Last week, I mentioned in a post that I was going to be posting some quotes from the book All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes. Below is today’s installment.
It may seem an extreme assertion at first, but I believe that the challenge
of living with popular culture may well be as serious for modern Christians as persecution and plaques were for the saints of earlier centuries. Being thrown to the lions or living in the shadow of gruesome death are fairly straightforward if unattractive threats. Enemies that come loudly and
visibly are usually much easier to fight than those that are
undetectable.
Living with popular culture is indeed a challenge for modern believers. I am frequently reminded that as believers we are to be "in the world, not of the world." I am also challenged by the fact that we are are to "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1John 2:15)
It seems that in many discussions we are finding that modern believers are advocating following popular culture and pursuing the world.
The temptations to follow the world are definitely strong. I don't know if those temptations really compare with the ones of saints under persecution such as Wycliffe, but I think that his point deserves attention.
When dealing with active persecution, it is easier to see the enemy. It is when the enemy is concealed that the fighting becomes more difficult.
Just my thoughts,
Frank
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