When my wife, Maryanne, and I came to Northeast Ohio almost 30 years ago to start Cuyahoga Valley Church, we wanted to make sure that we started a congregation that was known for what we were FOR rather than known for what we were against.
I've been so pleased when I've heard Pastor Chad Allen, current Lead Pastor at CVC, many times say virtually the same thing.
We are FOR marriage – the loving union of one man and one woman in Christ for life to create homes that are safe, stable, caring, and empowering.
We are FOR taking care of creation – this planet that God has made for us to enjoy so that it is safe and productive for our generation and for generations to come.
We are FOR women's rights, including the right of little females inside their mothers' wombs to be born and have the opportunity to grow up to be women themselves someday. (And we are FOR the right to life of every little boy in his mother's womb to have the opportunity to grow up to be a man.)
We are FOR taking care of the last and least, so that little girls and boys don't become sex slaves, so that orphans and widows are cared for, so that everyone on the planet has safe clean drinking water, so that people in systemic poverty can be empowered and lifted out of it.
You may not be able to do a lot about all of these issues. But you could do something - maybe even something significant - about one. Pick one of these issues - one of these Global Goliaths - and leverage your life to bring it down and build God's kingdom.
Be a follower of Jesus in such a way that you are known for what you are FOR not for what you are against!
This is a way not to be conformed to this world. We are to be transformed. And we are to be transform-ers. We counter any part of our culture that stands against the kingdom of Christ.
We make sure do it with what Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, calls "convictional kindness."
But get ready. If you take your stand for something that pleases Jesus with convictional kindness, you will be criticized. Some will criticize you for your conviction. Others will criticize you for your kindness.
When Jesus attended dinner parties at the homes of Matthew and Zacchaeus, two tax collectors, he was criticized by those on the right for partying with sinners. And he was criticized by those on the left for calling them to repentance.
But Jesus knew that truth does not come from the right or the left. Truth comes from above.
And if we are going to counter our culture the way Jesus did His, we remember that His kingdom is not of this world. We must focus on the conversions of individual people in our circles of influence through having New Life conversations one at a time. Ultimately, we remember that we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. We want to go there and take as many people with us as we possibly can. Our primary aim is not to convert people to our worldview. Our primary aim is to patently help them become followers of Jesus. He will transform their worldview.
Still, we do all that we do in a context of taking a stand for the love–elevating and life–empowering values of the Christ's kingdom. We are salt and light. We do all that we do in love. We are full of grace and truth. We speak the truth in love. We do all we do with convictional kindness.
So, how are you countering your culture? How am I?
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