January 26, 2009
DAY 09
Posted by KI Contributor
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:5; Acts 17:16-34
Cultural Threats or Opportunities?
The words that surround this verse sound almost militant. Demolish! Captive! A call for the Church to engage in action against the hidden forces that oppose God. Unlike the video games and movies that will paint surrealistic environments where angels and spirits clash, the battleground is where we live, and whether we know it or not, it is a reality. A host of ideas, philosophies, fads, movements vie to command the hearts and minds of people, to nudge them away from Christ. And we have been planted in this torrent to help people find the Anchor that alone can provide them true and lasting satisfaction.
So, how do we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ? Perhaps we can take the approach that Paul took in his dealings with the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill. Instead of a frontal attack, denouncing the leading philosophies of the time as being against faith in Jesus Christ, Paul noted their interest in spiritual matters as a natural introduction to his simple Gospel.
Not so long ago, the name Dan Brown held the public’s attention captive for several months, first with his book and then the movie, “The Da Vinci Code.” The book supposedly was based on historical facts and claimed, rather blasphemously, that Jesus Christ had a wife and child and built an intricate story around this. I read the book and also some of the many articles about the book and the author. I think that the informed public properly placed his book in the fiction category, but the vast majority of people are not so critical. The knee-jerk response that many took was to boycott and oppose the book, further arousing interest in it and, as a matter of fact, increasing sales and its further promotion. To some churches, however, this was an opportunity. They wisely saw that Dan Brown had turned up people’s interest and attention to the early church period, far more efficiently than seminaries, churches, and religious media combined. He has created a lot of misinformation, to be sure, but the arousal of interest was phenomenal. It was a classic silver lining.
What will be the next opportunity? How can you turn the next cultural threat into an opportunity to reach out to friends, coworkers, and even strangers?
PRAYER FOCUS: Arts and Entertainment
Pray that God will inspire artists and those in the entertainment industry with creativity and wisdom that reflects God’s beauty; that they will seek God themselves and come to follow Christ with courage; that their work will bring strength, goodness, and hope to our communities.
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