Charisa Stories

Tag: culture war

  • Can We Change the Culture?

    Can We Change the Culture?

    Watching the news on television is devastatingly depressing. I prefer to spend my leisure moments reading, listening to music, and walking with canine friend Maggie. On today’s walk I pondered whether this culture can be redeemed while Maggie sniffed and checked p-mail.

    So many smart, and I pray, well intentioned people think our society can be changed through programs and education. Before you hit cancel I am open to all helpful options. While it is possible we have a head problem Jesus said the real problem comes from the heart.

    “But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.”
    (Matthew 15:18-19, NLT)

    Change happens from the inside out. I wrote about the culture war in my book “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People”. Here is an excerpt from that discussion.

    If I were to ask the average Christian what victory in the culture war would look like today, I would probably get answers along these lines: Abortion would be outlawed. Gender issues would go away. The Ten Commandments would hang in every courthouse, and kids would pray in school.

    But would accomplishing these objectives constitute victory? Many Christians think it is our mission to rid the world of sin. That is not going to happen until Jesus returns to reign. We have tried through politics and failed miserably. We have tried boycotts. We tried advertising and media with very mixed results. We have targeted immorality but have not helped those hurt by or entrapped in it. We fight abortion. We denounce same sex relationships. We battle Hollywood and television and the evil media. We rail against pornography.

    As a young man who grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, I can confirm that all of the aforementioned cultural indicators now sought by many Christians were once in place: There was no legalized abortion or significant gay political presence. We prayed at school functions and watched Ozzie and Harriet on television instead of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Pornography was not easy to obtain. Yet the sexual revolution, rampant drug use, violent political protest, and explosive racial tension emerged from that very era. Hmmm.

    We Christians have missed our calling. The church needs to understand that even if we devoured every single moral issue on our evangelical plates, the people of this world would still be seeking meaning and purpose in their lives. All of the cultural issues I’ve mentioned so far are merely symptoms of a bigger problem: the internal condition of people. Political and legal processes can only restrain sin. Only the changing of individuals can really affect a society as a whole. And that is where we have missed the boat. We can attempt legislation of morals until the end of time. But change comes from the inside (heart) out…rarely from the outside (rules) in. We cannot herd sin neatly into our theological corral. Sin cannot be managed by moralism. Unfortunately Christians are more identified by what we oppose than Who we follow.

    How did the early church have such a profound impact with no money, power or influence? By giving their heart and soul to God. They gave Him control and out of that surrender they gave and served selflessly. They loved the unlovable. Cared for those that no one else would care for. Risked their lives to comfort those dying of infectious disease and sacrificed their own possessions for orphans and widows. Their lives were so powerful that the culture could not help but notice. Even the pagan writers of the day marveled at the sacrifice of these “Christians”. The followers of Christ who changed the world did not drive fancy cars and have perfect hair. They sold out in complete trust and allowed God to change them from the inside out. They served sacrificially.

    Jesus talked about the danger of a religion that tries to work from the outside in.

    “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.” (Matthew 23, NLT)

    That is my prayer for today. I want to live from the inside out. I have been changed but I want to live out of that truth. Don’t think that I am against having heartfelt convictions about cultural issues. I am not. But I am against communicating those concerns to a hurting world apart from grace and the love of Christ. God’s plan will be accomplished. In the meantime we need to be loving others selflessly.

    That is the cry of my heart today.

  • Please Play This Song BEFORE Posting or Tweeting

    Please Play This Song BEFORE Posting or Tweeting

    I have teased for years that I want to develop an app that asks you to pause and pray before you hit send. Failing that, maybe I can convince you instead to play a song recorded by Glen Campbell. The lyrics are from a poem written by Edgar Albert Guest in 1914. Guest immigrated from England in 1891 at the age of 10. He was a newspaper reporter for the Detroit Free Press before becoming a syndicated author of poetry. He became known as the “Peoples Poet” and was said to have published a new poem everyday for 30 years. His works were not critically acclaimed but they connected with the public. Fifty-one years after Guest published “A Creed” the words were put to music by Glen Campbell in a song titled “Less of Me”. (Click on the link to hear it)

    Let me be a little kinder,
    Let me be a little blinder
    To the faults of those around me,
    Let me praise a little more.

    Just implementing that stanza alone would change the tenor of Twitter immeasurably. I have been thinking a lot about how Americans have allowed social media to divide us. It is especially disappointing that followers of Jesus demonize people over social media posts. Allow me to make my point before canceling me. I know that outrageous and often mean things are posted on social media. Sometimes they are posted by people that I consider to be acquaintances or even friends. Here is the strategy that I am proposing to deal with such posts.

    1. Pray for the person posting it. A social media post is an unfortunately permanent reminder of a moment in time. It could be something said in a moment of anger, sadness, frustration, or hurt that doesn’t represent the heart of the poster.
    2. Snooze a friend instead of lose a friend. Facebook allows you to snooze a friend for 30 days. You won’t see their posts for that period of time. I snooze them because I do not want to unfriend someone over a post I don’t like.
    3. Remember that person is created in the image of God. Maybe they are saying and acting in a way that is disappointing but they are loved by their Creator.

    Those on the other side of angry social media discourse are not unlike us. When we fight the cultural war we need to remember that the whole purpose of Jesus invading our space and time was to love and ultimately die for those on both sides of the battle. God’s grace is available to everyone and every single person reading this blog today has thought, said, or posted something that they regret (or should regret).

    Perhaps the biggest lesson for Christians should be how the power of a unified focus on Jesus can unite even bitter enemies. My heart aches as I see Christians splitting ranks over things that don’t amount to a hill of beans on an eternal scale. I picture Jesus weeping over the churches of America like He wept over Jerusalem. I picture Him weeping over how Christians in this country divide over non-essentials and fail to communicate the joy and life-changing power of the good news of the Gospel. The culture war is important but temporal. The war for our soul is eternal. I sometimes wish I could excise this passage from Scripture but here it is and I can’t ignore it.

    ““You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. (Matthew 5:43-45, NLT)

    How is that even possible? It is not possible in my own power. I must trust God for that to occur. I must believe that He is working in the heart of those I disagree with, in my heart, or maybe both of us to focus on what matters. I need to trust that God will ultimately see that justice prevails. I am called to love and be a light for the Gospel.

    If Paul were writing to the church today he might change this verse a bit from the original version to the Galatians.

    For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, progressive or conservative, complementarian or egalitarian. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

    The point is that our only unity is in Christ. The hill that Jesus died on was the hill of salvation by grace. He allowed Himself to be put there to accomplish God’s plan for salvation. That is the hill worth dying on.

    The poem continues with these words.

    Let me be a little meeker
    With the brother that is weaker,
    Let me think more of my neighbor
    And a little less of me.

    C.S.Lewis wisely said this about humility.

    “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

    The poem finishes with this stanza.

    Let me toil, without complaining,
    Not a humble task disdaining,
    Let me face the summons calmly
    When death beckons me away.

    When death beckons me away I pray that my legacy will be proclaiming grace and displaying grace. My final lap mission statement agrees with Paul in the book of Acts.

    But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:24, NLT)

    Want to join me?