Is there a Culture Crash: Where Church and Culture Collide?
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| Pastor Rick Warren at Saddleback Church. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Culture Crash #1: The Church and Same-Sex Marriage
There is no greater and faster shift in culture today than the swing towards the acceptance of same-sex marriage. Church leaders need to determine the right path moving forward; loving and ministering to the LGBT community, while at the same time staying true to their theology.
Culture Crash #2: The Church in an Inclusive Culture
Culture is moving to a more pluralistic and inclusive viewpoint on many things. With the growing number of the public that believe salvation can be gained outside of Christ (and the number of pastors believing the same), leaders need to be prepared for a world that increasingly views their theological position as exclusionary and narrow. How will the church reach out to a culture that views their beliefs as exclusionary and offensive?
Culture Crash #3: The Church and Marijuana
What once was an icon of the hippy culture, the push for legalization and acceptance of non-medical marijuana in the country is spiking. So far, the church has managed to stay mostly out of this debate. But even the church base is starting to shift. According to a Public Research Institute study, 50% of CHRISTIANS aged 18-29 say they favor or strongly favor legalizing recreational use of marijuana. And church leaders in Colorado are already faced with the question that most all of us will probably face in the very near future: What should the church say/do about marijuana usage?
Culture Crash #4: The Church and Changing Sexual Norms
The rapidly-changing sexual norms in our culture are invading the church. Today’s church attenders are increasingly ‘hooking up’ casually, cohabitating before marriage, dealing with addictions to pornography. Things like ‘little blue pills’, ‘sexting’, ‘twerking’ were not even in our vocabulary twenty years ago. And outside the church, 71% of Americans who do not attend church believe homosexuality is not a sin. As cultural thoughts continually change, how will the church be relevant to those, inside and outside of our walls, that are increasingly opposed to our theological views on sexuality?
Culture Crash #5: The Church and Christian Civility
The church has long been known for ‘shooting our own’. But recently, some groups within the church-at-large have gone public with their grievances on how other church leaders should deal with issues like racial and gender diversity. This public ‘calling out’ of other members of the body of Christ causes us to redefine what civility and unity looks like in today’s church culture. How do we disagree with each other in the internet age? Where does accountability lie? And how do we, as Rick Warren puts it, “disagree without being disagreeable”?
Culture Crash #6: The Church and Social Justice
One positive way that culture is shifting is the increased number of people interested and actively involved in social justice issues. Caring for the poor and caring for the least of these has always been a part of the church, but as social justice issues like stopping bullying, eliminating sex trafficking, racial reconciliation, the environment, and religious liberty make headlines on the nightly news, how will the church be a catalyst for positive change in our culture while staying on track with our primary gospel mission?
Culture Crash #7: Immigration
It’s in the headlines nearly every day. How does the church respond to the sharp political and social debate current occurring around the topic of immigration? It’s a difficult subject that churches will ultimately have to deal with.
