Light gives direction,

provides protection,

exercises correction,

and facilitates

detection. When

living correctly,

Christians do all of

this in the culture.

God the Father with God the Son.

The much-misrepresented phrase

encouraging unity, “that they may be

one,” was never intended to promote

compromise of theology or conduct.

God the Father and God the Son

are united in perfect doctrinal and

behavioral harmony; this is the only

way we are instructed to practice

unity. Accommodating our culture is

not Christ’s intent for believers. God

is absolutely holy and so must we seek

to be if we are to be properly uniﬁed

with God.

The ﬁnal preposition used to describe

our relationship with our culture is

given in John 17:13. “These things I

speak in the world, that they might

have my joy fulﬁlled in themselves.”

Believers are not consigned to a life

of dread and despair by the preceding

three descriptions. Rather, Jesus

declares that the result of these three

provides joy. Thus we see joy WITHIN

the world. Our conﬂict with culture

should not rob us of our joy.

Response

to Our Culture

Jesus then provides a series

of guidelines leading to

our commissioned task for

accomplishing His mission

of engaging believers as His

ambassadors to this world. First,

Jesus identiﬁes our arsenal for

confronting this world’s culture.

John 17:14a states, “I have given them

thy word.” Any address of culture

must be scripturally based. He gave

us the Word.

Secondly, we should expect the

culture to reject the Word of God.

John 17:14b conﬁrms, “And the world

hath hated them.” With the denial

and abandonment of the Bible, our

culture has increasingly assaulted

any adherence or obligation to follow

the teaching of Scripture. Frankly,

the church and culture exist in two

different realms. “The world hath

hated them because they are not of

the world” (John 17:14, cf. John 15:19).

It should be noted, thirdly, that Jesus

did not intend to take us out of this

world, but rather that we should be

protected from the evil one as noted

in John 17:15, “I pray not that thou

shouldest take them out of the world

but that thou shouldest keep them

from the evil.” Clearly, we are to exist

in this culture but we are not to yield

to the corruption of this culture. A

difference should be obvious because

we are not of this world. “They are not

of this world, even as I am not of this

world” (John 17:16).

Fourthly, Jesus gives the needed

defense and inoculation for believers

in our culture. “Sanctify them

through thy truth; thy Word is truth”

(John 17:17). With a declaration of

absolutism (truth) further solidiﬁed

by its identity and authority with

the Word of God, Jesus prays for a

“setting apart” of the believers from

the ways of the world.

Finally, the command for the

Christian and culture is introduced.

“As the Father has sent me into the

world, even so have I also sent them

into the world” (John 17:18). With

an amazing comparison to the Lord

Jesus Himself, we are commissioned

to invade our darkened culture with

the radiance of sanctiﬁed behavior

grounded upon the changeless,

absolute truth of the Word of God.

Representation

in Our Culture

Jesus uses powerful illustrations

to guide believers as we face our

culture. One of the clearest examples

is the imagery of light. He boldly

announces, “Ye are the light of

the world” (Matt. 5:14). He further

declares, “Let your light so shine

before men, that they may see your

good works, and glorify your Father,

which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Light

gives direction, provides protection,

exercises correction, and facilitates

detection. When living correctly,

Christians do all of this in the

culture. Our very presence should

provide these qualities of light in

stark contrast to the darkness and

despair of our world. Such shining

ignites a need and desire for the

Source of our

light, God

Himself. We

should remind

people of God

by our presence.

The relationship

between the

believer and

culture presents

a myriad of

hotly-debated

topics. The extremes of response

are too often apparent. But Jesus

left us with the infallible compass

of the Holy Scriptures and with the

guaranteed indwelling of the Holy

Spirit to lead us. May God help us to

tackle the challenge of relating to and

responding to our culture without

conforming to it (Romans 12:2).

P±²³´µµ²±: Dr. Daniel Anderson, Th.D.

C²¶±µ´ W²±K: Dec.5, 2016–Feb.3, 2017

On-Campus Module: January 2-6, 2017

ABC.EDU/GRADUATE

APPALACHIAN BIBLE COLLEGE

GRADUATE SCHOOL

PT ·¸¹: THE CHURCH

AND CULTURE