Practical Steps to Engaging a Lost Culture
How do we engage people in a lost culture?
How do we approach those who need Jesus and don’t recognize that yet, with truth, in the most effective and loving ways?
Dr. James Spencer, president of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, shared his thoughts on the topic in a recent interview on CBN’s “Faith vs. Culture.”
“Faith vs. Culture” is a weekly program. Faithwire’s Dan Andros and Tré Goins-Phillips interviewed theology expert Spencer on discerning truth when people face conflicting information from every direction.
As reported by Faithwire, the program opened with Dr. Spencer’s central premise that “‘What the church needs most is discipleship,’ Spencer said, referring to the practical ways in which the D.L. Moody Center works to equip believers with theological knowledge. ‘I think that discipleship really opens up opportunities that no other tactic or strategy that we could come up with is ever going to provide.'”
Christians need to have an understanding of issues impacting faith and culture from an “intellectual and factual basis.” It’s also important for each of us to understand how we can live and communicate our faith around hot-button topics such as “immigration, abortion, and sexuality.”
Spencer encouraged believers to stay informed on news but not become too heavily preoccupied with social media or headlines. He says it’s vital for our witness “to remain calm in such a chaotic world.”
Dr. Spencer shared the story of how he became so deeply involved in theology and how that developed his passion for strengthening all Christian’s understanding of the reasoning behind our faith.
He acknowledged the challenge of making theology accessible to every believer and the humility necessary in acknowledging that our theology is likely incomplete. He described it as a “growing, moving process” but said we must operate in faith on what we know and understand at any given moment.
On all topics impacting our lives and the lives of people to whom we’re witnessing, he says it’s vital we examine carefully where God is in these situations and start with Him to have a better understanding of reality.
“If we can start there and keep God in the foreground, as we analyze some of these issues, I think we’re always going to have a stronger take than if we try to reason ourselves through these issues from a logical perspective and just try to make the arguments that everyone else is making.”
God made the whole person and redeems the whole person. As we engage our minds, as well as our hearts and souls, we acquire more tools for engaging a lost culture with the Creator who loves them.
