How to Stay Christian in Culture

How to Stay Christian in Culture
"The Way thru the Crowd"

Intro: The Pilgrim's Progress

3 things that hurt us
sound
stuff
schedules

3 things that help us
silence
simplicity
sabbath

If we will stay Christian in this culture
-we must practice silence amidst the sounds of society
-we must practice simplicity amidst the stuff of society
-we must practice sabbath amidst the schedule of society

SILENCE AMIDST THE SOUND

1 Thes. 4:11 "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life"

BUT
alarm, sing in shower, tv, radio, ipods, cell phones, etc
We are so rarely silent that we find silence awkward

THEN
we complain that we never hear from God
we wonder why our relationship with God feels dead

We've fallen so in love with sound that we forgot to value silence
But even Jesus valued silence as a priority
Psalms is filled with the quest for quietness (46:10)
We must find creative ways (mum-ball)

SILENCE AMIDST THE STUFF

We are a consumer culture
-we've got stuff, want stuff, love stuff
-we need more space to store stuff
-people with so much stuff they only have paths to their rooms

BUT
it's never enough. Stuff just creates more worry which leads to more stuff

1 Timothy 6:6-11a

We need to purposefully practice simplicity
-cap our discretionary spending
-get rid of some things

SABBATH AMDIST THE SCHEDULE

I'd love quiet time
I'd love to keep a budget
I just don't have the TIME!
*errands, kids soccer, church stuff, work stuff, family stuff, parties, etc

Satan wants to make you bad
But he's content to keep you busy
If it will keep you from being holy

This one is even harder for Christians b/c we hate to turn people down
We end up saying YES to everyone except God

God made a cure for chaos (Sabbath, Mark 2:27)
-OT command to rest/assemble on Saturday
-NT church rested/assembled on Sunday
-Might look different for different people (day and 'rest')
-We need rest, retreat

In our culture, chances are you are surrounded by sound, stuff and a full schedule
Will you let the culture dictate your life and relationship with God?
Or will you commit to quiet time with the Lord?
Will you stick to simplicity?
Will you realize the value of rest?