Where Is It Easier to Live for Christ?

Two weeks ago, I asked the question:  Where is it easier to live for Christ?  In a place that reinforces the value of the Church of in a place which mocks those values?  Is it easier to live in Mayberry or Sodom?  Eventually the answer becomes a Joshua 24:15 answer for each one of us.  We can't really dictate how others will live, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  

Here are my random thoughts on this topic:  It may be more difficult to live in a pagan culture, but there is more of an impact in this culture from those who truly live for Christ.  A little light will shine much brighter in darkness than in a place which already has light in it.  The choices we make as followers of Christ will be so contrary to the flow of a pagan culture that people will take notice.  Some may try to snuff out the light, which is often the case in pagan cultures.  Others may want to embrace the light of Christ.  But all will be confronted with the message of the cross because of a faithful few.  The early church was persecuted because they no longer embraced ethnic divisions or gender divisions or followed immoral practices.  An airplane is able to fly because resistance lifts it into the air.  Resistance will always allow the Church a greater opportunity to witness.  The Church has always grown stronger (Maybe not larger) during times of persecution in a pagan culture.  The Church in China is much stronger spiritually than the Church in America, even though a much higher percentage of Americans go to church than do Chinese.  What is the difference:  persecution.

The danger in trying to live for Christ in a pagan world is that paganism begins to infiltrate the Church and individual followers.  The Church at Corinth had begun to allow the immorality of the culture to be accepted in the Church.  Read I Corinthians and you will see Paul chastising the Church for living just like the rest of the world.  Before we judge Corinth too harshly, think about how many Christians are living together and not married.  Think about how we have begun to utilize the methods of the world in the Church.  Think about the pagan practices that go on in our own homes.

So my take is this:  Living for Jesus in a pagan culture is easier, but more testing.  I have always been on who enjoyed going against the flow.  If everyone else was doing it, then I probably wanted to try something new.  My favorite number is 13 because so many people are superstitious about that number.  I have no tattoos and no body piercings because I want to go against the flow.  In college I enjoyed being on the debate team because I enjoyed having to develop critical thinking skills and the ability to present a constructive argument.  So for the past twenty-five years, I have lived in cultures that did not reinforce the values of the church, but I have enjoyed the challenge of living in those cultures.  There are times when I do grow weary of going against the flow, but when I see lives radically changed because of Jesus, I am energized.

Living in a culture which reinforces the values of the church makes it easier to follow the "rules" since so many others are also doing it.  The norm is that which supports my faith in Christ.  We can have conversations all the time with people about church and God since most people are not antagonistic towards those topics.  There is more peace in the community with less crime and more connectedness with neighbors.  People are often more friendly and willing to help a stranger in need.  This is not a utopia, but it is a living out of the values Jesus taught and lived.  Yet, underneath, there can be hypocrisy and secret sin.  We feel more shame in our sin, so we keep our sin hidden.  We can fall victim to legalism like the churches in Galatia.  They had become a very legalistic church which emphasized following the Law instead of living in grace.  The danger for me living a Mayberry-like existence would be the temptation to get frustrated with those who should be living for Jesus but aren't.  I am much more patient with those who have never come to Christ than those who have come to Christ and yet take His gift of grace lightly.  If this attitude isn't checked, it becomes spiritual pride which is incredibly destructive and blinding.

Eventually this is a personal choice:  Which one is more challenging for me?  Perhaps a better question is:  Where has God planted me?  Once we answer that question, the focus changes from our environment to our availability to change lives.  Ultimately, it is not WHERE we are that matters, but WHOSE we are that matters.  A genuine Faith will radiate to the lost, regardless of the culture in which that Faith is planted.  May this Sip refresh you to fulfill your purpose in Christ where He has planted you.