not show love by throwing our arms around the sinful culture of our day and leaving sinners untaught. We show love by teaching them the “more excellent way.”(1 Cor. 12:31). David Courington