Do Not Be Swayed

A thought came into my head last night as I was sitting in Bible class. The teacher mentioned that God's Word (Scripture) never changes, and is timeless. Timeless in a sense that (1) It has withstood the test of time - undergoing much scrutiny, peril, and many individuals trying to disprove it, and yet continues to remain steadfast, and (2) the principles taught within its pages continue to remain true and relevant, even today. 

Satan is somewhat the same: his goal is to continue to sway others to move farther and farther away from God's truth. And in order to do this, he constantly adapts his temptations to whatever is current in the world. This means that the enemy is able to employ contemporary elements in order to make us blind to our sin, and blind to the Gospel.

So here's the thought: if we as believers, and as a church, are purposefully adapting to culture in order to draw people to the Gospel, who really is winning over who? 

Let me clarify this, because what I am NOT saying is that everything in the world is evil and must be avoided. Instead, I am pleading for us to consider that maybe we've got the order all wrong. Scripture reminds us not be conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2), so we shouldn't be using the same strategy as the enemy in order to convince people that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In this case, we cannot and MUST NOT fight fire with fire - we'd only end up getting burned and even risk missing the point ourselves. 

Instead, we must be looking at the world around us and move in it through the lens of Scripture. Back when I was in Sunday School, there was this acronym given to us to help us have the correct perspective of the Bible. The Bible serves as our "Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth" - and as corny as that sounds, there is some truth to it. What I'm getting at is the way we think, act, and talk to other people must be hidden behind and filtered through God's Word. We do not walk around this world aimlessly and try to fit enough verses into our lives to justify our actions. God's Word stands over us and forms our convictions, not the other way around.

What does this mean for us as Christians? We're called to be different. Set apart. Holy. We've all heard this before but don't get the gravity behind it. Remember when God gave His people a set of laws to follow? (See: Leviticus-Deuteronomy) That wasn't just because He was power-tripping. It was because He wanted his people to be different. So different that other countries looked at them and saw them as ABSURD with all their traditions and rules all in the name of the Lord. But also radically different that when calamity struck and the people remain unscathed, the other nations would take notice and say "Who has a God like the Israelites? No one." 

They weren't different because it was cool. It was never a case of "us vs. them" for the people of God. Their difference points to the One who made them different. He gets the glory in the end, not them.

Therefore, what we need to think about is this: when our lives, our churches, or our homes can't be distinguished from any other common unbelievers' life, organization, or household - how are we giving God the glory?

"...Do not be like immature children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  

So I tell you this, and testify to it in the Lord: You must no longer walk as the Gentiles [unbelievers] do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts... This is not the way you came to know Christ." 

(Ephesians 4:14;17-18 & 20, emphasis mine)