What can we do?

This post is dedicated to my friend John. We were talking on the phone, when John said, "You know, the more I read my Bible, and the more I look at the culture, I think we cannot live in both." I agreed. "So what do we do?"

That's a tough question. The toughest, perhaps. It is asked repeatedly in Scripture. John answered with things like "If you have two cloaks, give one away to someone who has none." Peter answered with "Repent and be baptized."

It is a difficult question entirely. For starters, I wonder if the question is bad. This is a problem, because we want a list of things we have to do, mostly because we want the bare minimum of things we have to do, so that we don't have to do more. Maybe instead of doing we should be. See, because instead of trying to complete a checklist, who we are should define our actions. Guilt is a lousy motivator, as is fear. Ask yourself, "Who am I? Who do I want to be? And who does God want me to be?" Then ask "What do I have to do to become that person?"

But that's not exactly helpful is it? That is a question that must be asked daily, and should be a defining question. But I think what we need is more practical answers. We need options.

1) The first option is to do what some have done, like the Puritans, Quakers, Mennonites, and Amish. You form your own culture, completely separate from the world, and attempt to make a Utopian religious society. There are several problems with this. First, it won't be perfect as long as there are people. It can last maybe 5 days before the first greed will provoke a leader to oppress those below them. Second, it is unbiblical. I've often thought it would be better to live a monastic lifestyle, but the problem is Jesus commissions his followers from the beginning to be "fishers of men," to invite men to the freedom he offers. If you create an isolated society, you fail in the many commands to spread the good news.

2) The second option is the state of many in the American church today. That is to just go with the culture. There is a problem with this. Mostly, it requires lipservice to God. You can maybe go to church, but you certainly are not allowed to actually practice what you say you believe, because that might make you an individual which is intolerable in our culture. This makes you fake, a hypocrite (the Greek word for actor). Bottom line it, you give up everything that you were saved to in order to get back what you were saved from. That is unacceptable. I am not willing to give up my reason for living to chase the misery that follows a life spent seeking temporary things like money. As I said, this is the sad state of many who sit in church on Sunday morning, as is evidenced by the fact that statistically there is no difference between people who go to church or don't in regards to how likely they are to steal, commit adultery, use pornography, cheat on their taxes, get a divorce, use foul language, etc.

3) The third option is to be "in the world but not of it." This expression has been passed around church circles for decades, possibly centuries. The problem is no one knows what it means (which led many to option 2). We have to be counter-cultural. Our job is to be subversive, not in the traditional sense of leading some type of violent rebellion. This is about living differently. This subversion is to live an example of a better life, of freedom from the slavery of our culture. As John the Baptist said, use extremism in generosity, love, and forgiveness. Extremism in peace and respect for your fellow man. Extremism in compassion and selflessness, and justice for all.