A Cultural Change - Daily Devotional September 10th 2009

Daily Bible Reading - 2 Kings 16, Ezekiel 6, Luke 2

A Cultural Change

Many people say that we are a product of our culture when in actuality culture cannot be established without people. People are not formed by culture, rather culture is formed by people. I think by blaming culture for where our society is at it alleviates some of our responsibility, or at least allows us to point the finger at God rather than at ourselves. With the understanding that we as a people group form our culture we can now see that a cultural change must start with a mindset shift. That mindset shift must start with the teachers and leaders of a society.

Luke 2 has so many powerful principles in it but one of the most powerful to me is this one of a cultural change starting at the top and then working its way down. Luke 2:41-49 is a powerful story that paints this picture of what must take place for a cultural change. Here Jesus and all his family and many more people traveled in a caravan to Jerusalem for the passover feast. After the feast was done they began their journey back home. About a days journey away Jesus' parents realize that he is not with the caravan. They quickly head back to Jerusalem and begin their search. The Bible says in verse 46, that "after three days they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers". Here they had been looking for three full days wondering where their child could be. If this would have been a modern day story I could imagine them looking in the pizza parlor, the arcade, the theater, the mall or possibly a best friends house. They would have thought for sure that he would be in one of those places, but instead they find him in a church listening to the preacher tell them about the word of God. When they find him Jesus says, "why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my fathers house?" In other words you need to change your mind set because this is where every young person my age should be.

You see, culture is determined by the way we think things should be and because we think that's the way it should be we project that image and therefore that is the way culture becomes. I believe that they did not look in all the wrong places for their son because culturally that's where kids should hang. Or rather, kids would hang out their because that's the way the parents and teachers had established the culture. Jesus when He said, "why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my fathers house?", was saying there needs to be a cultural change and that change starts with changing your perception of things!

When I was in college I had to take a health class and one of the topics we discussed was sex. On this particular day they brought in a so called expert to talk about the topic with us. In this lady's discussion she talked to us about all the different types of contraceptives that could be used to help protect from STDs and from getting pregnant. At the end of her little speech she said this statement, "there is no 100% way to protect from STDs or from getting pregnant". I was a little ticked off so I raised my hand. When she called on me I said there is a 100% sure way. She said, "oh really, please tell us". I said, "abstinence"! With that the class started laughing and the lady said, "that is just not realistic". My reply was, "well if you begin to teach it as a realistic option I believe it will be realistic!" You see people are not ruining around having sex before marriage because that's the way culture is. The culture is that way because teachers started handing out condoms and teaching kids about sex and saying, "hey it's OK, just use protection."

As believers we must understand that Christianity is not just a personal experience it is a world view that must infiltrate every arena of life because that is the way God always intended it to be. It starts though with the simple things like stop looking for Jesus in an arcade and realize that he must be in his father's house. When we do this we will paint a picture of what culture should really look like for the younger generation. The Bible in Proverbs 23:7 says that as a person thinks in their heart so are they. As we shift our thinking we can make a cultural change.

This whole thought came full circle for me just a few moments ago as I was talking about the shows our kids watch, Handy Many, PBS kids etc. Someone made the comment, "you know your Cara is getting to old for those shows". I sat there and I thought about the shows that her friends watch and I couldn't help but think that I don't want my kids watching those shows... EVER. It is not because they are not old enough but rather those shows are inappropriate for anyone. The culture that has been created by people in the entertainment world would say sure watch those shows but as for me and my house, "we will serve the Lord". That is the culture I am establishing and I believe as I do others will too and together we will make a cultural change.

It is time to get back to Christianity as a worldview and make a cultural change one thought and one action at a time. It is time we "must be in our fathers house".

Tomorrows Bible Reading - 2 Kings 17, Ezekiel 7, Luke 3

Dream Big
Ben