Choosing The Extraordinary LifeSample

Determine to Influence Your Culture

God cares about what happens in His world. God’s interests are not confined to the church but extend throughout all His creation. The first reaction of many Christians to an increasingly anti-Christian culture is to retreat, like a turtle pulling its head and legs into its shell. 

But as Paul reminded the Ephesian believers, “We are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). The word translated “workmanship” in this verse is poieme, from which we get our word “poem.”

God does not write His poem in our lives for us to simply sit on a shelf. Rather, He composes our lives so that others might read His poem when they come into contact with us. The operative word is contact. God is calling you to work for change in the areas in which you have influence. You may hold little sway over the larger culture of your state or country, but you can impact your neighborhood, school, office, church, and home. 

Commit to engaging your culture. These three convictions can transform us into spiritual giants who can transform our world:

1. God is alive and active in the culture. Our assignment is to uphold the standards of the one true God regardless of the consequences. He will hold our culture accountable if we retreat from the truth.

2. You are God’s ambassador to the culture. Ambassadors do not speak on their own initiative or represent their own interests. Rather, they represent the rulers who commissioned them. If we faithfully represent God’s message to those inside and outside His kingdom, we can be assured of His divine enablement and providential care.

3. God is able to change the culture. Ultimately we are not the ones who influence culture—God is. Our responsibility is to make sure our salt remains salty and our light remains bright. We do this by trusting in the power of God’s Word, practicing the power of prayer, and depending on the power of the Spirit.

Identify one way in which your unique purpose could intersect positively with your sphere of influence.