A friend of mine recently recommended a book by David Platt, called Counter Culture. It's a fantastic book, a bit of a short read, only 60 pages. In it, Platt calls out Christians for picking and choosing where we stand, and where we sit and say nothing. I felt like I should write about this situation. As Christians, we speak out against poverty, persecution, immigration and abortion, yet we say next to nothing about sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, orphans, pornography, and racism. To be completely frank, this is ridiculous and wrong. It's like we're stuck on a constant loop over the same issues, without the guts to speak out against things we see! I say that we end it. We stand up, and show the love of Christ, and the power of Christ. He beat death, He beat sin. Who's to say He can't beat this? We have been called to live according to His will, to His purpose. Let us rise up and live. Let us show what we believe to the world. By no means do I mean to be anything like Westboro Baptist. I hesitate to even refer to them as a church. True Christians will stand up and change things. We won't simply stand by the sidewalk and picket like cowards. We will serve, love, take action where He guides us.
Take sex trafficking for instance. Wichita is the 5th worst city in the U.S when it comes to originating sex trafficking. It's right under our noses, yet we don't take action! We don't even mention it. As children of the light, it's our job to illuminate what's in the dark. When it comes to same-sex marriage, when we do address it, it's always filled with hostility. We must show love, and let the glory of God change them. That's how we reach them. James 1:27: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. There is our job. There are over 150 million orphans in the world. It's time to help them, and teach them. Then there is the Kool-Aid of our society. Pornography. No one likes to bring it up, but it must be fought. Porn destroys families, yet our culture celebrates it. Heck, the number one movie in the world right now is, in essence, a Porn film! It's also known as Fifty Shades of Grey. We need to show the world what true relationships should be like, re-enforcing the love behind marriage, reflecting Christ's love in all our actions.
Racism is an issue that comes up constantly in our world today. Whether it be Michael Brown in Ferguson, the mob attack in Memphis, or a bit farther back, in Rwanda, it is still all too present in our world today. God created us all in unity, all in His image. We are all called to be Brothers and Sisters in Christ, so that is exactly how we should treat each other. It's time to take another look back at the golden rule. Love your neighbor, as yourself.
This year, let's make a point to live as Christians, to let Christ's viewpoints infect everything we see and do. When that happens, when we are completely influenced by the love of Christ, that His love is all people see when they look at us, then we will truly be able to live counter cultural.
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Thanks for reading,
Nathaniel Gregg
