As a Christian, it’s not surprising to me that my beliefs often go against the popular culture. This is hard for me because deep down, I really want everyone to like me but that’s another blog post. The church went against popular culture from its inception. Early Christians would not worship Caesar, thus they were punished for their beliefs. All through history, the church lived (most of the time) according to the teachings of Jesus. Except when the church became influenced by culture, and then it usually went really, really badly. Inquisition, anyone?

The calling of the church is to uphold truth, to be a blessing to the world, and to reflect Jesus well. The church also has a covenant to follow (Some in the church expect non-believers to follow this covenant but that is WRONG. We cannot expect the world to follow the covenant Christians follow. Our job is to follow the covenant ourselves; by the way, can we not be jerks about it?)

I recently felt tempted to “go with the flow” of culture because frankly, it can be tiring to swim upstream. Curiously, I asked myself, “What is the big deal anyway?” You see, I worry about losing friends or being misunderstood for my beliefs.

I can point out many ways where I think the church is influenced by culture, and not the other way around. Was I blinded to it in my own heart? Apparently so.  To answer the question,  it is a big deal to “go with the flow” because it compromises my beliefs and allows culture to dictate, instead of Jesus.  I needed a course correction. I’m grateful to the Lord that He gently showed me how easily I can veer away from my core beliefs. I am to love the culture, but I am not to let it influence me. This is difficult but not impossible. It takes courage, humility and a huge dose of love. This is my prayer for myself and the body of Christ.

I’m blogging with a group of women all writing on the same topic (What is the Lord teaching me at the moment?) Click here to read Susan’s post.