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Culturally or Biblically Defined?

UnknownIt is obvious that the church in American culture is facing some cultural challenges. Same-sex marriage will be the law of the land and has spawned some rather disturbing trends. Houston’s city officials have requested the sermons of local pastors who stood in opposition to HERO, the city’s attempt at political correctness toward the LGBT community. More and more Christian leaders will be asked in public forums about their position on same-sex marriage, and more controversy will rise out of their answers. When we look at this issue along with abortion, the decline of evangelistic growth in the church as a whole, and the church’s inconsistency in practice and statement concerning marriage (with the high divorce rates among professed believers), it is tempting to lose hope.

But I’m not going to adopt a sky-is-falling approach. If we’re to be biblically honest, the sky has been falling ever since Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the tree in the garden. Let me remind my fellow believers, we live in a fallen world. And this fallen world is sinful, will act sinful, and will not of its own accord move toward biblical standards, but away from them.

We must also remember we are not the first, nor the only group of believers facing a society whose values are diametrically opposed to the teaching of Scripture. The Greco-Roman culture of the first century slaughtered people for entertainment, worshiped a host of idols, and adopted sexual practices that could even make our culture blush. Fast-forward to the twenty first century. Believers in China face not only an antagonistic culture, but also a government that doesn’t want Christianity to be a part of its nation. Believers in Muslim nations face governments dominated by religious ideology that mandates the death of infidels. Believers in Europe face governments and a culture whose secularization and rejection of its Christian roots makes America look like a Sunday School culture. We are not the first and will not be the last Christian sub-culture to face direct and difficult cultural barriers.

So what do we do? Do we stand by while what is left of our religious freedom is trampled? Do we give up? Do we retreat?

No, I’ve read the end of the story, and Jesus wins—which means we win. We must not retreat, back down, or give up. We must hold to the truth of Scripture. We must consciously adopt an approach to living that is consistent with biblical not cultural standards. We must not be afraid to fight for the gospel truth or even to suffer for it. It is in the crucible of an antagonistic culture that genuine Christianity can not only exist, but flourish. Look at the first believers. Roman emperors hated them. Culture detested them. Other religions ridiculed them. Yet they preached, they made disciples, they advanced, they flourished. The early believers stood on the truth of God’s Word, lived by it (contrasted with the wickedness of their culture), and preached the gospel to others. They hoped in the Christ who was their Savior. Thus was their success. Their example is our prescription and hope.

Idolatry, Covetousness, and the Gospel Solution

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I recently completed a study in my Sunday School class on the 10 Commandments titled “Rules for the Rescued.” God rescued his people from the land of Egypt and gave them the commandments to distinguish them from the pagan nations of Canaan. Both the first and last commands address the heart or the attitude of the redeemed child of God. The commands are found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The first command, “Have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3; Deut. 5:7) highlights the importance of recognizing the unique nature of God himself. He is the only God, and therefore no other god (idol) should ever exist in his place. The final command, “Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21) highlights covetousness as the foundational attitude that forms the basis for many other sins.

These two attitude commands are the basis for the rest of the commandments as we relate to God and to others. Rejecting the attitude of idolatry by worshiping God alone is of primary importance. Obeying command #1 protects us from disobeying God in making idols, taking his name in vain, and breaking the Sabbath day (commands 2-4). Rejecting the attitude of covetousness is central to treating others respectfully. Obeying command #10 protects us in relation to honoring our parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, and not being dishonest (commands 5-9). Addressing these attitude rules by focusing the heart on correct worship and redeemed desires is the first way in which we deal with sinful actions.

Interestingly, Paul in his letter to the Colossians identifies covetousness with idolatry (3:5). I believe his point is that covetousness is the attitude that forms the basis for idolatry. Examples follow. When we desire something with so much passion that we steal it, we have made it an idol replacing God’s promise of provision. When we obsess over some condition, quality, or possession such that it controls our thoughts we engage in covetousness that is really idolatry (wanting or worshiping something more than God). The attitude of covetousness is actually replacing God as the central figure and focus in our lives. Modern day idolatry is generally not exhibited in bowing down to some graven statue, but rather replacing God (who alone is worthy of our total attention, love, devotion, obsession, and worship) with something, someone, or some dream.

And how in the world do we hope to address our failure to obey these rules (primarily the two that deal with the attitudes of our heart—coveting and idolatry)? Do we focus ourselves more severely to obey the commands? Do we set up more rules for ourselves as fences to make sure we are not breaking these commands? No, I believe our flaws in keeping the rules have been tried and have consistently fallen short throughout the history of God’s people. How we learn to keep these rules is actually not ultimately through our own efforts. We learn to keep them by applying our rescue and redemption (the gospel) to our lives on a daily basis.

God did not give Israel these rules nor does he give them to us as prerequisites to becoming his people. He gave the rules because we ARE his people. Redemption preceded these commands. Rescue came before the rules. The rules are not meant to MAKE us God’s people; rather they are meant to REFLECT us as God’s people. So when you come face to face with your own covetousness and idolatry (as I have done during this study), apply the gospel to yourself.

  1. Recognize that God is your holy Creator and Redeemer and that he has every right to expect perfect holiness from you.
  2. Repent of your sinful attitudes and actions as you view them in light of God’s holiness (which are displayed in the commands).
  3. Receive God’s gracious forgiveness by means of the cross of Christ.
  4. Renew your commitment to live in obedience as a reflection of your salvation not a means to it.

Sounds a lot like when you received Christ for the very first time, doesn’t it? It should. Our growth process, especially when identifying and dealing with our sin, flows from applying the gospel to our daily lives.