Refusing To Transform Culture?
Cultural Engagement Is Not Optional
Cultural engagement and transformation is not only essential; it is mandatory for the Christian. Let me say it even stronger: if you are not working to transform the culture you live in, you are not being faithful to the vision that Christ has given us. How can I say such a thing?
Salt and Light
Jesus called us to be salt and light. Salt does not hover in a jar—it penetrates meat to keep it from rotting. Light does not retreat into safe corners—it invades the darkness and scatters it. These are not optional illustrations; they are our identity. If you belong to Christ, then your very being is designed to engage and transform. For you to hide away from culture is for you to deny who you are in Him.
Discipling the Nations
Do you also remember the Great Commission? Jesus told us to baptize and disciple the nations—not merely individuals, but peoples, cultures, entire societies. He commanded us to bring pagan tribes and modern secularists alike under the waters of life, teaching them to obey everything He commanded. If we would only step outside of our churches, prayer closets, and holy-rolling cloisters, and actually do this, it would turn the world upside down. This is not accidental. It is Christ’s explicit command to His bride, the Church.
The Kingdom on Earth
And if that were not enough, He taught us how to pray: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That is no empty phrase. That is a command to plead for heaven’s order to invade earth’s chaos. How can we expect the Father to answer such prayers if we refuse to be the very instruments by which He brings that kingdom? The Spirit empowers us, the Son commands us, and the Father answers through us.
No More Passivity
We have been privatized for far too long. We have been silent for far too long. We have been weak and passive for far too long. The hour demands a Church that will rise with courage, conviction, and confidence in Christ’s victory.
We must recapture the vision of transforming this world for Jesus. He commanded us to do it. He commanded us to pray for it. He commanded us to expect its victory. Anything less is disobedience. Anything less is cowardice. Anything less is betrayal of our King.
So let us go forth as salt, as light, as ambassadors of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. The world does not need a Church in hiding. It needs a Church on mission.
