Confronting the Culture with Truth and Love

Nothing looked familiar anymore.

I was driving alone on a trip I had been on before, but never driven. I was prepared—map printed out on the passenger’s seat and smart phone as a backup. I suddenly stopped singing along with the tune on the radio when I realized nothing had looked familiar in a long time. I was very lost.

When culture pushes against godly boundaries, people get lost. Proverbs 22:28 warns us about the danger of moving boundaries: “The previous generation has set boundaries in place. Don’t you dare move them just to benefit yourself.”

Declaring something evil to be something good doesn’t make it good. Even if the culture embraces it, evil is still evil. “You can rationalize it all you want and justify the path of error you have chosen, but you’ll find out in the end that you took the road to destruction” (Proverbs 14:12). If a lie is told long enough, people may start to believe it, but that doesn’t make it truth. It’s still a lie that leads people to destruction.

As the culture pushes boundaries, the world looks less and less familiar. Cultural norms are upended at a dizzying rate. More and more people embrace evil and call it good. How do we navigate this culture while bringing glory to God? How do we walk right when the world heads in a wrong direction?

Here are two essentials to navigating in a world without boundaries:

• Have convictions. We must know what we believe. Our boundaries are rooted in our faith in God and knowledge of his word. We cannot give in to an anti-faith, anti-God, anti-Bible culture. Regardless of what is accepted as “normal” in our culture, we cannot embrace it if it is counter to God’s word. We have a duty both to do what is right and to stand up for what is right.

• Trust God. God is in control of our lives, our culture, and our world. The consequences of standing up for what is right is also in God’s control. Friend, there may be times when there are consequences for standing up for what is right. In those times, we must trust God and not give in to fear. Regardless of what the culture may say, we stand up for what is right—by living right, by declaring the truth of what is right, and by loving people even when they’re wrong. And we trust God with whatever consequences may follow.

The days of fitting in with the culture are over. When I was lost on my drive, I didn’t need someone to pat my back and say I was headed in the right direction. I needed someone who would acknowledge I was lost and help me find my way. When our culture loses its way, people need our help, not our approval. We must not be driven by being liked or being accepted by our culture. We must be committed to loving people, following God’s word, and bringing him glory.

Joshua 24:15 has never been more appropriate than today. We must choose whom we will serve. Will we serve the values of the culture in which we live? Or will we boldly, faithfully serve the Lord?

Dear God, give me discernment to see when today’s culture is moving away from your word. Help me recognize lies and give me courage to stand with truth. Give me and my family faith to stand up against the pressure of an ungodly culture. Tear down strongholds. Establish your kingdom in the earth. In Jesus’s name, amen.