For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea and foras many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attainingto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding and the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2.1-3

Five disciplines

We have considered five specific ways in which Christians are called to engage culture in their service to God and their neighbors.

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave itto them saying, “This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22.19

Cultural innovators

From the beginning of the Christian movement, the followers of Jesus Christ have blazed new trails in creating culture. They have been used to innovate a great many new cultural forms that have brought glory to God and benefit to others to this day.

Do not let your adorning be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it bethe hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beautyof a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3.3, 4

A work in progress...

What matters most of all in the way Christians engage culture is making sure that we are doing so as God Himself would – glorifying and honoring Him in all things (1 Cor. 10.31).

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. Acts 4.32

The greatest challenge

Citizenship in the Kingdom of God changes everything in a person’s life, including the ways we engage culture.

“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” Acts 7.22

A gift of common grace

We make a mistake as Christians if we hold the view that all non-Christian culture is worthless and should be avoided. This is simply not the case.

Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Matthew 21.12, 13

A lesson about culture

The story of Jesus driving the money-changers out of the temple has an air of comic relief to it.

ReVision studies are designed for individual or group use and explore various aspects of the Christian worldview. All ReVision studies are available in free PDF format and may be duplicated for group use.

The Law of God for Daily Meditation

Morning Meditation
Exodus 20.12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land that the LORDyour God is giving you.”

The Law of God for Daily Meditation

Morning Meditation

Leviticus 19.3

“[Every one of you shall] keep my Sabbaths: I amthe LORDyour God. “

The Law of God for Daily Meditation

Morning Meditation

Exodus 20.8-11

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day isthe Sabbath of the Lord your God. In ityou shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹For insix days the LORDmade the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORDblessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

The Law of God for Daily Meditation

Morning Meditation

Numbers 30.1, 2
¹ Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This isthe thing which the LORDhas commanded: ² If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

The Law of God for Daily Meditation

Morning Meditation

Exodus 20.7 

“You shall not take the name of the LORDyour God in vain, for the LORDwill not hold himguiltless who takes His name in vain.”