When Being Culturally Relevant = Standing in the Path of Sinners
Psalm 1 evidences the contrast between a righteous man and an unrighteous man. My next few blogs will deal with these characteristics. Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; ~Psalm 1:1
If a righteous man does not take advice from those who don?t know God, he does not go where they go or do what they do, how do we reconcile those attributes with Jesus, who is a friend of sinners?
The biggest difference I see between how Christ interacted with sinners and one who foolishly keeps bad company is that the sinners He taught came to Him and willingly followed, inviting Him into their lives, asking questions and learning from Him after interacting with Him initially. Christ made himself avaliable, took the time for people who He met along the way of His daily life and kindly and gently told them the truth.
What I don?t see is Jesus running around trying to figure out where the Pharisees and prostitutes hung out so that he could find a way to bait them into believing him. I don?t see Jesus holding hands with people who blatantly reject His truth or trying to fit in with a crowd that mocks Him. (Ironically this is precisely what the modern church does in order to be ?culturally relevant?) To do so is to invite temptation and disobey the warnings of the Word of God. ? Do not be deceived: ?Evil company corrupts good habits.? ~1Corinthians 15:33 Jesus didn?t follow sinners and conform to their likes and dislikes; sinners followed Jesus and conformed to His truth.
When we truly resemble Christ we will not have to search out or chase the lost desperately trying to find a way to relate to them, rather, they will recognize the truth we live and speak daily towards them and others and desire to know us just as sinners desired to know Christ after encountering Him. Let us not foolishly keep bad company, but let us love all people whom the Lord puts in our path of opportunity. My prayer today is for those divine opportunities.
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