Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today means recognizing that culture often pressures us to value wealth, success, and busyness over following Christ, but Jesus calls us to choose what truly matters—Him. Navigating culture and these pressures requires intentional daily decisions: choosing godly friends, attending church, spending time in Scripture and prayer, and directing our hearts toward God. Only by making these choices can we resist cultural distractions and focus on what is eternal and cannot be taken away.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
by Delbert Young
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Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Scriptures used in this lesson:
Luke 18:18-27, Luke 10:38-42,
Our series is called If I Could Say One Thing To You… This series is on the premise of if we had a cup of coffee together, ate a meal together, or hung out together, or if this were the last message I’d preach (and it could be), what is the One Thing we’d want to tell people? Pastor Marty began the series last week with “Live a Life of Love.” Something he said struck me. He said, “You may be the only Jesus someone sees.” Loving people is Pastor Marty’s passion. I know it would be the One Thing he would say to you.
I want to talk to us today about One Thing Keeping Us (People) from Christ. So if we spent time together, I believe at some point One Thing would come up – what our culture is teaching us, wanting us to believe and do, cultural lies, and how it’s keeping so many from following Jesus Christ.
The Rich Young Ruler
Let’s begin with a familiar story in Scripture called The Rich Young Ruler.
A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?” [Luke 18:18 NIV]
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
What a great question, but one problem here is that eternal life isn’t inherited. Eternal life comes through Jesus Christ – believing in him, listening to him, doing what he says, and following him. Their culture told them that if they were of the House of Israel and followed the Law of Moses, they would inherit eternal life. There are eternal life choices, but eternal life is not inherited.
The leaders of their culture said Jesus was a blasphemer, a liar, and a lunatic. Don’t believe Him. Don’t listen to Jesus, and by no means follow Jesus. Some, like this certain ruler, said Jesus was a “good teacher,” but our Christ? No way! Their culture lied to them, rejected and crucified Jesus, keeping many from Christ. What about our culture today?
Question: With your knowledge of the Bible compared to our culture, how many of us think our culture has, does, and will lie to us, not only about Jesus but about many things? You could make a list of things culture says that is contrary to the truth of the Bible. If you agree with me about our culture, would you slip up your hand? Just humor me, please. Online, if you agree, type in the chat – I think culture lies to us. Could these lies of our culture be keeping people from Christ? I think so.
Here’s my point. I believe that if we spent a lot of time together, we’d eventually discuss the things our culture tells us, teaches us, and attempts to force us to believe. Our culture has instilled in us such a fear of it that we’re hesitant to express how we truly feel, but it doesn’t care about our feelings. If you disagree with our culture, it will crucify you.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Bottom Line:
Culture LIES to you, and it doesn’t care what you BELIEVE. It aims to change your existing beliefs.
Here’s how Jesus responded to this certain ruler and the ruler’s response to Jesus.
“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack ONE THING. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” [Luke 18:20-22 NIV]
I don’t think this person expected this response from Jesus. I’m thinking he expected a pat on the back. This response was a direct contradiction to the culture. Culture said, “Be successful.” He was. Culture said, “Be of the House of Israel.” He was. Keep the Law of Moses. He said he did “Culture said to be wealthy. Get all you can get.” He was. Culture said, “Jesus was a heretic, liar, and lunatic. Don’t follow him.” Yet Jesus was telling him to do the opposite.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Let’s read on.
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. [Luke 18:23 NIV]
Mark’s Gospel says, “…the man’s face fell and he went away sad” (Mar. 10:22). Is anything wrong with having great wealth? No. Not unless your great wealth is keeping you from Christ and your eternal life. The importance of wealth can override the importance of Christ and Jesus’ teachings. Biblical teachings are mandatory to battle culture and society.
Let’s finish this passage of Scripture.
Jesus looked at him and said, “HOW HARD IT IS for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through THE EYE OF A NEEDLE than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible WITH GOD. [Luke 18:24-27 NIV]
It says “WITH GOD,” not for God. God can do anything. We need God WITH us to navigate culture. It’s difficult to listen to Christ and not be influenced by culture, especially when it comes to our finances, but it’s not impossible with God. We need God WITH us to navigate the cultural influence and thread the needle.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
What’s Really Important
The lesson I want us to take away is that culture tells us wealth and many other things are more important than following/listening to Christ Jesus.
Do we see the ramifications here? We can listen to culture and miss coming to Christ, or we can navigate culture and thread “the eye of a needle” to enter the kingdom of God.
Does culture attempt to tell you what success is or isn’t? Will culture tell you how you should raise your children, what you should allow your children to be taught in school, even though you don’t want to raise them that way, or to be taught that stuff? Does culture tell you how to think and how to talk, even though you disagree? Will culture say profanity is okay, even though you don’t want to hear it or want your children to listen to it?
Does culture maybe attempt to tell you what clothes to wear because it’s the style, even though you’d like to wear something more modest? Culture even dictates what is acceptable to say or not say, even when we disagree.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Culture will beat on you relentlessly until you finally give in or at least compromise and soften to it. Do you realize that the majority of why you are so busy, so in debt, your family is dysfunctional, marriage is failing, why you are so stressed, sick, and angry, and what primarily keeps you from Christ is you, and so many follow culture instead of following Christ? And, faces fall as they/we walk away from Christ, sad. It’s HARD to navigate culture and thread the needle of the kingdom of God, but it’s not impossible WITH God.
I want to look at one more passage and this “One Thing Keeping Us From Christ” thought. I’ll provide some context as we read.
Martha and Mary
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” [Luke 10:38-40 NIV]
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Let’s count how many people were likely there at the house of Martha and Mary. It would be Jesus, the twelve disciples, Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus. At least sixteen people would need to be fed. Ladies, imagine having sixteen people in your home at one time, and you needed to cook for them. Would a little assistance help? Now add to this dilemma that one of those sixteen people is the Son of God manifested, i.e., Jesus Christ.
How would you cook for the Son of God? I think Martha cooked some “soul food.” Jesus would enjoy soul food. I made a menu: cornbread, sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, fried chicken, black-eyed peas, and collard greens (no Deviled Eggs). For dessert, Angel Food Cake and Heavenly Delight. Then make Divinity candy for Jesus to take on the road.
Martha was busy, busy in the kitchen, thinking Mary was helping, but when she looked around, there was no Mary! Where’s Mary? There she was – just sitting. She “sat at the lord’s feet listening to what he said.”
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
What’s wrong with this picture, other than that Mary isn’t in the kitchen helping Martha, where women are supposed to be (bless God)?
At that time, and somewhat today, culture said a woman’s place was/is in the kitchen. Mary had no place in the room with the men! To me, this is the overruling theme and truth of this story. What Mary did was radical and a disgrace to their culture. Here’s what their culture said.
“Women’s wisdom is solely in the spindle.” He added, “The words of the Torah should be burned rather than entrusted to women” [JT Sotah 3:4, 19a 500 C.E.Jerusalem Talmud (JT) notes the opinion of Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, the Tanna] (1st century Rabbi)
Culture said a woman’s place is in the home, where she sews, cooks, cleans, and cares for children, among other things. Culture said to burn the Torah before allowing a woman to learn it. But Mary was threading the needle of the kingdom of God as she navigated culture. Nothing would stop Mary from following Christ, even her own sister’s wrath. Are you aware that our relatives, influenced by culture, can unconsciously keep us from following Christ?
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
What was the response of Jesus to Martha?
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED. Mary has CHOSEN what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” [Luke 10:41-42] [NIV]
Again, not the response from Jesus that Martha expected, but there’s such love, compassion, and depth to this. I could insert my name for Martha. Most of us could. We are so “worried and upset about many things,” culture tells us are important, but only ONE THING matters.
Pastor Marty, in a meeting not long ago, told us how the FOR BAY COUNTY had exploded and was demanding more and more of his time. He said something to this effect, “As wonderful as FOR BAY COUNTY is, I can’t allow it to take me away from the ONE THING the Lord called me to do. I need time for my family, rest, and to focus on God.”
Pastor Marty realized as important as FOR BAY COUNTY is to our community, culture would keep him from following Christ and use it to distract him, causing him to worry and be upset about many things. Although the importance of community is evident, Pastor Marty chose the One Thing needed. He, like Mary, chose to sit at the feet of Jesus, as it were. Isn’t it reassuring to know that our lead pastor will not let the many distractions of culture deter him from following Christ? Pastor Marty is navigating cultural distractions and threading the needle.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Jesus is telling you just as he’s told me and continues to tell me, “Delbert, Delbert, I love you so much. I want the best life possible for you, but you are worried and upset about many things culture is telling you are important, but ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED. Mary has CHOSEN what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Things that culture gives us can be taken away, but what God gives us will not be taken away from us.
See, it’s a choice, a personal choice, that we each make every day as we navigate our culture. Will we allow culture to dictate our lives, possibly causing us to miss eternity, or will we choose what is better?
Five Compasses
But how do we combat this cultural attack? How do I sit at the Lord’s feet while navigating culture to thread the needle, since Jesus ascended and He is not available to us as He was to Mary or the young rich man? Well, He is available. All I can do is share five scriptural ways that work for me. They are choices in faith I make every day. I challenge you to try them. These are in no specific order. It’s more what I have to choose at the moment than the order of importance.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
1. Choose your friends carefully.
(Pro. 12:26 but many Scriptures) I refuse to spend time with negative people. Connect a fully charged battery to a discharged battery, and the discharged battery will drain the charge from the fully charged battery every time. That’s exactly what happens to us when we connect with negative people who are not filled with the Spirit of Jesus. But if I connect with positive people charged by Jesus, I remain charged, or they charge me if I’m negative. I’ve watched many people discharge simply because they didn’t choose their friend wisely.
Spending time with godly people who have Christ in them is to me like spending time with Jesus. I was in a meeting last Monday with Pastor Marty, Pastor Roy, and Casey. The meeting was over, but I didn’t want to leave. I was being charged.
I don’t mean to forsake our lost friends, but the importance of friendship is monumental. They need us, and we need to reach them with the gospel of Christ. “You might be the only Jesus they ever see.” (Marty Martin 06-25-2023), but don’t allow them to cause you to discharge and miss the eye of the needle.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
2. Choose to attend church.
(Heb. 10:25) Church attendance is my choice. It’s also my job, but before that, I chose to attend church. Church lifts me and charges my battery. You can’t sit through this praise and worship without being charged. I attend Online, but I chat. I type the lyrics into the chat as I sing, click the emoji to clap, shout, or raise my hands, and click the heart emoji to amen Pastor Marty, Pastor Roy, or whoever is speaking. Also, I minister and pray for people. We connect with Jesus when we are connected with the body of Christ.
3. Choose to spend time at the feet of Jesus in His Word.
(Jam. 1:21 – save your soul) Jesus teaches me today through His Word, just as He taught Mary then. God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psa. 110:105), leading me to and through the eye of the needle. Choose to find time for God’s Word.
4. Choose to discipline yourself
to spend time in prayer, talking to our Father, our Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. (Mat. 6:6; Phi. 4:4) Spending time alone with God is a spiritual discipline for me. I talk to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit every night around 8:00 pm in prayer. If I’m away from home, I go outside (or find a private place/closet somewhere) before I go to bed. My prayer life keeps what’s truly important before me every day. It helps me navigate culture and thread the needle. We cannot underestimate the importance of prayer in battling culture and society.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
5. Choose where you direct your heart.
Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Pastor Roy will be speaking from this passage soon, so I’m not going to mess with his message. I’ve learned my heart is where my treasure is. I give my tithes, offerings, and alms as Jesus said I ought to do (Mat. 23:23). I choose to do this. I want my heart to thread the needle of the kingdom of God.
So there are five choices in life that I make every day to battle culture’s attack on me and insure my spiritual growth. These choices will not be taken from me. Let’s pray.
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Battling Culture and Society: How to Make Choices Today
Other Related Sermons:
Martha Only One Thing is Needed Luke 10:38-42
I Am the Resurrection and the Life Easter
Work of Believing audio video notes
Your Words Direct Your Life sermon video audio notes
DAVID Recognizing Which Battles to Fight
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