Platt - Counter culture travel guide: a 30-day tour of christs response to todays culture

E NGAGING CULTURE STARTS with looking to and trusting in the God who is sovereign over culture. We need his grace, his wisdom, and his power at work within us if we are to speak and act in a way that bears witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is this God-centered and God-exalting posture that will keep us from despair on the one hand and self-reliance on the other. As Christians we must be confident in God.

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

ROMANS 8:28

[Gods] dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, What have you done?

DANIEL 4:34-35

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

JUDE 1:24-25

• Praise God for his sovereignty over all things and people. Express your trust in his power and wisdom.
• Pray that God would give you confidence in his promises. Ask him to give you faith and hope as you seek to follow Christ.
• Pray that your church would depend fully on God and the power of the gospel as you speak to various issues in your own community.

IF WE BELIEVE that the gospel is truly the lifeblood of Christianity and the foundation for countering culture, then we ought to meditate on it regularly. Christ lived a life of sinless obedience, the life that God requires of us; Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin; Christ rose from the grave, thereby conquering sin and death; all who repent of their sins and believe in this Christ receive the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life. Thats good news.

The gospel is the foundation for our faith and for our witness to a dark and dying world. We must not leave it behind, as if we can follow Christ in our own strength. And we must not think that the unbelieving world around us will experience real and lasting change through our own courage, compassion, and conviction. No, its the gospel that saves and transforms people, and its the gospel that compels us to speak out when we see injustice, to stand up for those who are afflicted, and to hold fast to the truths of Gods Word in the face of opposition. This gospel is the very message that unreached peoples from across the globe so desperately need to hear. The gospel is worthy of our continual reflection and worthy of our lives.

DAY
2

HUMBLING OURSELVES BEFORE GOD

T HE FIRST STEP in addressing the sins and needs around us is to confess that we are sinful and needy. Our role is not to save culture, for salvation belongs to the L ORD (Jonah 2:9). We need the same Christ that we proclaim to our unbelieving neighbors. Being used by God begins with being forgiven and cleansed by God.

God is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18), and he promises to forgive those who confess their sins (see 1 John 1:9). Followers of Christ ought to confess their sins to God and ask him to strengthen them to be obedient. This kind of humility is pleasing to God and it prepares us to be used by him.

Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:12

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

PSALM 51:1-2

O L ORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my fathers house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there. They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.