Change The Culture?
Culture is described as behaviors and manners of various groups designated by ethnic, financial, political backgrounds. i.e. Drug culture, prison culture, youth culture, and anything that goes against normal standards in society.
There are many types of cultures and we will discuss a few. In every culture the standards for right and wrong are always determined by the people of such cultures. Never is the Divine standard (The Bible) used to control behavior or beliefs of the people. Yet strangely, the people of each culture claim a belief in a higher power.
There are many cultures and beliefs around the world. Each culture is unique in several ways, yet generically, they are all somehow the same.
Our society we live in is considered a sexual culture. Everywhere you go, the sexual agenda is promoted and tolerated. Advertising is promoted by sexual allurements. Just looking at Facebook.com you begin to wonder why those beautiful people are used to sell mortgages, language learning software and auto insurance. Many commercials use the beautiful people to sell products like ice cream, beer, and toothpaste.
Different ethnic groups have their own culture. We see in the Middle East a culture where they teach their children to strap on bombs and go into crowded market places, shout "Alauah Akbar" and detonate the explosive killing many others. Such cultures teach hatred for other groups, and that is how the children grow up.
Ethnic cultures seem to put pressure upon its people to conform to standards that are many times detrimental to their health and well-being. In many large cities there are dozens of shootings, and as a result of such shootings, there are many funerals. It seems that the culture has accepted that to be the case, and life goes on for them. I have seen that when one tries to break away from their culture that the others call them names and almost try to shame them into being something the local culture expects. Some appear to want to be a culture of being thugs, drug dealers, and any other vices one can imagine.
Many cultures behave out of selfish desires by one or more individuals, and such behavior is just accepted as normal. We see politics wrapped up in corruption. One reporter calls it the "culture of corruption". Many politicians go to their capitals with a good intention, and then get wrapped up in the prevailing culture of the norm. In the meantime, nothing seems to get accomplished. It appears that the voters know their politicians are corrupt, but that does not seem to bother them.
Cultures vary from house to house and street to street. It varies according to ethnic areas and backgrounds. It varies according to upbringing and training. But like I said, the standard of acceptable behavior is always determined by the members of each culture. Rarely is the Divine standard of behavior practiced or encouraged. This is why it is difficult for people to be converted into something different. For a sinner to be converted into a Christian means that they must change their culture which is so natural into something that is not normal for them.
The truth is that no stature in culture is going to save the soul. Only following the Divine standard can do that. Change is the major factor in repentance. It means a change of direction and behavior. It goes from sin to righteousness which is anti-cultural for many people. Yet, if people want to be saved, they will make the necessary changes.
We can see this in the Divine pages. Remember that the Jewish culture kept many from becoming Christians. Even some of those who became Christians still got caught up in hatred for Gentiles and they tried to keep their culture alive in their new religion. They tried to force people into standards that were no longer required by God. God holds each and every person accountable for what they do, believe, teach, and practice. We know the standard of judgment will be the Bible. We know that our names must be in the Lambs book of life. The only way to get our names there is to change our culture into His culture.
By Carey Scott

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