How should Christians relate to the culture around them?
- Jesus prayed that his followers would be in the world but not of the world (Jn. 17:11, 14-15).
- Therefore, all of Christian cultural engagement should be pervaded with a sense that our citizenship is in heaven, our hope is in heaven, and our affections are fixed on heaven (Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:1-3). We’re not of the world, so we should not share its values and hopes and goals.
- Yet because we are in the world, everything we do should be tinged with mercy, humility, compassion, and genuine desire for others’ well-being, because we share in the joys, burdens, and sorrows that all people experience in life under the sun.
