One of my best friends is a firefighter. His squad takes risky calls all the time that puts their lives on the line to keep people safe. I am so impressed by all first responders and thank them for their service. They have so many tools to put out a fire, but they also provide fire-blankets to schools and hospitals and a lot of other places so that they can control minor fires themselves. My friend said in one of his training drills, someone on his team caught fire and he had to run up to him and bear hug him with the blanket.
I love the picture of a fire-blanket when it comes to dealing with culture. Let’s face it, culture is on fire. It’s a mess. Nobody knows what is true anymore and nobody trusts anybody else. We are used to the saying, “fight fire with fire.” I do not think that approach has been working when it comes to sharing the gospel in the twenty-first century. I think, instead, we should bear hug culture with a giant protective blanket that helps put the fire out. This is such a picture of love and sacrifice, approaching the fire yourself to fully embrace the flames and bring them to safety.
We do not fully accept the false identities that culture is claiming to bring happiness. We will see in time, as with every other fad, that people will still be left alone and weak. We do, however, fully embrace culture. We do everything we can to understand another person who believes different than us, looks different, acts different, or comes from a different background. We appreciate their story, and we lean in enough to hear it. We approach their mess and do not shy away from it. We embrace them in love and support and point them to the blanket of safety that is Jesus Christ.
We are still called to fight back against culture. Embracing them in love does not mean downplaying your beliefs. Many times, we either avoid the complex conversations or the hard truths found in the Bible. When it comes to culture, the term love can come across as a coffee-shop Christianity. Everything is loving, there’s good vibes only, and you will get a little bit of encouragement for your day. Don’t worry, it won’t be too inconvenient for you. We call this fighting back? What a tragedy.
Culture is already looking for a convenient solution to their dire problem. People are alone, so they look to dating apps. Why go outside and socialize, when I can swipe without anybody knowing? People are hungry, so they order from a food service. Why make food or go out, when I can pay a ridiculous amount of money to have it delivered right to my door? People are anti-social, so why work in the office when I can work remote and have no pants on?
Instead of offering more convenience, which we have already discussed has not brought any improvement, we offer something else. Something unique. Something completely counter cultural. Something completely inconvenient. Something that nobody thinks will change lives or bring growth but turns out the be the only truth on earth that can do such a thing. What if we went to war against culture by going to war against convenience.
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