Today's Scripture Reading (January 13, 2021): Acts 2
There are moments in our culture that cause
most of us to stand and applaud, even if it is just within ourselves. It
happens in our movies, novels, and sometimes, if we are lucky, it happens in
real life. As the planes, stranded in the sky on September 11, 2001, began to
be given clearance to land at Canadian airfields; and as Canadian residents
took the travelers into their homes until air traffic to the United States was
restored, it was a moment that made us all feel good. In fiction, we cheer
Harper Lee's Atticus Finch, in "To Kill a Mockingbird," as he decides
to defend a black man named Tom Robinson simply because it was the right thing
to do. And something happens inside of us when all of the occupants in the "colored
balcony" at Robinson's trial stand to honor Finch as he leaves the
courtroom. We cheer because these events seem to be on the side of the right;
these actions have gained our favor.
Luke makes a simple statement at the close of
his description of the events that happened at Pentecost. He comments that this
was a time of explosive growth for the church because the Christians enjoyed
the people's favor. Today, we seem to think that we are doing the right thing
when we oppose our culture. But I am not sure that that is true.
I am not saying that there will not be times
when we will oppose what happens in our culture. Sometimes, in attempting to do
what is right, we will resist the actions of the culture. This opposition to
culture was at least part of Harper Lee's story. Atticus Finch went against the
culture of his day because it was the right thing to do, and we, from our comfortable
chairs, cheered his decision to do so. But maybe, during those times when the
church opposes culture, we need to pause and examine why we oppose, rather than
just cheering that we do.
I am convinced that if we love, if we do the things
that God has truly called us to do, that we will enjoy the favor of society at
large. In those moments, when we decide to oppose our culture, we will all have
a chance to examine why and maybe encourage the community to join us in our
opposition.
But that is not the reality that I see in the
society in which I live. The Christian Church has become the naysayers of
culture, the ones who always oppose, and as a result, we have lost our voice to
stress what is right and what is wrong in any meaningful way. It is something
that we need to change, and soon. Because as Christians, we are quickly becoming
not just the opposition to culture, but the ones existing without a message to
share and irrelevant to the conversation in which our society is engaged.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Acts 3
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