Romans 12:1-2

Right now Christians cannot be seen as culturally irrelevant. Today's culture is on the precipice of becoming a post-Christian society and as a result Christians are seen as becoming more and more removed from the culture. Sadly many Christians are ok with this fact. This is the worst possible thing Christians can do in relation to society today. Why is it when the church needs to be reaching out to the community we have to explicitly say this is a "Christian event".

There are three possible reasons to say this. The first and my personal favorite is that Christians don't think other Christians are smart enough to figure out that an event is a led by Christians. This is my favorite because the other two options separate us from those outside the Church (the body of Christ). If this is the case, if you must explicitly say that your event is Christian because you don't think that your cause and your actions don't reveal that yourself then maybe there is something wrong with your cause and you need to reevaluate your actions. To take a verse from a great song "they will know we are Christians by our love."

The second reason is we (Christians) know that Christians only go to "Christian events". So when we say this is a Christian event, we are effectively saying, "I know you wouldn't come to this normally but since Christians are leading this its ok for you to come." Take for instance the Christian music scene. (Now don't think for one second that I am looking down on Christian music) but how many Christians would go to a Christian concert but never a secular concert. This type of mentality, shunning secular events and only supporting Christian events, has become a major problem. For some reason Christians have begun to believe that when something is Christian led nothing bad will happen. Like Christians are better than everybody else and when Christians get together in large groups their holiness increases. I have often found the opposite to be true, in large groups people get stupid and Christians are not immune to this trend. We are all sinners and live in the grace of God. So when bad things do happen we know how to show that grace and love to others.

Sometimes an only Christian event is ok, there are times that Christians need to be surrounded by other Christians. In times of hurt and struggle secular people would be lost in helping a Christian cope. However the vast majority of the time we need to be in the world being the arms and feet of Christ. This cannot be done if the Church is hugging itself all the time or has its hand in its pockets because it is afraid to go outside.

The third reason is the unsaid undertones of the second reason. We say an event is Christian led to warn non-Christians away. This is becoming more and more effective as the culture sees Christians becoming further separated from everything else. We are not saying we don't want Christians there but we are winking and giving a subtle shake of our head telling non-Christians that this event is probably not for them.

But what if the Church opened its eyes and walked out into the world. Walking that fine line of being in the world but not of it. As Christians there should be something different about us, something that separates us from the rest of society. What separates the Christian from the non-Christians should be our overflowing Joy. This should build bridges not fences to everyone on the outside. Not necessarily that we are happy all the time but that even when things are down we have a hope that other people want.

Christians, open your eyes, look at the world today, evaluate what you see both individually and as a whole. I believe that you will be surprised at what you see. The whole of Christianity has not retreated from the culture but instead valiant Christians have quietly infused Christianity in the pop culture. Listen to music, there are images of Christ and grace sprinkled here and there. Watch some tv, even in the thick of the sex and violence Christ's love is still made known. Christian themes may not be as overt as they used to be but the themes are still there in the midst of the culture. These Christian values, the need for forgiveness and grace, are most apparent when everything has fallen down and the only ones left standing are those who rely on Christ. Yes Christian characters are made fun of and their character traits exaggerated but in the end they have the rock that they can stand on when everyone else has fallen to the ground.

Christianity will not change the culture through legislation or through force. Instead Christians have a secret weapon that we have not used effectively in generations, grace. Without grace we are no different than anybody else. Grace changed the course our lives, so let it change the course of the lives of those around us.

So may you live in the grace of our lord, Jesus Christ. May you stop running away from the culture but transform it with love and forgiveness. May you go out in the world with outstretched arms to love and show grace to a world that has forgotten what grace is. May you stand on the rock that is Jesus Christ and pull those on the sandy beaches around you when they stumble. And may you reflect the infinite grace that you have been given to a culture that does not understand.