What needs to happen to allow our influence as modern day Christians impact our culture in a significant way?

What are the challenges that we face in impacting the culture; and what (if any) competing influences affect our culture?

The real question that we are asking is, “What is the role of the church in “Changing a Culture?””

Perhaps the greater challenge, is that rather than our influence affecting the culture, often it is culture that changes us

And in that there is no reason to try to reinvent what the Lord has already done. . In that we note the passage below that embraces the fact of what has already been accomplished at the cross as noted in Colossians 2:14-15.

Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

So then, what has to happen to get us to Change the Culture? To develop a line of thought, we will discuss three areas of “change” that is critical to the church changing the culture:

1. 1.      Change Your Response
2. 2.      Change Your Mind
3. 3.      Change Your Actions

Change Your Response

As a technology person, when I think of the things that influenced the cultural change, most of us would agree that it is the technology that has the greatest impact on culture.

But what many of may not realize is that except for the past 100 years or so, advances in technology and cultural adoption of those technologies was rather slow and something like 98% of all technological innovation has occurred in the same last 100 years.

But as I glance backward into history, that which seems to have the greater impact on culture is than technology, is probably not as cool, but originates in great calamity and despair. Or better yet, it is our response to calamity and despair that impacts culture.

This is Not New News…

John 16:33 NKJV

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

1 Peter 1:7
These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. God knows that it is the testing of our faith that produces the best us that we can be!

It out of our trials, out of our tribulations that desperation and hopelessness produces some of man’s finest moments. Calamity and despair drives innovation. Calamity and despair drive change and shifts focus; that is, it forces a fundamental shift and a change in our priorities.

Calamity and despair produces greater levels of thought and imagination and deeper meaning in our arts. It mandates change in our society…and more importantly, it provokes non-believers and even the feeblest of Christians to fall on their knees in an effort to find hope in the true and living God.

And more and more, we are seeing that great calamity and despair all over the world and it affects us all. And so daily, weekly we are reminded that our hope is not in man, it is as it always has been firmly in the hands of the Lord.

And in that, when calamity strikes—the World must see God…not our fears, remorse, heartbreaks….

Instead, the World is looking for hope and we as believers are called to be champions of that hope.

A New Beginning!

Hopelessness and despair are the bitter fruit of the end—and fear of the impending end of something in our lives. Even in the face of the natural cycle of life of all things…everything has an ending. But in Christ, the end of something is almost always the beginning of something new!

We have heard it before: before a new flower blooms, another flower must first die. For it is in death that it goes to seed—and then is sown anew…and in its season will produce a greater harvest! When you look for the Lord in everything, you will find your life-line that bridges you to your next harvest!

Change Your Mind

One of the greatest things I have ever learned from my walk with God is that the Lord has a plan for me. Not only that, but he tells me that “He knows the thoughts that He thinks toward me…” and my path to fulfill my destiny in Him begins with me aligning my thoughts toward His (the Lords).

In order to do that, we must first allow our faith to increase, and as necessary, increase our understanding—of the Word of God. It is in the Word and from the Word that we learn to hear how the Lord thinks.

And as we begin to learn the Mind of Christ and how He sees us, we find that we are systematically changing our mind as well. That is, we change our minds by taking on the mind of Christ.

Believe me, changing my own mind has been the greatest undertaking of my life, and continues to be a continual process of self-denial, as I learn to abase myself so that Christ may abound in me. Why do I need to change my mind?

Simply put, I have to accept the fact that I am not as good as I think I am…but in the same measure, I am not as bad I as think I am either. Because where I fall short, grace and mercy abound on my behalf!

God is Speaking

We also change our minds by recognizing that God is always speaking to His Creation. So then, if the Lord is speaking…why are we not hearing? The Word tells us that the Lord will guide us into all truths.

So changing our mind begins with changing the authoritative voice in your head. That is, who is speaking when you find yourself in a moment of crisis: Is it you, or is it Christ?

See, when you finally get to the place where you can stop the noise long enough and begin to clean out the clutter and the chaos out of your mind; the confusion and the despair…then you can finally hear the still small voice of the Lord.

Can we talk about distractions for just a moment?

Distractions

Despair, is a distraction. Hopelessness is a distraction. Sickness is a distraction. Financial ruin is a distraction. When you begin to realize that anything that causes you to take your eyes off of Christ—is a distraction, you change the rules of the game.

See that is the nature of the distraction. The distraction is used to blind us to what’s going on in the hands of God, just as a magician does.

Whenever you see a distraction—it is only an attempt by the enemy to blind you from the hands of God that are always busy, often just outside of your line of sight…working in your favor and preparing the blessing!

Changing our mind begins the alignment of our thoughts with the Lord’s thoughts. The irony is that hearing the Lord, and aligning your thoughts to His doesn’t destroy your understanding—it sharpens it. So much so, that you find that yourself may find yourself in the midst of revelation as you begin to move into not only your purpose—but your passion.

Change Your Actions

But just knowing your purpose and your passion are not enough. If you are really chasing purpose and passion—then you must change your actions. In that, you will need to change your habits.

It is the changing of our habits that dictate effectiveness of the change that our mind has made. The manifestation of this change is through overtly intentional actions.

But rest assured in that your move into purpose and passion will certainly awaken things in you—but it may also take you from a road of comfort toward what may seem like a journey towards calamity and despair.

This journey will test your faith; it will stretch your faith. Your resolve will be tested and your actions may even be questioned. The question is, can your faith stand to be stretched?

Your Measure of Faith

What kind of faith do you have? Do you have the Bible on a coffee table kind of faith? Or is your faith like the pages of your Bible, worn by constant use; dog-eared from the constant turning—and weathered and worn from the sweat and tears of trusting God anyway in times of certain hopelessness?

Know that your actions as you move into purpose create challenges for those around you. Sometimes not easy challenges. But challenges are good because they require you to increase your prayer.

• Prayer is the avenue to clarity of purpose.
• Prayer is the road to greater revelation.
• Prayer is the believer’s response to great trials.

Greatness is borne from great challenge! Powerful testimony is borne from great trial.

Within each of us is part of God’s plan to change the culture. It might be to make to make us healthier; it might be to make grow us spiritually; it may be to allow us to be better stewards through money management; or better parents; or better husbands and wives and so on….

Everything Changes

Think about it, if you know that God has purposed you to do a great work, what has to change? I would argue that you will need to get a blank piece of paper and write one word: everything!”

In 2003, the Lord moved me write a book. In that, I found myself moving into purpose—and a newly awakened passion. A few years later, I would leave my job to move into full-time ministry. And while I knew that the changes would be significant, we knew it would be a both a challenge for the whole family.

But this move at the same time, we knew that it would also establish a new foundation for our children and immediate family in Christ. It has caused great hardship—but it has also provoked greater faith in us and in our children to trust the Lord sooner as they noted the way we had to trust God.

Sometimes things didn’t make sense. But whether you accept this or not, if we have simply prepared our children to have our measure of faith—it won’t be good enough.

Our faith will be the springboard for their greater faith. They will not invite calamity—but I am sure (and I am praying) that the impact of their response will be much greater than ours.

Because the things that will come after them will be significantly more challenging to their beliefs and their way of life than what we have ever faced.

Summary

We have talked about becoming a Cultural Change Agent:

1. Change Your Response to the trials and tribulations that come against you. Your response to calamity and despair will either open the door for you—or close it.
2. Change Your Mind as you learn to listen to the voice of God, allowing your mind to become the mind of Christ!
3. Change Your Actions as you begin to move into your purpose and your passion.

We are called to be the difference the World needs; we are called to become cultural change agents…a mighty army of men, women and children who move by faith in a dark world.

Won’t you join us?

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