Generosity

Jesus wants us to know that greed is ultimately foolishness. We are challenged to value less our "standard of living" and more our "standard of giving."

Download Generosity

Let me tell you a story. There was a guy who started a business in his mid-twenties, and he thought it had potential to make a good living—and for the first few years it did. He made a good living, he was able to buy a nice house, save for his kid’s college, save enough for retirement someday, and they were content. At least he thought.

Then one day, he got a huge break. One day, on the phone was the leading retail distributor for his line of business, and they wanted to sign a huge contract that would make this man a multi-millionaire many times over, in a matter of months. He goes home and tells his wife. They are so excited! Within a week they call their realtor and buy a huge lot in the nicest subdivision in town, so they can build a house that will be 3.5 times the size of their current house. Not only that, they look at their new income and they start to strategize that, if after they buy their new house and their new cars, boat, and vacation property, if they save the rest, they could actually retire by the age of 40.

So that is what they did. They started to save, save, save, and by the age of 40, he sold his business. Now they winter at the Cayman Islands, where he plays golf 4 or 5 days a week and takes out his yacht on the other days. During the summer, they come back to the states and live in luxury, play golf, go to New York to see the Broadway shows, and catch a few Yankee games. Then they go to Europe for about a month, where they visit their favorite places. Does that sound nice or what? In today’s passage, Jesus looks at a guy who did something like this and says, “You fool!” I didn’t call him a fool, but Jesus did.

If you were to eavesdrop on one of Jesus’ sermons, what topic (beyond relationship) do you think you would have the greatest chance of hearing Him speak on? Money. As you watch the ministry of Jesus, you see Him talk about money again and again. This is because there is a fundamental link between our walks with God and how we think about and handle money.

The Respectable Sin

Luke 12 is one of the most countercultural texts in the whole Bible. It flies in the face of our cultural goals, and what our culture esteems. This passage deals with one of the most respected sins in our society. Not only is it respectable, it is one that at some point or another we all struggle with.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:13-15)

Instead of granting his request, Jesus gets out His scalpel and cuts right to the heart. Jesus sensed the danger of greed in the situation. Jesus tells them, and in doing so He tells us, to be very careful, to be very aggressive against greed in our lives, especially in the culture we live in. He doesn’t take it casually at all, but tells this man to live his life in a way that guards his heart against greed!

Greed says that your life consists of the abundance of your possessions. If you believe the lie of greed, you will define success by how many possessions you have. If you believe the lie of greed, you will make decisions based on what will give you the most money, not on what would be best for your walk with God; you will be willing to risk relationships for money—like what is happening in this passage. If you believe the lie of greed, you will think that a new house, car, electronic device will make you happy and satisfy you. If you believe the lie of greed, you will not be able to celebrate someone else’s blessing, but only lament that it is not yours. Jesus says the basis of greed is a lie. To illustrate the lie of greed, Jesus shares a story.

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’” (Luke 12:16-17)

The Rich Man’s ground produced a crop—a bumper crop! He was blessed. Now he has to figure out what he is going to do with it. Isn’t it true that the more you have, the more you have to worry about? Let me remind you of some physics: the greater the mass, the greater the force the object exerts. What often happens to people is they become more enslaved to money because they are worried about losing it and their identity gets tied up in it—money starts to define them.

My, My, My … No Stewardship

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ (18-19)

He gets an idea to build bigger barns. It is interesting how telling this man’s words are. He says “my” and “I” 8 times in two little verses. He is totally absorbed with himself. As Christians, we recognize God as the center, and that life is not about “my” kingdom, but about His kingdom. We are not owners, we are stewards! We are entrusted with what we have and we are accountable to the Owner concerning what we do with it. We are His, which means our money is His also. With the Rich Man, we see no sign of stewardship and no sign of responsibility to anyone but himself.

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ (20)

Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” A fool lives their life and uses their money as if there is no God ... they orient their lives around themselves, and not around God and His desires! I don’t know if he was an atheist, but the person in this parable lived as a practical atheist.

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (21)

The man in this parable died a poor, rich man. The money he left was fool’s gold! Jesus says all of this to illustrate the folly of thinking that your life consists of your possessions. Jesus says, “No, if you want to see what life really consists of, look at the end of life and work backwards.” This man bought into the lie of greed and just kept building bigger barns instead of being generous and being rich toward God. God called this type of person a fool because of his fundamental misunderstanding of reality, his lack of wisdom—not understanding the big picture, which has God at the center of it.

This passage isn’t against having a savings account or investments, but it is against hoarding. This passage is about how one views their own life, and what it looks life to live a life with God in the center of it. God is generous, and if we are going to be transformed into the image of Jesus, we are going to be generous people. If you want to know God’s will for your life, I can tell you. He wants you to be generous.

Living Generously

For thousands of years, as people have become followers of God, they have become generous people. We see that before the Law was ever given, when Abraham had an encounter with God, he responded by giving to God 10% of all he had (Genesis 14). We see in the New Testament that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, they started to share their possessions with anyone who had need ... to the point where it was said there were “no needy among them” (Acts 4:34). Generosity is what life with God looks like.

Let me tell you about a couple that we have had in our small group. The wife was finishing her residency, getting ready to take her first position as a full physician, and they were excited! The reason for their excitement was not because the paycheck would increase their standard of living, but because it would increase their standard of giving. They told me, “When we were in undergrad, we determined how much money was enough for us and we committed that any amount of money that we made over that amount we were going to give.” They knew you may make a living by what you get, but that you make a life by what you give. How beautiful!

So how do we aggressively structure our lives toward generosity and against greed? One of the major ways we do it is through tithing. Tithing trains our hearts to be generous. It reminds us that God is our source and we are just a stewards, and it reminds us that our lives doesn’t consist in the abundance of our possessions. I believe that tithing is one of the most important spiritual disciplines we can participate in. It is the training wheels of a generous life. It is just the beginning—a floor, if you will, not a ceiling.

Among those who claim to be “born-again Christians”, only 9% tithe. Among those who say they are “Christian”, only 5% tithe. The highest percentage of tithers is among evangelicals, of whom 24% tithe. We are in the richest country in the world, and the best percentage we can muster in any Christian demographic is 1 out of 4. That is tragic.

Let me tell you something that I have noticed. Those who were generous in college have been generous after graduation. Generosity isn’t a circumstantial thing as much as it is a heart thing. Don’t think you will suddenly be able to be generous when you graduate, but begin to allow the Holy Spirit to transform that area of your life now!

What could the church do if we went from at 24% efficiency to 80% efficiency? Look at all the amazing things the church does around the world, from evangelization to caring for orphans—off of 24% efficiency! What could the church do on 80%? How many missionaries could the church send? How many poor could the church feed? How could God be glorified in the world? If you have never tithed, I want to encourage you to start tithing. If you work, tithe off your salary. If you don’t work, tithe off what your parents give you. Though you may not have a large income stream now, tithe as an act of obedience to God and as a discipline to train your heart toward generosity.

Concerning “new birth,” Martin Luther once said that “there are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind, and the purse”! May our purse (or wallet) be converted. May we not be fools! May we truly believe that we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give, and may we truly believe that our life does not consist of the abundance of our possessions. May we be rich ... towards God!

Relevant Scriptures

Genesis 14:18-20

Psalm 24:1

Matthew 6:19-24

2 Corinthians 8-9

Questions for Discussion


  • What is the difference between being an owner and a steward? Which does your lifestyle reflect?
  • Theologian Leonard Sweet once said, “Every advertisement you see has two messages. One is, ‘Buy our product!’ The other message is, ‘The gospel is wrong! The world revolves around you!’” What external forces have recently been encouraging you to live a “me-centered” life?
  • What are ways you can aggressively structure your life toward generosity and against greed?

Recommended Reading

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

Technology

By Chi Alpha • 03 Sep, 2024
Download Technology “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” -Colossians 3:1-2 As a college student, technology and the internet play a large role in your day-to-day life. You use them to check your grades, submit assignments, apply for internships, schedule meetings, and more. Not much changes after graduation; everyone from consultants to professors to CEOs to software engineers to truck drivers rely on technology for their work. And of course, new social media platforms are popping up every day, fighting for and demanding your attention. It’s unavoidable. As technology becomes more prevalent in our daily lives, it can be easy to dedicate more time and attention to our devices, time that is better spent elsewhere. As we spend more time plugged in, our devices form and shape us in ways we may not recognize for a long time. Thankfully, this is not a resource on how to simply avoid technology in your life because that would be futile. Rather, we need to reframe how we use our devices and learn how to take back control from those who manufacture them. How can we recognize the ways technology has formed us and make intentional choices to ensure our formation is centered around Jesus? As Felicia Wu Song, author of Restless Devices, puts it, “lifting our eyes off our screens and living more deeply into the time and place in which we are embedded.” Our Modern World Think about how many times a day you pick up your cell phone. Most smartphones calculate it for you, and you can see exactly how much time you spend on any given app, how many texts you send per day, etc. Those numbers can be harrowing; we don’t realize how much time and attention we are giving to our devices. Why did we become so engrossed with our phones? How have we become perpetually plugged in? Song writes, “Just as the digital is always accessible to us, we come to expect the same of people…We have fast become a people who are always available, always on call. Young people grow up into their friendships and personal identities in this engrossing fog of social pressures, stresses, and anxieties that had–until this point in human history–mainly been the purview of surgeons, firefighters, and workaholics. (And even then, first responders and doctors were professionally obligated to take time away from their beepers).” Like doctors and first responders, our phones have forced us to always be on call. We constantly feel the need to catch up on emails, texts, social media, and the news of the day. When the internet was first conceived, it was a space you had to intentionally enter by sitting at a desk, firing up a boxy computer, and logging into dial-up internet (as long as someone wasn’t using the home phone). Now, the digital space has entered our world; it’s in our pockets, our living rooms, our kitchen counters, and even our bedrooms, all running on high-speed internet. We no longer need to “do” anything to get connected—we are connected. Smartphones and the internet differ from past technological revolutions because they are specifically designed to attract both our time and attention. Unlike devices like the typewriter, lightbulb, or dishwasher, our devices are more than just tools to help us accomplish tasks. Every day, the brightest minds in the world are tweaking algorithms and designing new apps, all in an effort to capture more of our clicks, scrolls, and likes, which generates more revenue for them. The digital world is not neutral, and it’s certainly not out to make us healthier people. The tech industry is keenly aware of this: they know that we will be formed by the habits we keep, and their goal is to develop habits in us that make us return to them. Many tech executives or former tech executives will restrict their kids from using technology because they understand how the technology works better than anyone! Digital Liturgies Every time we open our phones, we are chemically programming our brains. When we get a notification, our stress response, cortisol, is activated, and whenever we open our phones to answer a message or scroll Instagram, dopamine, our pleasure response, is increased in the brain. This cycle of stress and pleasure is very similar to what gambling addicts describe when using a slot machine, which explains why we constantly check our phones even when we know there isn’t anything there. Technology has also pushed us to be maximally productive, or as Song calls it, “hypertasking.” Since technology allows us to do five things at once, why would we ever waste our time doing nothing? Well, as Song points out, “The irony of it all is that the very technology that promises to help us organize and efficiently deliver in our lives and relationships has merely subjected us to an avalanche of unprioritized demands on our attention and our lives.” Because of these addictive tendencies and the desire to hypertask, we aren’t using our time and attention well—we’re just giving our attention away. These practices are called “digital liturgies.” In the same way that the church has liturgies, such as saying the Lord’s Prayer before a sermon or raising hands during the benediction, our devices build habits into us. When we hear “ding” or feel a vibration, we respond by opening our phones. When we wake up, instead of making our bed and starting the day with peace, we immediately reach for our phones and see what we missed overnight. As Song puts it, “in the same way that Jesus called his disciples to become a people who abide in him as he would abide in them, we too have become a people who abide in the digital, and the digital abides in us.” Counterliturgies At this point, it may sound like the only solution is to take a sledgehammer to your phone and throw your laptop in a dumpster. Not only is that impractical, but it also won’t solve our problem. Instead, we need to counter our digital liturgies with new habits, aka “counterliturgies.” The following exercises are what Song calls “The Freedom Project,” an assignment she gives to her college classes. These are not exhaustive, but they’re great ways to start building healthier practices and take control back from your devices! Stage 1: Digital Media Fast -Go without any form of digital communication for 24 hours. This includes all text messaging, web browsing, social media, smartphone apps (even the weather app!), digital music (both streaming and CDs), streaming platforms like Netflix or YouTube, and video games (including mobile games). You should also abstain from digital news, including sports updates. You are allowed to use email and texts for work/school purposes or emergencies, but try and talk to friends and family before your experiment to limit those. You are allowed to read print media: books, newspapers, magazines. You may watch broadcast TV or go to a movie theater! This is hard to accomplish for 24 hours, so don’t feel pressured to make this a permanent lifestyle, but you can take lessons from it and apply them every day! Before the fast, make plans that will help you stay offline for the day. After the fast, journal what changes/adjustments you had to make, what you did with your day, and how you felt. Stage 2: Stocktaking - This is less about change and more about understanding your current habits and responses in the digital world. Monitoring Digital Usage: Download a time-tracking app, such as Screen Time, Moment, or Rescue Time. Before you begin monitoring, write down how many times you think you pick up your phone and how much time you spend on your phone per day. Track these over 5 days and compare with your guesses. How accurate were you? Did anything surprise you? Going Under the Microscope: Be hyperalert about your digital routines for one 24-hour period. Ask the below questions and reflect on the dynamics and trends you observe. In what situations am I nearly always using my phone? Are there triggers that automatically motivate me to reach for my phone? What is my physical/emotional state right before/after I use my phone? Are there moments when I realize I don’t have my phone? How do I feel then? When do I feel engaged, joyful, effective, & purposeful? Where am I? Who am I with? “Phone Meditation” Exercise: First, sit and become aware of your current feelings, posture, and focus/distraction level. Take out your phone and hold it. What changes do you notice in yourself? Posture, feelings, focus, etc. Next, unlock your phone and open a frequently used app. Spend a few moments scrolling or messaging, then observe yourself again for any shifts. Then turn off your phone and put it out of sight. Sit for an entire minute without doing anything. Take note of any differences again. Write and reflect on this activity as a whole. Motivation Check: Put a “stop sign” on your phone, either on your wallpaper or with a post-it note/rubber band. Ask yourself each time you pick it up: What am I going to do? Why now instead of later? What else could I do right now besides check my phone? Stage 3: Counterliturgy - Try new activities that push back against your digital/secular liturgies! Create a new bedtime/morning routine that doesn’t involve your phone. Maybe start your day by making your bed, exercising, reading/journaling, or enjoying the outdoors. In the evenings, read a book, write a note of gratitude, play music, or enjoy a cup of tea! Make a “sacred zone” around your bed for five days. Create a charging station for your phone/devices that is further away from where you normally set it, either across the room or in another room altogether. If you use your phone as your alarm, buy a physical alarm clock instead! You can use a watch to wake you up while your phone is across/outside the room. Experiment with monotasking. Choose an activity: studying, cooking, chores, gardening, etc., and do that activity without focusing on anything else during that time. Start with a small amount of time (20-30 minutes) and work your way up to monotasking for longer. Protect your sacred times. Block apps, video games, streaming services, and social media during certain times of the day, such as before bed and right after waking up. Observe when you run into these limits, and whether you want to break through them or find something else to do instead. Hopefully, whether through these exercises or others like them, we can all improve our relationship with technology and, more importantly, improve our connection with the world around us and the God who created it all! Technology plays a huge part in our lives, and it’s vital to our mission to spread the truth of Jesus around the world. By having healthy digital habits, we will display a life centered around the peace and love of Jesus to a world engrossed in screens, a world longing for a better way. Relevant Scriptures Psalm 91:1 ...Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High John 15:5. …If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit 1 John 2:15 …Do not love the world or anything in the world. Questions for Discussion What has been your relationship with technology, specifically your smartphone? Which of these counterliturgies do you need to practice the most? How will your improved relationship with technology help you share Jesus with others? Recommended Reading Restless Devices by Felicia Wu Song How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price

Hospitality

By Chi Alpha • 01 Nov, 2023
Download Hospitality “So we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” -1 Thessalonians 2:8 What is Radically Ordinary Hospitality? “Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom. They open doors; they seek out the underprivileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key” (Butterfield, 11). The practice of radically ordinary hospitality is an opportunity for us to invite those around us into our messy, everyday lives and reveal what true Christian faith really looks like. We don’t have to make an extravagant meal or know all the answers to Biblical questions to practice radically ordinary hospitality . We can do it by being ourselves and letting others see what it looks like to follow Christ in the mundane and extraordinary of our lives, including all the highs and lows. Our invitation has the power to disrupt preconceived notions that our friends may have about Christianity based on social media and the news. This is not a modern concept; we have a Biblical basis for it. Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors (Luke 5:29-32). He interrupted the status quo and made outsiders feel like insiders. We, too, have experienced the personal invitation of Jesus! In the same way that Jesus welcomes us, our hospitality provides a place for those proximate to us to encounter Jesus through us. This can bring about a radical change in their lives. This vision of hospitality should empower us to examine our surroundings and ask, “who is on the outside and how can I invite them in?” How do we practice hospitality? We must start where we are, whether that’s a dorm room, family living room, or apartment. We all have resources that we can use for the sake of others. Hospitality is about being open: open to others and open to what God is doing. Here are some practical elements to think about when considering next steps in hospitality: Invitation : Think about who is in your class, your major, or your program that you can invest in and invite. Preparation : Plan where you will meet and what you will do. Prepare your location, food, and activities accordingly. It doesn’t have to be too fancy, just accessible to the people you invite. Execution : The most important thing is to do something—do not get stuck in all the planning that you forget to actually practice hospitality. Some Ideas Host a dinner at your house Super Bowl Party at the Hub Ice cream float night Game night where everyone brings a favorite game Video game tournaments (Smash bros, Mario kart, etc.) Gather a group to go to a friend’s dance, band, comedy show, etc. performance Your idea: __________________________________________________________________ Remember, sometimes what is most hospitable is entering into other people’s spaces before they ever come to your space. Take your time and listen to God. Know that this journey is often slow, but God is present through it all. Take a step of faith and invite someone into your life. God can transform lives, yours included! Relevant Scriptures 1 Peter 4:8-10 Romans 12:13-20 Questions for Discussion What are the biggest things keeping you from having the emotional space to recognize the needs of those around you? How can you limit/remove them? What strengths & interests do you have that you can use for hospitality? Where can you start? What are the particulars about your life that you can utilize to bless others? Recommended Reading: The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield

Engaging Culture

By Chi Alpha • 22 Feb, 2023
Download Engaging Culture “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” - Romans 12:2 Christian Living Have you ever wondered what the Bible has to say about social media? Or how Jesus would have responded to any of the other hot topics in our culture? Frankly, the Bible has a lot more to say about farming than it does about social media. Yet, we know that God’s Word was given to show us how to live not just in the age of Jesus, but in every age following. Romans 12:2 reminds us that we are not to look like the world, but rather to have our minds renewed that we might learn the will of God. Indeed, John 17:16 quotes Jesus as saying, “they are not of the world, even as I am not of it,” about his followers. So we know that while we live in this world, we are “not of the world” and are not to conform to it either. But how does this play out in our daily lives? What We’re Up Against The average American college student faces many challenges in answering the call of being in the world but not of it. We find ourselves in conflict with the culture on everything from our sexual ethic, to how we handle alcohol, and even where we find our identity. Our college culture, and indeed the culture of our world, is always trying to form us in more ways than we can fathom. Some of these ways are obvious, like violent and sexually graphic television or music that glorifies a sinful lifestyle. But what about gossip or influencers who always tell us to have the latest brand name clothes or resources? Or how about the way we spend hours scrolling through social media, or how we confront someone over text messages rather than waiting to speak face-to-face? Our modern world is filled with intricate social structures and phenomena that aren’t specifically mentioned in Scripture, but are all deeply formative in how we follow Jesus. If you feel the argument of: “wait a minute, not everything has to be bad all the time” argument welling up inside you, please pause for just a minute. I’m not trying to say that taking a selfie is a sin, or that you need to delete your Netflix. As Christians we are not called to live totally separate from the world, yet it is important to be cognizant of the ways we are being formed by the culture. If we simply avoid the culture, it holds us back from the goal of reaching those who do not yet know the Lord! Instead, we need to think critically about how to engage with culture without compromising our witness. We are also not called to be antagonistic towards culture. It is too easy to point out problems from the outside without stepping into the world to offer solutions and care in the midst of brokenness. We are called to look different because we are citizens of a different Kingdom! Even still, we must point out perhaps the most common danger for our generation of Christians: falling into the alluring trap of relevance. We all feel social pressure to connect with people and no one wants to be considered strange or elitist or judgmental or lame. Relevance draws us in with thoughts of, ‘everyone else watches it’ or ‘they won’t listen to me if we can’t relate over anything!’ However these arguments are just a rationalization for indulging our own desires. Walking this line of thinking and questioning, ‘how harmful can it be?’ minimizes God’s call to holiness. All of a sudden, Christians who are called to be the prophetic voice in the brokenness of a culture are participating in it along with the very people they’re trying to welcome into the Kingdom of God. What Then Are We To Do? So, we are not called to live separate from culture, but neither are we called to love it. But what then are we called to? We know that Jesus lived a radically pure and self-sacrificial life, yet he also entered into some of the most rejected and sinful subgroups of society. Somehow, he formed those places rather than being formed by them. Jesus was neither separate from, nor part of those cultures - he was countercultural . Gabe Lyons, in his book The Next Christians, points out that those who live counter-culturally like Jesus: “...see themselves as salt, preserving agents actively working for restoration in the middle of a decaying culture. ... They understand that by being restorers they fight against the cultural norms and often flow counter to the cultural tide. But they feel that, as Christians, they’ve been called to partner with God in restoring and renewing everything they see falling apart.” We are the salt of the earth, and our call is to be restorers and renewers. We must learn to discern what is good, what is not, and to pursue holiness. Sin Is Sin How do we enter into culture with the hope of redeeming it, yet not be swayed by it? The first and obvious point is to know and avoid sin. Not just the “large” sins, like murder/theft/adultery, but also the sins we consider not as dangerous. We may find ourselves indulging in things like watching or reading pornography, swearing, gossiping, or underage drinking. You may think underage drinking is no big deal, but when God tells you to obey laws, your underage drinking is not just casual – it is sin. Patrick Lencioni reminds us of the truth behind our worldly ranking of sins: “...which brings me to a powerful truth that I easily and often forget: every sin is a sin. None of it is good, and all of it, in every form, can corrupt us. I love the saying “whether a bird is tethered by a chain or a piece of twine, it still can’t fly.” We must face the fact that the secular world – the one that is the theater of the prince of darkness – will be happy to see us tied down by twine. It/he hopes that we will be falsely comforted by the idea that ‘it is only twine.’” This can be a hard truth to live out. The smaller sins seem so innocuous but we have to face the truth, even if every sin isn’t necessarily equal in earthly consequence, they all hold us back from the freedom that God desires for us. They lead to death, and we are called to repent of and cease them all . We can’t have our secret sins in the Kingdom of God. Living in the Kingdom of God means that we submit our lives, in every small decision, under the rule and reign of God. In other words, we don’t have the right to decide something is okay when God has said it isn’t. It’s as simple as that. But What If It’s Not Sin? There’s more than sin to confront in the question of how to consume culture, right? What about the gray areas? Hebrews 12:1 says to, “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Even if something is not a sin, it can hinder our accomplishment of the life Christ has called us to. Philippians 4:8-9 has the same encouragement with a positive spin: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Is the culture you are consuming helping you to think about true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable things? Or is it hindering you from running the race God has set before you? Maybe this needs to be more specific. Consider how these things may be forming you: Is that movie going to help you think of pure things? Is cursing helping your witness? Are hours alone playing video games or binge-watching shows drawing you into deeper community? Is the time you are spending on Instagram or TikTok forming you to look more like Jesus? These little things that we consider to be so inconsequential can actually begin to corrode our sense of God’s purpose and desire for our life. What if these small things, even more than the sins we can name, are holding us back from making an impact in our relationships and our community? Why It’s Worth It Reevaluating how we engage with our culture can have a positive impact on different aspects of our lives. In our relationship with God, it can help us to recognize and eliminate sin, ultimately leading to a greater sense of freedom and intimacy with the Lord. In our relationship with others, confronting our engagement with culture can help us to let go of behaviors that hinder our ability to form genuine connections and to love others as we are called to do. Finally, the way we engage with culture can also have a significant impact on our witness to the lost. When we choose to look different and live by God's standards, we demonstrate to the world that a life in Him is worth far more than a life in the world. This, in turn, can offer hope to others that there is something better than what they currently know. This is Jesus’ invitation to all of us, to live in the world but not to be formed by it. Jesus is inviting us to look beautifully different from the culture and in doing so, to live in a way that showcases the radiance of Christ to a world in desperate need of His eternal hope. Relevant Scriptures Psalm 141:4 ...Don’t let my heart be drawn to what is evil 1 Corinthians 3:19 ... For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight Colossians 2:8 ... See to it that no one takes you captive by empty deceit. Jeremiah 10:2 ... Do not learn the way of the nations. Questions For Discussion Where do you find yourself most tempted to look like the culture? What might be things that aren’t sin but fall under the “hindrance” category? What do you think it means to “take up your cross” on an average day? Have you ever been inspired by someone who lived differently from the rest of your friends/community? What was it about them that inspired you? Application: It is important to turn our understanding into actions. This week, fast from something you engage with regularly (TV, secular music, Instagram, TikTok) that you think may be hindering you from the race God has set before you. Fill that time with praying or reading His Word. When we refocus our brains on truth, these cultural lies or hindrances become more apparent and we can begin to submit our desires to the Holy Spirit’s transforming power! Recommended Reading: Beautiful Resistance by Jon Tyson Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons
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