I live and serve in the South. Cultural Christianity is alive and well in the Bible Belt. Having the external appearance of faith without a heart that grasps and truly responds to the Gospel is my short-hand description of cultural Christianity. It has the external appearance of goodness, or morality with a compartmentalized heart and understanding of the way our faith should influence and impact everything about the life of a believer:
Our desires and affections.
The way we view and spend our money.
Our thoughts and actions.
The words we speak, and the way we use social media.
Our interactions with our family, our neighbors, and our enemies.
Our engagement within our communities and around the world.
What we treasure, and what we reject.
To some extent, this is not a unique reality for Americans living in the South. Every human lives a compartmentalized life. We divide ourselves across work, family, friends, free time, money, and faith. But if we are called to be and make disciples, that is a call that must pervade every area and aspect of our lives.
When I started to see worship leading as a place of discipleship, I began to see the gaps between what we do on a Sunday, and how we live the rest of the week.
Sunday worship is the overflow of Monday through Saturday worship.
Sunday worship fuels and propels the people of God to live as worshipers throughout the week.
In gathering with the people of God are reminded that God is much bigger than we are, that we are never alone, and we encourage one another to live as followers of Christ.
In gathering with the people of God we are reminded of our dependence upon God and the gift of His Body.
In gathering with the people of God our attention and affection are refocused around the person and work of Christ rather than the desires of the flesh or the culture.
May our lives, and the lives of those we lead look increasingly less compartmentalized.
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