Jesus Christ was radical in His day. He remains radical to this day. He is radical every day. Jesus is just different. He is the one, unique, incarnate God, deity dwelling in human flesh, fully God and full man. There is none like Him.
Jesus lived a radical lifestyle, did radical things, and proclaimed a radical message. Among the radial aspects of what He proclaimed was the lifestyle, He called His followers to live. This is so clearly seen in Matthew 5-7 that theologian John R.W. Stott spoke of these teachings as Jesus calling for “A Christian Counter-Culture.” We know these teachings best as “The Sermon on the Mount,” but I think Stott’s understanding that Jesus was calling for a Christian Counter-Culture is on target. Jesus repeatedly challenged the prevailing perspective of the culture of His day. He said, “You have heard that it was said... but I say to you...”
Jesus did not come to change or abolish the Law but to fulfill the Law. Likewise, He is the One who helps us understand the meaning and intent of the Law. Christ enables us to see God’s heart and God’s truth without the lens of the prevailing culture. Jesus calls us back to the eternal perspective of the Creator of Life on how our lives should be lived. He calls us away from the way of life diluted and even polluted by the prevailing culture of a fallen world. He calls us to be a “Christian Counter-Culture.”
Think for a moment how very different this is from what we are so very often. There are many ways in which it seems the culture is shaping the Church rather than the Church shaping the culture. We are called to be salt, light, and a city set on a hill, as examples to and agents for change for the world around us, but so often, it seems like that process is reversed. We are prone to reinterpret Scripture to make it align with the societal norms of our day. Churches are filled with professing Christians who have reinterpreted Scripture to fit in with the trends of the culture. Even the understanding of what Scripture is has been altered in order to accommodate cultural norms.
Romans 12:2 tells us that we should not be conformed to the world or let the world squeeze us into its’ mold. The reality is that this happens far too often. That is why there is this exhortation not to let that happen. The pressure to conform to the culture that is exerted by society is strong. Without a firm commitment to the unchanging Word of God as our standard for life and truth, we will be like what is spoken of in the first chapter of the book of James, “driven and tossed by the winds.” We will be unstable in all our ways. The teachings of Jesus are designed to enable us to be faithful witnesses to the truth of God as we accept them, follow them, and hold on to them through the turbulence of changing societal whims. Whenever and wherever the winds of culture shift away from the Word of God, Jesus calls us to be a Christian Counter-Culture. That is how we can fulfill our role as the salt and light that the world so desperately needs.
As Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, we are entering a time of introspection and prayer leading to Easter. Let us reflect on the significance of death preceding resurrection, urging readers to embrace a daily practice of surrendering self in preparation for our spiritual transformation.