How Shall We Live?

As a Christian it seems to constantly get harder to live in such a fallen world. Turning on the news makes me want to turn it right back off. Finding a wholesome movie or TV show is almost impossible, and music lyrics are filled with graphic descriptions of one-night stands. Everywhere we look we see the effects of sin, through rising crime, glamorizing immorality, and bragging about debauchery. How are Christians supposed to live or conduct themselves on this fallen planet?

The way I see it we have three options. First, we can disengage. We can withdraw from society, ensuring that we are not negatively influenced by the world. We can sever contact with anyone whose standards do not match ours, and huddle together in Christian communities. This is tempting at times, but I don’t imagine anyone has ever come to faith in Christ because the church has withdrawn itself. What the lost world needs is not fewer Christians around them, but more. The church has too much to offer for us to disengage.

Our other option is to engage culture, and this can be done in two ways. We can radically engage, yelling about everything with which we disagree. We can boycott Disney, Hollywood, and Nashville, and we can show up at parades with protest signs. We can make clear everything we oppose, pointing our fingers at the sinful culture. But again, how many people have come to Christ because the church vocalized their opposition to sinful institutions? I think our best option lies in between these extremes, when we let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

This raises another question: is our role to change culture or to change people? We can make it our mission to influence change where we can, with our votes, lobbying, and making our voices heard where we are able. This is good practice, but it should not be our top priority. While many believe that changing sinful culture will change sinful people, I believe the opposite to be true; changing sinful people will lead to a changed culture. We saw it in the Great Awakenings, when bars and brothels closed down as whole towns converted to Christianity. To go back to the original question, the best way for Christians to live on this fallen planet is to love our neighbor as ourselves, letting God’s light shine through us; every time a sinner repents, that is one less soldier for Satan, and one more saint on our side.