The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.—Psalm 119:51
Have you ever been lost in a crowd? One minute you were with a group of friends or family; the next minute you turn around and find yourself facing unfamiliar faces. A definite feeling accompanies that kind of experience: confusion, hopelessness, and anxiety all wrapped up into one.
You might find this humorous, but I experienced the same lost feeling when I heard that the United States had a women’s hockey team.
“Women’s Hockey?!” I thought. “Where did that come from?” Doesn’t hockey scream masculinity and absolute contradiction to femininity? Hadn’t anyone asked if there even should be women’s hockey? (I know, I’m on thin ice here—pun intentional.) I suddenly realized that while I was thoughtful about gender-appropriate roles and activities, the post-modern culture around me that wasn’t had passed me by and done whatever they wanted. Culturally, I had been left behind.
But being left behind is never bad when you’re standing in the right place to begin with. What’s right isn’t defined by standards but by the unchanging principles of God’s Word. As the ever-digressing culture around us marches “forward,” those who adhere to the timeless truths of Scripture will undoubtedly be left standing where they’ve always been. This is not an appeal to return to the mid-1900s; but it is a call to return to real-time, actionable application of timeless Bible truth. (That is why we independent Baptists label ourselves “old fashioned” to our own detriment. God’s truth isn’t simply older than what is, it’s as timeless as the One Who spoke it. That means it cannot be confined to any time or the fashions of that time.)
In the face of negative cultural shifts, the timeless truths of the Bible need to be even more clearly communicated and clearly communicated even more. Christians, and especially Christian congregations, who are concerned about the tide of our culture need to demand that fluff and bluster in the pulpit be replaced with clear, applicable Bible preaching. The truth needs to be not only theoretical, but livable.
Will Christians and congregations who return to living the truth in this way be left behind by our post-modern culture? I expect so. But perhaps by standing on those truths they will also be standing in the way of the continual cultural decline. Regardless, it would be better to be left behind standing on the timeless truths of God’s Word than to be swept away with the tide of the culture around them.
How is the Ranch trying to address these cultural shifts?
For over sixty years, the Bill Rice Ranch has endeavored to make the most of preaching for the benefit of churches and the people they try to reach. The Ranch expects that this Word-centered philosophy will continue to benefit churches. We also sense the timeliness of our newest program, Bill Rice Bible Institute. The goal at Bill Rice Bible Institute is to clearly communicate God’s truth in word and demonstrate its principles in action (as we always have tried to do) so that students will think clearly, communicate clearly, and live clearly as Christians in this world.