Topics for Today’s Christianity: 3 Christian Misconceptions Related to Contemporary Culture
If you feel compelled to choose between serving Christ and embracing contemporary culture, you are not alone. Today more than ever, conventional Christians have trouble trying to connect cultural enjoyment with Christian values, a battle that causes some of them to quit church. Yet does being a traditional Christian actually mean that you can’t appreciate modern culture? In some cases, the reply is yes. But in other cases, the standard Christian beliefs are more legalistic as compared to Bible based, meaning they aren’t essential to live a life which honors Christ. Below, we look at three legalistic beliefs that shape some Christians’ view of contemporary culture, but that do not result in living a more righteous life.
1. Don’t Be Sociable With Gay People
The Apostle Paul speaks about homosexuality being a sin, and Jesus suggests its sinfulness by instructing his original audience, the Jewish people, to not abandon Mosaic Law. Yet nowhere does the New Testament state that gays should be socially mistreated or refused civil rights. In defense of their legalistic, anti-gay position, some Christians explain that homosexuality is viewed as an «abomination» from the Old Testament. Well, so is greed on the market place, and no one offers punishing greed by withdrawing civility. Although you may see homosexuality as a sin, you can still be friendly, or even a friend, with someone who is gay without violating scripture.
2. You Should Not Wear Trendy Clothes
Some traditional Christians attack modern fashions, seeing them as immoral and indicating loose morals. But there’s a difference between being modest and being morally paranoid; and whenever you are looking at trendy clothes, some Christians are the latter. The Bible instructs us to be of modest appearance, but it does not say that we should dress in a fashion that pleases the neuroses of zealots. Although it may oppose what you’ve been taught in church, being dressed in trendy clothes, as long as you do it with taste, doesn’t show a lack of virtue, a fact that some Christians are too small and legalistic to admit.
3. Modern Pop Music Comes from the Devil
Stating that modern pop music is from the devil is like saying that modern theology is of Christ. Some of it is, but surely not every bit of it. If you want to know whether your music is detracting from your walk with Christ, there are two methods to discover: ask if the lyrics promote anti-Christian positions, and notice the way the music makes you feel. If the lyrics are neutral and the music doesn’t cause you to feel arrogant, negative, sexually aggressive, etc., it probably isn’t standing in the clear way of your walk with Christ. So have fun and pump up the volume.
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