The Christian's response to the culture

[evangelist6589]

Can a christian change the culture by living a Godly life? Or can God change the culture if a christian prays hard and zealously? Or has 2 Tim 3 being fulfilled as we speak? How does a Christian respond to the culture? To politics? To the workplace? Should he/she be a pacifist or an activist?

There have been a dozen books on this subject and some write that a Christian can change the culture by being a light and testimony, yet not opening his mouth. Others write that a Christian needs to be bold and speak out, and pray for God to bring change, and others write that a Christian should separate from the culture and be a pacifist. What books are good for this subject?

 

[annsni]

I don't know about books but from experience, both living a godly life and preaching the Gospel can change those around you. BE the Gospel, live the Gospel and preach the Gospel and those around you can't help but be changed by it.

 

[evangelist6589]

I don't know about books but from experience, both living a godly life and preaching the Gospel can change those around you. BE the Gospel, live the Gospel and preach the Gospel and those around you can't help but be changed by it.

But if Total Depravity is true, and if the Mormons, Catholics, and others are also highly motivated for good ethics how can one change the world around them? How can one be nicer than a Mormon? That was a subject on one WOTM Podcast. The Mormons are great at being nice and kind to people.

 

[RLBosley]

Can a christian change the culture by living a Godly life? Or can God change the culture if a christian prays hard and zealously? Or has 2 Tim 3 being fulfilled as we speak? How does a Christian respond to the culture? To politics? To the workplace? Should he/she be a pacifist or an activist?

There have been a dozen books on this subject and some write that a Christian can change the culture by being a light and testimony, yet not opening his mouth. Others write that a Christian needs to be bold and speak out, and pray for God to bring change, and others write that a Christian should separate from the culture and be a pacifist. What books are good for this subject?

IMO, we ought to always be trying to redeem the culture through spreading the gospel. The more people repent and are converted, the more Christians there are. The more Christians there are, the more society will reflect Christian values. So we preach, we teach, we plead, and we leave the results up to God.

Total withdrawal from the culture is not the way to go IMO. The fundamentalists tried that. You can see how successful they have been.

Phl 2:14-15 NASB - Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world

Even though we are separate from the world as "innocent, children of God", we are to be "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation" which we would call the culture. We are "among" the people of this wicked culture. We can't be in the midst and among them if we totally withdraw ourselves to monasteries somewhere.

Also let me mention this:

Should he/she be a pacifist or an activist?

This is a false dichotomy. Pacifism is not passivism.

The opposite of pacifism is militarism/or belligerence not activism.

One can be nonviolent and still be an activist and affect radical change in the culture.

Like Jesus and the apostles for example