Several weeks ago, while waiting in line at the grocery store, I was making small talk with the man in line behind me when the conversation turned to my job. “What kind of work do you do?” He asked. From prior experience, I knew that my response could prompt a variety of colorful comments, so cautiously, I answered, “I’m a youth pastor.” It turns out, the man in line with me was a follower of Jesus himself. As the conversation progressed, he lamented the changes that have occurred in our culture during his lifetime, observing, “I feel sorry for our youth today, and the world they have to grow up in. Things are so much more anti-Christian than they were when I was younger.”
I can certainly understand his sentiment. The breadth and rate of change in our culture over the past decade are certainly unprecedented. Following a lengthy, comprehensive research on the faith of today’s emerging generation of teens and college students, the Barna Group found Generation Z to be “The Least Christian generation in American history.” Thirty-five percent considered themselves atheist – almost twice as many as the Millennial generation that preceded them, and only 4 percent admit to holding a biblical worldview. The Christian faith is no longer the default position in American culture, and the effects of our secular drift can be found in today’s media, political climate, and family life.
The culture shift in our society is perhaps no more evident than in the digital arena. Through social media, culture tells us how we should think, talk, dress, act, and react. Culture tells us who we should be. One researcher has labeled the new cultural landscape “Digital Babylon.” When wave after wave of Jewish captives were forced to migrate from Judah to Babylon between the years 607 and 586 B.C., they were met by a secular culture that bore little resemblance to the homeland of their parents. The Babylonian Exile, as recorded in the Bible, shares interesting parallels with the massive culture shift we have experienced in recent years here in the U.S. Pluralism has replaced monotheism. An accelerated, daunting pace of life has taken the place of the simple life. Institutional loyalty has given way to a self-serving ethos.
Is everything lost? Should we resign ourselves to the idea that the emerging decade is a terrible time to live? By looking at Scriptural accounts of some key characters in the Jewish exile, we learn of the impact and joy that comes from living a counter-cultural life for the glory of God. Consider integrating these five counter-cultural practices as you begin the new year.
#1 - Navigate change by clinging to the one who never changes.
Read about it: Jeremiah 32:1-7
Poor Jeremiah. Does his nickname, “The Weeping Prophet,” clue you in on what his life was like? God spoke powerful words to Jeremiah, and his job was to deliver God’s Word to the nation of Judah. Specifically, Jeremiah’s job was to warn the people of Judah that the Babylonians, who had surrounded their capital city of Jerusalem, would prevail in their siege, and carry many of them off as captives. In short, the exile was coming. Needless to say, Jeremiah’s message was not well received, especially by Judah’s King, Zedekiah. Outraged, the king imprisoned him because of his message. If we were honest, we would admit that there’s a little bit of Zedekiah in each of us. We hear of the changes in our culture but refuse to believe it’s true.
The prospect of being in the minority can be frightening to us, but when we pull our heads out of the sand, our eyes are clear to see the promises of God. By tuning out God’s Word spoken through Jeremiah, the people of Israel missed out on the assurance that comes through hearing the promises of God. God did, and still does, have big plans for Israel, even though times were culturally tough at the moment. The same is true of us as believers today. Times are changing, but God never changes. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV).
#2 - Engage the culture.
Read about it: Daniel 1:1-21
As the Babylonians prevailed, they took back many of the “movers and shakers” in Judah as captives to Babylon. One of those captives, Daniel, was forced to undergo a cultural immersion program in Babylon, with the goal of turning him into someone who looked, talked, and acted like a Babylonian. They even went so far as to change his name from Daniel to Belteshazzar – a Babylonian name! The final straw came when they required him to eat non-Kosher food and gratuitously drink wine, which violated God’s law for the Jewish people. When confronted with cultural expectations that went against God’s expectations, how would Daniel react?
Daniel wisely reasoned with his immediate supervisor, earning an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of God’s way compared to the Babylonian way. For ten days, Daniel and his Jewish partners ate according to God’s law, while the other Babylonians ate according to their cultural norms. At the end of the trial run, Daniel and his men were healthier and better looking by a large margin! Through his willingness to engage the culture and by God’s supernatural blessing of favor in the sight of his chief, Daniel got to stand before the King of Babylon as an advisor.
Just as Daniel and his compatriots faced a cultural immersion program, young believers today find themselves enveloped in a massive cultural immersion program. With the average person in the U.S. spending an average of 6 hours and 43 minutes per day in front of a screen, media is the de facto cultural immersion program of the twenty-first century. Who will be willing to enter this sphere and, like Daniel, respectfully, and graciously, engage the culture with the timeless wisdom of God?
#3 - Pick your battles.
Read about it: Daniel 3:1-30
Some things just aren’t worth fighting for. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah can attest to that. As Jewish exiles in Babylon, they stood beside Daniel in being subjected to the cultural immersion program of a godless empire. You may know these three men better by the Babylonian names given to them while in exile: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their own names? Not worth fighting for. Learning the literature and language of the Babylonians? Not worth fighting against. Through their willingness to engage the culture, they were given a prominent place in the government, and they used their position as a platform to honor God.
Later during their time in captivity, however, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were asked to worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. As the music played, the “worship service” began. Every government official bowed in worship to the golden image, every official, that is, except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There they stood, alone, to the horror of everyone in the congregation. Why did they choose to fight this battle? The answer is simple. There was more at stake than their preferences or their own names: the name and honor of the one true God, the King of kings, was at stake.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced certain death in a fiery furnace by dishonoring the Babylonian King in such a manner. When confronted about their civil disobedience, they courageously declared, “He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden images that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18 ESV).
A hidden blessing of the recent culture shift is that Christians have been put in a position in which we must coalesce around what’s important. With a laser-focus on developing a faith that withstands the cultural immersion program of digital Babylon, our traditions, preferences, or social standing among others aren’t so important anymore. However, there’s absolutely no room for compromise when it comes to the glory of God, and its pinnacle in the gospel of Jesus.
Pick your battles, but know that it may cost you something. Like these three exiles, we must be willing to sacrifice our prominent positions, our honor among men and women, and our very lives, to give God the honor He is due through our testimony. The good news is, just as Jesus walked through the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we, even in the year 2020, don’t stand alone. Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
#4 - Embrace the moment.
Read about it: Esther 4:16
After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, some Jewish exiles were allowed to return home. However, most of the exiles never returned, preferring the comfort and convenience of life outside their homeland. Against this cultural backdrop we find Esther, a Jewish orphan living in exile. Esther, raised by her uncle Mordecai, experienced a meteoric rise to prominence in the Persian empire. Because of her beauty, she was selected by the king to become his wife. The Persian culture did not afford the new queen anything close to an equal relationship with her husband, as simply entering his presence without an invitation could lead to her death!
God’s plan for Esther is obvious. All of the seemingly disjointed and bizarre events that led to her becoming queen make sense when coupled with the discovery of an insidious political maneuver that would lead to the killing of all Jewish exiles in the Persian empire. Esther, a Jewish person herself, was made for this moment. God provided her with beauty to win the favor of the king, a wise mentor to see the evil politician Haman for who he really was, and a strong, courageous will to risk life and limb by approaching the king.
Esther, following her Uncle Mordecai’s sage advice, embraced the moment she was made for, resolutely declaring, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16 ESV). Talk about counter-cultural living!
What about you, teen, college student, or young adult? All of the seemingly disjointed, confusing events of your life are no accident. God is bringing them all together – good and bad – and turning them for your good and His glory among a new generation. You were made for this moment. God has sovereignly engineered you for this “post-Christian” era of history. Will you shrink back into the shadows of culture, or will you courageously embrace who God made you to be for such a time as this?
#5 - Be a mentor.
Read about it: Esther 4:14
Turn your attention, now, to Mordecai. Do you ever feel like an old shoe: worn, past its prime, cast aside, and unneeded? Thousands, maybe millions, of Jewish exiles were probably very thankful that Mordecai didn’t feel that way. It seems, through a good reading of the book of Esther, that, in the Persian culture, youth and beauty were revered, much like in today’s culture. Mordecai was not young, and likely not beautiful. But, he had something that was, apparently, in short supply among the Jewish exiles in Persia: Cultural discernment.
Mordecai, through his lifetime of experiences, and, most importantly, by the sovereign hand of God, was blessed with the wisdom to see the power plays going on in the palace, uncovering the plot to kill all Jewish exiles. He was also wise enough to see the hand of God on Esther in her rise from orphan to queen. However, perhaps the wisest move by Mordecai was his mentoring of Esther into the leader who God created her to be.
Today, thousands of young Christians throughout our land are desperate to hear Mordecai’s words coming from seasoned Christians: “And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14 ESV)? Who will you mentor in 2020? It may be an orphan like Esther. It may be the teenager you see across the auditorium at church. It may be a son, daughter, grandson, or granddaughter. Give them the gift of your time, look deep into their eyes, and help them embrace this moment for which they were made!
I can certainly understand his sentiment. The breadth and rate of change in our culture over the past decade are certainly unprecedented. Following a lengthy, comprehensive research on the faith of today’s emerging generation of teens and college students, the Barna Group found Generation Z to be “The Least Christian generation in American history.” Thirty-five percent considered themselves atheist – almost twice as many as the Millennial generation that preceded them, and only 4 percent admit to holding a biblical worldview. The Christian faith is no longer the default position in American culture, and the effects of our secular drift can be found in today’s media, political climate, and family life.
The culture shift in our society is perhaps no more evident than in the digital arena. Through social media, culture tells us how we should think, talk, dress, act, and react. Culture tells us who we should be. One researcher has labeled the new cultural landscape “Digital Babylon.” When wave after wave of Jewish captives were forced to migrate from Judah to Babylon between the years 607 and 586 B.C., they were met by a secular culture that bore little resemblance to the homeland of their parents. The Babylonian Exile, as recorded in the Bible, shares interesting parallels with the massive culture shift we have experienced in recent years here in the U.S. Pluralism has replaced monotheism. An accelerated, daunting pace of life has taken the place of the simple life. Institutional loyalty has given way to a self-serving ethos.
Is everything lost? Should we resign ourselves to the idea that the emerging decade is a terrible time to live? By looking at Scriptural accounts of some key characters in the Jewish exile, we learn of the impact and joy that comes from living a counter-cultural life for the glory of God. Consider integrating these five counter-cultural practices as you begin the new year.
#1 - Navigate change by clinging to the one who never changes.
Read about it: Jeremiah 32:1-7
Poor Jeremiah. Does his nickname, “The Weeping Prophet,” clue you in on what his life was like? God spoke powerful words to Jeremiah, and his job was to deliver God’s Word to the nation of Judah. Specifically, Jeremiah’s job was to warn the people of Judah that the Babylonians, who had surrounded their capital city of Jerusalem, would prevail in their siege, and carry many of them off as captives. In short, the exile was coming. Needless to say, Jeremiah’s message was not well received, especially by Judah’s King, Zedekiah. Outraged, the king imprisoned him because of his message. If we were honest, we would admit that there’s a little bit of Zedekiah in each of us. We hear of the changes in our culture but refuse to believe it’s true.
The prospect of being in the minority can be frightening to us, but when we pull our heads out of the sand, our eyes are clear to see the promises of God. By tuning out God’s Word spoken through Jeremiah, the people of Israel missed out on the assurance that comes through hearing the promises of God. God did, and still does, have big plans for Israel, even though times were culturally tough at the moment. The same is true of us as believers today. Times are changing, but God never changes. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV).
#2 - Engage the culture.
Read about it: Daniel 1:1-21
As the Babylonians prevailed, they took back many of the “movers and shakers” in Judah as captives to Babylon. One of those captives, Daniel, was forced to undergo a cultural immersion program in Babylon, with the goal of turning him into someone who looked, talked, and acted like a Babylonian. They even went so far as to change his name from Daniel to Belteshazzar – a Babylonian name! The final straw came when they required him to eat non-Kosher food and gratuitously drink wine, which violated God’s law for the Jewish people. When confronted with cultural expectations that went against God’s expectations, how would Daniel react?
Daniel wisely reasoned with his immediate supervisor, earning an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of God’s way compared to the Babylonian way. For ten days, Daniel and his Jewish partners ate according to God’s law, while the other Babylonians ate according to their cultural norms. At the end of the trial run, Daniel and his men were healthier and better looking by a large margin! Through his willingness to engage the culture and by God’s supernatural blessing of favor in the sight of his chief, Daniel got to stand before the King of Babylon as an advisor.
Just as Daniel and his compatriots faced a cultural immersion program, young believers today find themselves enveloped in a massive cultural immersion program. With the average person in the U.S. spending an average of 6 hours and 43 minutes per day in front of a screen, media is the de facto cultural immersion program of the twenty-first century. Who will be willing to enter this sphere and, like Daniel, respectfully, and graciously, engage the culture with the timeless wisdom of God?
#3 - Pick your battles.
Read about it: Daniel 3:1-30
Some things just aren’t worth fighting for. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah can attest to that. As Jewish exiles in Babylon, they stood beside Daniel in being subjected to the cultural immersion program of a godless empire. You may know these three men better by the Babylonian names given to them while in exile: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their own names? Not worth fighting for. Learning the literature and language of the Babylonians? Not worth fighting against. Through their willingness to engage the culture, they were given a prominent place in the government, and they used their position as a platform to honor God.
Later during their time in captivity, however, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were asked to worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. As the music played, the “worship service” began. Every government official bowed in worship to the golden image, every official, that is, except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There they stood, alone, to the horror of everyone in the congregation. Why did they choose to fight this battle? The answer is simple. There was more at stake than their preferences or their own names: the name and honor of the one true God, the King of kings, was at stake.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced certain death in a fiery furnace by dishonoring the Babylonian King in such a manner. When confronted about their civil disobedience, they courageously declared, “He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden images that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18 ESV).
A hidden blessing of the recent culture shift is that Christians have been put in a position in which we must coalesce around what’s important. With a laser-focus on developing a faith that withstands the cultural immersion program of digital Babylon, our traditions, preferences, or social standing among others aren’t so important anymore. However, there’s absolutely no room for compromise when it comes to the glory of God, and its pinnacle in the gospel of Jesus.
Pick your battles, but know that it may cost you something. Like these three exiles, we must be willing to sacrifice our prominent positions, our honor among men and women, and our very lives, to give God the honor He is due through our testimony. The good news is, just as Jesus walked through the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we, even in the year 2020, don’t stand alone. Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
#4 - Embrace the moment.
Read about it: Esther 4:16
After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, some Jewish exiles were allowed to return home. However, most of the exiles never returned, preferring the comfort and convenience of life outside their homeland. Against this cultural backdrop we find Esther, a Jewish orphan living in exile. Esther, raised by her uncle Mordecai, experienced a meteoric rise to prominence in the Persian empire. Because of her beauty, she was selected by the king to become his wife. The Persian culture did not afford the new queen anything close to an equal relationship with her husband, as simply entering his presence without an invitation could lead to her death!
God’s plan for Esther is obvious. All of the seemingly disjointed and bizarre events that led to her becoming queen make sense when coupled with the discovery of an insidious political maneuver that would lead to the killing of all Jewish exiles in the Persian empire. Esther, a Jewish person herself, was made for this moment. God provided her with beauty to win the favor of the king, a wise mentor to see the evil politician Haman for who he really was, and a strong, courageous will to risk life and limb by approaching the king.
Esther, following her Uncle Mordecai’s sage advice, embraced the moment she was made for, resolutely declaring, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16 ESV). Talk about counter-cultural living!
What about you, teen, college student, or young adult? All of the seemingly disjointed, confusing events of your life are no accident. God is bringing them all together – good and bad – and turning them for your good and His glory among a new generation. You were made for this moment. God has sovereignly engineered you for this “post-Christian” era of history. Will you shrink back into the shadows of culture, or will you courageously embrace who God made you to be for such a time as this?
#5 - Be a mentor.
Read about it: Esther 4:14
Turn your attention, now, to Mordecai. Do you ever feel like an old shoe: worn, past its prime, cast aside, and unneeded? Thousands, maybe millions, of Jewish exiles were probably very thankful that Mordecai didn’t feel that way. It seems, through a good reading of the book of Esther, that, in the Persian culture, youth and beauty were revered, much like in today’s culture. Mordecai was not young, and likely not beautiful. But, he had something that was, apparently, in short supply among the Jewish exiles in Persia: Cultural discernment.
Mordecai, through his lifetime of experiences, and, most importantly, by the sovereign hand of God, was blessed with the wisdom to see the power plays going on in the palace, uncovering the plot to kill all Jewish exiles. He was also wise enough to see the hand of God on Esther in her rise from orphan to queen. However, perhaps the wisest move by Mordecai was his mentoring of Esther into the leader who God created her to be.
Today, thousands of young Christians throughout our land are desperate to hear Mordecai’s words coming from seasoned Christians: “And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14 ESV)? Who will you mentor in 2020? It may be an orphan like Esther. It may be the teenager you see across the auditorium at church. It may be a son, daughter, grandson, or granddaughter. Give them the gift of your time, look deep into their eyes, and help them embrace this moment for which they were made!
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