Christians Should Be Countercultural! (Not Like the Culture)
The Gospel is countercultural. You have heard this before. You know this.
The Gospel is The Christian Way of life, we live it out every day, with difficulty yes! Now we need to keep in mind that The Gospel is Treason (goes against everything the world promotes) to the world. And by the world, we mean The Powers and the Principalities both human and Satanic.
Now it's worth noting that some of America’s enemies call us “the Great Satan” because they believe America does Satan’s work in the world. Is there any truth to that statement and belief? In Exodus 20:3 When God says, ‘You shall have no other God before me” what did he mean? Think about it. If we continue on in scripture Moses and the Israelites sang this song to Yahweh: “I will sing to Yahweh, for he is highly exalted… who among the gods is like you, Yahweh?” Exodus 15:1,11. There are many other references like this in Psalms: “There is none like you among the gods” (Psalm 86:8). “For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods” (Psalm 96:4). “For you, Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods” (Psalm 97:9).
There were many nations and Yahweh cited these: Egyptians, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, as nations the Israelites must avoid, “you must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods” (1 Kings 11:1-2). In the Hebrew Commentary by Robert Alter we are told that this scripture illustrates how idolatry leads to national disaster which is a wake-up call for us.
Scripture also tells us that Solomon “followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and “Molek ‘the detestable god of the Ammonites. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for “Chemosh” the detestable god of Moab, and for “Molek” the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.” (1 Kings 11:5, 7-8) Notice that scripture does not say these are imaginary gods. They are spoken of as real entities that humans worship instead of Yahweh the only true God.
Some gods have power and authority over geographic regions and ethnic groups on earth. Deuteronomy 32:7-9 tells us that Yahweh gave authority to specific regions and nations to specific spiritual entities called “sons of God” but saved the people of Israel for himself.2 The sons of God in the Bible are referred to as “elohim” which is the Hebrew word for “god”. Just like humans rebelled against Yahweh, we learn in Scripture that the sons of God did as well.3
Ok, so I won’t go any further on this topic but have provided links below to books to refer to.
So Paul, when describing powerful evil spiritual beings, interchanged terms: “principalities” (archē), “powers” or authorities (exousia), “powers” (dynamis), “dominions”or ”lords” (kyrios), and “thrones” (thronos). These terms were used in both the New Testament and Greek literature for geographical domain rulership. This then is the divine dominion concept of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 carried on in the New Testament. Occasionally these terms are used for humans, but more often they demonstrate that Paul had spiritual beings in mind. Jesus used some of the same words to refer to Satan.
Jesus refers to Satan as “the prince” or “ruler” of this world three times (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). The term Jesus uses is “archōn” and was used in the secular world to refer to the highest official in a city or region. Jesus acknowledges that Satan is the highest power of this present fallen world, at least in terms of his current authority and influence. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness his story confirms that Satan was given all authority over all the nations of the world (Luke 4:5-7).
My point is that America is not a nation under God and never has been. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4.
John makes this claim: “We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” 1 John 5:19
So Satan is the God of this world, as acknowledged by Christ and there apparently are other entities that have authority over other areas of the world.
There are those who consider these views heresy, I have included a link to an article to read with the opposite view.
If Satan rules all the nations, he also rules America. We have been a pagan nation for many years. Pornography that goes out to the world, salacious and evil entertainment, we promote sin, and the list goes on. Institutional Christianity has weakened drastically since the 1960s. Many people who once were lukewarm Christmas/Easter churchgoers now identify as having “no religion” or being “spiritual but not religious.” The mainline-Protestant establishment has fallen apart. Religious belief and practice now polarize around our politics in a way it didn’t a few generations ago.
In his book Steven D. Smith -University of San Diego, “Pagans and Christians in the City: Culture Wars From the Tiber to the Potomac.” Smith contends much of what we think of as the march of secularism is an illusion. What’s actually happening in the modern culture wars is the return of a pagan religious framework, which was suppressed by the rise of Christianity. Perhaps.
This rediscovered paganism is not materialist or atheistic but allows for belief in the spiritual and supernatural. It also accepts the possibility of an afterlife. But the problem is it is deliberately agnostic about final things and what is beyond this world, and it is skeptical of the idea that there exists some ascetic, world-denying moral standard to which we should aspire. It is relativistic and amoral.
Followers of Jesus are “born again” into The Kingdom of God. The Gospel is centered on the Kingdom. The good news for those living in a nation and world that belongs to Satan is that a new kingdom has arrived where Jesus is King. While Satan is the god of America, Jesus is the God of the Kingdom.
We must always be aware of and guard against the way of the world. We must daily without fail attempt to fight against finding our self-worth, status, honor, power, or prestige in something other than Jesus. You can try to find worth and identity in, a wife, job, car, education, or a host of other good things. But nothing compares to Christ. So be countercultural, do not be seduced by the gods of this world, idols like politics and materialism. This Christ-oriented thinking will help you identify wrong thinking like trusting in oneself or in the worldly indicators of worth, power, honor, and status. With a daily relationship with Christ, you will begin to realize that even if everything you possess is taken; you will be unmoved in Christ. Also even if we possess all the riches of this world, we will remain true to Christ. Hold your possessions and accomplishments loosely, they are all like a vapor and will someday be gone. Don’t be possessed by them. Always know they are not your source of worth and pride. Instead, discover the liberating joy of a countercultural life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to be reminded daily to “let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also,” for only Christ can satisfy our desires and needs.
Does the Bible teach a “divine council”? Glory Waters Christian Institute