This wonderful culture of ours. . .
 
And so, another weekend comes to a close. Mine was pretty uneventful, and has been mostly described here, so no need to go into detail. Today was a decent day. Church this morning, out to lunch with a few friends afterward, a long nap, out to my aunt's for dinner for my grandpa and then out to coffee with Erin. That was nice, because we got to have a really long, nice, deep conversation, which is always something I love more than seeing a movie or actually doing something. Sometimes you just have to sit and chat.
 
Our talk meandered, as talk among best friends usually does. We hit all the usual topics, like how our weekends were, how work was, what movies we still need to see. But we also talked a lot about our culture, and the world that we live in.
 
I'll be 100% honest here: I love America. I love what our country stands for (or, should). I love our freedom and our ability to say, believe, and think what we want. But I HATE American culture. I hate the idea that our lives are our own and our bodies are our own and we should live the way WE want because we're in control of our destinies. It's a lie that rejects the very Creator and, therefore, Owner of this world and Master of our Lives.
 
I hate the lie that we NEED things in order to be happy. That we are entitled to the best money, the nicest house, and the coolest things. The belief that our lives are spent in an Darwinesque struggle to evolve to some higher, richer, flashier being. Survival of the richest. We think we need things that we don't deserve. Everything we have, whether we're rich or poor, is a blessing. We should be thanking the Giver, not worshipping the gifts.
 
I hate the lie that our culture shares that fame and talent and art are the greatest things on the planet. That everyone can be a celebrity. That sinking a ball in a basket or reciting a few lines on camera is worth so much more than the career of someone who rushes into a burning building, who gives of there time to make others well, who goes off into AIDS-plagued countries to find more hope. It's stupid and inane and I'm sick of that being fed down my throat.
 
I hate the lie that life is to be lived for the moment. That planning and caution and plain old common sense should be thrown to the wind in order for some fleeting, sensual pleasure to be experienced.
 
I hate the lie that our lives are to be lived for ourselves. That we should live a "me-centered lifestyle" and be the masters of our lives. That if we're unhappy,we should feel free to kill our babies, divorce our spouses, leave our kids and find something else that makes us happy.
 
I'm sick of a style over substance culture, where important truths and issues can be shown in two-second sound bites. Where our biggest dilemma is who Brittney Spears is marrying this week. Where our biggest concern is whether or not we'll be able to afford that boat, while children in Africa die daily and countless millions are on their way to hell.
 
What makes me mad is that the church is so often trying to look just like our culture. We try to mix the gospel into worldly things so that it's "more accessible" and (my personal favorite) "least offensive." We want the world to see us as hip and cool and with it. And so we throw truth away in order to play nice, avoid conflict, and make some more cash.
 
The church should not be a subculture, getting Truth across by mixing it in with our culture, saying that you can have grace  AND everything else you're entitled to, because we are not entitled to anything. We don't deserve the air in our lungs. The church should be a counterculture, exposing the lies that this world feeds us.
 
When the world tells us we should live for ourselves, we should blast that lie. When it says we deserve the nicer things, we should pull out our sword and cut it down. When it tells us that fame and fortune are the things to lust for, we should have enough faith in the Gospel to tell the world that those things will one day burn, but Christ is always satisfying.
 
We don't do it because we're afraid of offending people. Guess what? The Bible is the most offensive book ever written. I'm offended every time I read about my sin, my worthlessness, and the fact that the only thing I'm entitled to is hell. If it's not offensive, it's not the Gospel.
 
People may hate us for that. People already hate us for believing we are the only way to God. So what? We're not called to be loved, we're called TO LOVE. We're called to preach the gospel. We're promised it will cause conflict and divide families and friends. But Truth is important. Truth is worth losing friends, jobs, even lives for. Because only Truth gives us life.
 
C-Dubbs