engage: to attract or please
engage: to mesh, as gears
engage: to bring into conflict
When the church today speaks of "engaging the culture," I get the queasy feeling that they mean to attract or please. This then might well lead to meshing with the culture, and if so then there is no need for the church. The culture will do just fine.
I think that for the church to engage the culture it must bring itself into conflict with the culture, The church must be ready and able to address the worldly culture with holy truth, never shying away from the necessity of the culture to change, to conform to Christ. Christ will never change to accommodate the culture.
But that is scary. Yes, it is. Jesus said, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
To arms! Engage the culture!
2 comments:
There's a fine line between meeting the people where they are and compromising doctrine in the name of "relevancy." Here's hoping your church and mine fall on the right side of that line.
Jim, it is a fine line, for we cannot teach them if they won't listen. We need to be much in prayer and study of the Word that we might discern God's will in our ministries.
Post a Comment