Overcoming Society’s Influence on Living
Four points to consider:
A. Society, as a whole, does not follow the teachings of Christ.
B. Care must be taken not to follow the teachings of society (and be conformed to the world) but to give attention to the things of Christ.
C. Christians must fight an uphill, yet righteous, battle to show others the good, acceptable, perfect will of God
D. Give your children the guidance they need, that they too will follow Christ, not the world
Brethren, we should observe all things Christ has commanded of us. We should follow His teachings and His commandments of how to live our lives in a fulfilling way.
Too many people, in this modern era, allow society to dictate how they live their lives. They let society teach their kids what is right and what is wrong. That’s not observing the things of Christ. It’s not society’s job to teach our children, it’s the job of parents.
Deuteronomy 6:7-(Speaking of God’s words) Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Brethren, God is telling us to always teach our children, daily, right and wrong, of His commandment and His word.
Society is filled with Biblically-negative ideas, stories, and concepts. Society as a whole is a study in what we shouldn’t do in living a Godly life.
Take the tv for example. Everywhere you look, women and men are under-dressing, or more and more, they’re undressing. There’s nudity on network TV. Homosexuality is glorified, and portrayed as a perfectly acceptable way of life; tales of vengeance are told with the heroes killing and maiming more people than the bad guys in the name of revenge; Christians and our Lord Jesus Christ are made fun of and mocked. His very existence is debated and questioned.
Look at many of today’s magazines. Soft-core porn is invading our literature, in magazines that purport to be family friendly.
Get on the internet: sex is everywhere! Anyone can find it! Our children, if they can read, and can type, can access porn sites! The ACLU and other such organizations say if we ban porn, we violate freedom of speech. In other words, brethren, it’s wrong to tell a whoremonger they can’t have sex, literally in public, but it’s okay to tell the rest of us we’re wrong to object to it!
Don’t misunderstand my heart, church, I support freedom of speech. But I feel that with that freedom comes responsibility, and until society is ready to accept that responsibility, it’s up to us, as Christ’s children and guardians of righteousness, to keep our eyes on Christ and off of society’s sinful ideals.
Going back to Romans 12:2, we’ve got to be a part of this world, until we go home to be with Christ, but we don’t have to let the world shape who we are and how we live our lives. The Word and the Lord should guide that.
Society is falling into Satan’s trap. The majority of society is conforming to the world, not just being a part of it. Too many people are conforming to the wrong set of ideals and teachings.
We, as Christians, must be wary of allowing our children, and ourselves, to fall into this trap and to become captive to the elements of today’s world.
Peter walked on water. We all know the story. He was fine until he looked down, and took his eyes off of Jesus. Then he began to sink, but Christ lifted him up.
Brethren, this story illustrates two points I want to focus on: A. Keeping your eyes on Christ, and B. having unshakable faith. You won’t sink unless you take your eyes off of Christ. If you’re going to survive in today’s world, you’ve got to keep your eyes on Jesus, not on society’s items of worship. Whether they realize it or not, society is worshipping the wrong lord. Money, sex, power, drugs, are glorified and worshipped in today’s world. That’s idolatry, and we all know that’s an abomination in the eyes of God.
Keep your eyes on Jesus and your faith in His name. Without your faith and your trust in Jesus, Satan will kick your teeth in.
Sin is all around you. Hollywood, the publishing world, the internet, all serve as Satan’s communications companies.
Between the tv, movies, the net, and a collage of magazines and books readily available, you can find every sin imaginable. Fornication. Adultery. Homosexuality. Revenge. Blasphemy. You name it, it’s there.
Our children see it. They don’t have our wisdom to decipher the wrongness of society’s beliefs from the teachings of Christ. They’re vulnerable. Satan knows it. He is ready at a moment’s notice to take advantage of it.
They see Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera wearing next to nothing, dancing suggestively on stage, and they want to emulate that dress. I’m tired of seeing teenage girls dressing like they’re going to the set of an X-rated movie. I’m tired of seeing young ladies getting pregnant and dropping out of school, or getting an abortion in a back alley clinic. We, as Christians, as parents, should do more to prevent this behavior. Why are parents allowing their daughters to dress like this? It’s the parents’ responsibility to raise their children, not society’s. Unfortunately, more and more, society is doing the educating.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Ephesians 6:1
Parents, make your children dress appropriately, and don’t take no for an answer.
I’ve discussed the girls, now let’s discuss the boys.
In today’s world, a girl who sleeps around gets criticized. A guy who does it gets labeled as a macho, suave man. He gets respect for it. Either way, it’s fornicating and it’s wrong!
Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
John 8:41 tells us: We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.1 Corinthians 6:13 Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
Revenge is portrayed as glorious, hip, stylish. Wrong! Romans 12:19 – Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
All the way back to Deuteronomy 32:35, God says that vengeance belongs to him. Try telling that to today’s world.
Homosexuality is an abomination! God speaks out against homosexuality in the Old and New Testaments. God calls it an abomination. Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Luke 16:15 Christ warns us that what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the eyes of God. Look how highly society esteems these sins! Christians are fired for being intolerant of homosexuality, while the homosexuals are given preferential treatment in many workplaces.
For example, homosexuality is not hip, or cool, as society portrays it. It’s wrong!
We’re warned not to follow false doctrine! Don’t be fooled by society’s perceptions of right and wrong!
Marriage used to be sacred. Now, it’s treated with about the same respect as yesterday’s news. People say we’ll live together, instead of marrying. Couples don’t understand the significance and sanctity of marriage. When they have problems, they run and get a divorce, or go to someone else while still married. They try to justify it by saying they’re unhappy or weren’t meant to be together. That’s not the commandment of Christ! Hollywood adds to the fire when couples change spouses as often as they change hairstyles.
1 Corinthians 7:23: Are you married? Seek not a divorce.
Except for fornication, you shouldn’t start looking for a reason to divorce.
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Matthew 5:32
We’ve got children dieing in this country every day because society, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood think abortion is an acceptable form of birth control! Matthew 25:40 should send a chill down the spine of every person who has ever killed an unborn child rather than face the consequences of their actions, and either raise the child or allow it to be adopted. “In as much as ye have done unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done that unto me.”
Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived, for God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Brethren, God knows every child, born or unborn, because His hand created the child. Abortion is destroying the very life that God created. You’re sowing a deadly vine in doing so, and the time will come when you have to reap the fruits of that vine.
Brethren, society says prayer in school is wrong! Our children shouldn’t talk about God, Jesus, the Cross, the Living Word, the Holy Name of our Savior! It’s no wonder our youth are in the court system, and committing crimes and atrocities against their fellow man. A lot of these kids parading through the criminal justice system have never even seen the inside of a church or heard the powerful, loving, holy word of God!
Activist judges and the ACLU think prayer will offend the non-Christians and the atheists. Never mind that it offends the Christians whose children are being denied the opportunity to pray with their fellow Christians in school. Satan knows if we allow prayer back in school the non-Christian kids will accept Jesus and start telling mom and dad about how He died on the cross for their sins.
Parents, that’s where we come in. We have to foster that prayer in our children’s lives. If they can’t pray at school, make sure they pray at home, in church, throughout their daily lives. Tell them to pray silently in school if they have to, but to pray, fervently, without fail.
1 Thessalonians 5:17: Pray without ceasing. That simple. How powerful those three words are! Pray without ceasing. He will hear those prayers, and will answer them according to His will. Teach your children to pray without ceasing. They can’t pray every second of every day, but they can develop the mentality to keep prayer in their daily lives.
1 Peter 5:8 warns that our enemy, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion, looking for whom he may devour. Brethren, without prayer, without Jesus to guide us in today’s world, Satan will eat us alive. We can’t navigate these treacherous times without Jesus.
Satan is using society to get to the non-Christian children faster than we as Christians can get to them.
We must continue to strive, and to teach others, that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Brethren, we should also remember, when it seems the woes and evils of society are winning and beating us down, We can do all things through the Lord Jesus Christ, who strengthens us. Phillipians 4:13.
Brethren, we can continue to fight, we can continue to counter society’s false doctrine, so long as we continue to be part of the world, but not of the world.
