Some of the social media comments on my last post were interesting. After a day or so of time to reflect on it, I believe there are probably a few more things I could say on the topic of how Christians ought to approach our culture.

I’m sure this will be an ongoing conversation, which is good for the blog format. Blogs are meant to be constantly added to, and so I’m glad to have found a few things about which I can keep the conversation going.

Do What Only You Can Do.

This may sound trite, but it is worth saying: in life, you ought to find out what it is that you can do better than anyone else, and then do that thing over, and over again. This is the alternative to simply looking for a job, or languishing in any stage of life waiting for someone else to tell you what to do. Rather than looking for someone else to give you direction, or tell you what you’d be good at, it is better to find something you are passionate about and find a way to advance that cause in any way you can.

You might be saying, “What does this have to do with socialism, conservatism, and all that stuff you wrote about the other day?”

Don’t Let Other People Tell You What to Think.

The point is, in the discussion about which viewpoint to take and which causes to back, socialism, conservatism, liberalism, and all the other -isms out there should really be irrelevant to the Christian. They really ought to be irrelevant to anyone who wants to have a positive influence on the world, but I know personally about the Christian perspective, so I write about that.

For us, we’ve already got a message that grounds us, and it’s found in the pages of the best selling, most widely read, most well preserved book that has ever been written. That message ought to precede any other message we ascribe to. It ought to be the one that determines what we say to a world that needs healing and redemption.

Focus on What Matters.

The problem that I see, over and over again, is that we keep on shouting about how things are too liberal, or they seem too much like socialism, or communism, or Keynesianism, or consumerism, or globalization, or whatever other ideology we wish to oppose. Really, those things ought not to be part of our thought process at all. What we ought to think about is, What are we called to do in this world, and how can we best do that thing. And how can we do it again, and again, and again?   

What difference does it make if following a message of redemption and healing takes us down a path that some feel is conservative or liberal? What we ought to care most about is whether it takes us down the path toward redemption and healing.

Go think about that thing and get back to me. That is all.