Vanderbilt University Medical Center has made headlines recently. After videos surfaced of Vanderbilt medical staff discussing the money to be made in promoting and performing permanent “gender affirmation surgery” (also known as genital mutilation) for children, Tennessee Republicans raised ethical questions. In response, Vanderbilt has suspended such operations. Sadly, this story is not extraordinary. Similar stories have been reported in states across the nation. This is just one example of the radical change that is happening in our culture. While this change is radical, and headlines like these may shock some, this change has been gradual. We are reaping in our culture today the seeds that were planted decades ago and have been watered and cultivated in recent years.
Cultural trends such as social justice, gender confusion, and socialism have “crept in unawares” (Jude 4), infiltrating our churches and families. When lies like these are perpetuated long enough and loud enough, even good people begin to believe them. They believe them out of sheer exhaustion from being assaulted daily by the media, social media influencers, and entertainment. Even the very companies from which we buy every-day products tout the same anti-biblical messages. It is easy to feel like your voice doesn’t matter. Perhaps we would say as Elijah the prophet once did, “I, even I only, am left.” Something else we hear often is, “Well, it’s obvious we’re living in the last times!” By this, we usually mean that the end of the world is likely to come in our lifetime. What’s the point of launching out into the culture and trying to reverse the trend toward wickedness and socialism?
Well, the truth is we have been living in the “last times” since the apostle Peter wrote to the churches in Asia Minor. When we look at the epistle of I Peter, we see that our situation is not so unique. God has a purpose for His people living in the last times—this era between Christ’s death and His rapture of the Church. I Peter 1:17 admonishes us to “pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” The idea of passing the time is not killing time. Rather, we are to be using this time for a purpose, with an attitude of reverence and sobriety.
The book of I Peter is not an admonition to “batten down the hatches” and “hold down the fort” until Jesus comes. Instead, Peter gives guidelines on how Christians should live in an ungodly culture so that they can influence the culture for Christ. To this end, Peter addresses every aspect of life in society. He addresses citizens, servants (or employees), wives, husbands, and Christians in general. This letter to the Christians in Asia Minor can also encourage us to actively engage our culture for Christ. So, how can we? I Peter gives us at least six ways.
- Think! I Peter 4:7, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober…”
We can’t very well engage the culture if we cannot think clearly about our convictions and about challenges presented in our culture. The word sober here carries the idea of being of sound mind and self-controlled. A sound minded, self-controlled person must be a thoughtful person. So, what should we be thinking about?
First, we should evaluate our values and our beliefs. Do they align with Scripture or are they more consistent with worldly philosophy? Colossians 2:8 says, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” As I evaluate my values and beliefs, I should also consider what may be influencing them. Who am I reading, watching, or listening to on social media or the internet? Do the ideas they promote align with worldly philosophies (such as materialism, socialism, etc.) or do they align with godly philosophies? Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Metaphorically speaking, we should have a bouncer at the doors of our hearts, ready to throw out any worldly philosophies or vain deceit. Once we have evaluated our own values and beliefs, we are ready to influence others’ values and beliefs.
Second, we should cultivate discernment in our thinking. Philippians 1:9-10 speaks to this ability, saying, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement; that ye may approve things that are excellent.” We should be able to see distinctions between God’s thoughts and worldly philosophies on a matter. We should be able to see the difference between practices that are bad, good, better, and best. As Christians, we should be striving for a lifestyle that is characterized by the “best” practices. I Thessalonians 5:22 says, “Abstain from all appearances of evil.” We do not help our culture when we crowd the line between good and evil. Discernment is essential to being self-controlled and above reproach in this chaotic culture. If we are going to influence the culture, rather than the culture influencing us, then we must be thinkers. We should evaluate our beliefs and cultivate discernment.
- Pray! I Peter 4:7, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”
Prayer is perhaps one of the most powerful and most underused weapons in the Christian’s arsenal. We seem to have the time to complain about our country to each other and online. Do we not also have the time to pray for our country? At my church, my pastor often reminds us to be in prayer for our state, local, and national politicians and officials. I Timothy 2:1 instructs that prayers “be made for all men.” We should know who our elected politicians and officials are and pray for their salvation and wisdom to lead. We should pray for family and friends who are being swept away in our culture’s tide of wickedness. We should pray for Christians who are involved in politics to stay strong and steadfast in the faith. We should pray for revival among Christians in America. We should pray that God’s grace will allow our country to remain a beacon of freedom in the world.
- Love! I Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent charity…”
The idea of loving each other is rampant in the epistles. Just as the churches in the last times of Paul and Peter needed to stay connected in Christian community, so do the churches living in these last times. Galatians 6:2 tells us to bear one another’s burdens “and so fulfil the law of Christ”—the law of love found in John 13:34. We should be building and nurturing relationships with other Christians so that we can gain strength to engage an ungodly culture. Christians are to be working together in a concerted effort to influence the culture for Christ. How can we if we don’t even know each other, or if we are bickering with and backbiting each other? Colossians 3:12-14 says, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” Jesus said that the world would know we belong to Him because of our love for each other. I Peter 4:9 goes on to say, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Opening our homes to each other, caring for each other, giving to each other is a way for the world to see our love. So, now is not the time to be slacking off in church attendance or losing touch with Christian friends. Now is the time to be tapping into the resource that is the Church of Christ.
- Serve! I Peter 4:10, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
God’s people are gifted people. As Christians, the gifts we have are received, not merited; they are varied (as I Peter 4:11 explains); and they are for serving others. What gifts has God given you? Get involved in your church by helping with music, teaching a class, or participating in your church’s outreach efforts and activities. We can use these gifts beyond the doors of our churches as well. Volunteer at a non-profit organization, help with voter registration or other political efforts if you are so inclined. If we are to be good stewards of God’s grace, then that means we must be using His gifts, not keeping them to ourselves. When we start looking for opportunities, we may even find there are more than we could handle at once! That’s why there are many members of the body of Christ. And that is why every member can and should be serving.
- Speak up! I Peter 3:15, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of hope that is in you.”
While we are out and about serving with our gifts, we should also be opening our mouths for the truth. The familiar I Peter 3:15 tells us to be ready with a reason for the hope we have in Christ. The word translated answer is apologia. In other words, we are to be making a case for our faith, just like a defense attorney makes a case for his client. This requires living in such a way that others will be provoked to ask us about our faith, but it also requires breaking our silence in the public sphere and speaking up about our faith. The way we speak or make our case for Christianity matters, too. I Peter 3:15 says we are to speak “with meekness and fear.” Similarly, Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” The assumption is that we will be speaking. The exhortation is that we should speak graciously in a way that brings a good flavor to the truth. When we talk to people, we should leave them with a good taste in their mouths for the gospel and the Christian worldview. If we are going to be “seasoned” speakers of the truth, as Colossians 4:6 says, this requires that we be thoughtful and prayerful—two points we’ve looked at previously.
- Live out loud! I Peter 2:15-16, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”
Here, I Peter instructs Christians living in the last times to do the opposite of what we instinctively want to do sometimes. Rather than hiding in bunkers until the battle is over, I Peter calls us to live out our Christianity loudly for all the world to see. The presupposition supporting Peter’s epistle is that Christians are living holy lives in a perverse culture. In fact, they are being so obviously Christian, that some unbelievers are speaking against them for it. Likewise, we should be living our faith out loud in the public sphere for all to see. We should bring our values to the ballot box, the school board meetings, classrooms, and breakrooms. First and foremost, we should use apologetics in our homes, on our own children, instilling them with confidence and courage. If we win them, we can turn out more truth-tellers who will engage the culture for Christ.
When we live out loud in the public sphere, we influence the culture. When we influence our culture, we change the tide of politics. When we change the tide of politics, we shape the policies that touch people’s everyday lives. Just as Peter exhorted the Christians living in the last times back then, we should live in these last days with purpose. We can engage our culture for Christ if we will think, pray, love, serve, speak up, and live out our convictions.
Above all, we should never let others convince us that our faith should remain inside church walls only. We should not allow well-meaning Christians to convince us that the culture and the country are too far gone for us to make a difference. That is not I Peter’s assumption. Why should it be our assumption today? Jesus did not leave us on earth after He saved us so that we could hide behind church doors. No, Jesus tells His disciples to “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). The word occupy means “to carry on business.” We are to be carrying on the business of Jesus Christ—the one who ate with publicans and sinners, who debated with Pharisees and skeptics, who reached out to social lepers and literal lepers with the gospel, the one who sought out the seekers. Like Esther, we have been planted in a hostile culture for such a time as this. It’s true—we are living in the last times. So, let’s get busy!