I love American pop culture. Today's definitely has it's downside. But iPhones, HDTV and Ryan Seacrest make up for a lot. (Okay, maybe not Ryan Seacrest.) Nevertheless, I'm a fan. Cultural moments are the thumb tabs of our lives. Some shifted the course of American politics, values, and entertainment. Some just serve to bookmark times we will never forget and that make us sentimental.JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you...", and MLK's "I have a dream." shifted our focus away from ourselves and to less selfish motivations. Woodstock was a key moment that cemented a change in the American value system. Elvis and the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show changed the climate of music not only secularly but sacred as well. Visit your local church and their contemporary service if you don't know what I mean.
Anyone that was alive when Pearl Harbor was bombed, man walked on the moon, Michael Jackson did the Moonwalk, or the Twin Towers fell, can tell you where they were and recognize the effect it had on a generation.
My era was the best. A child of the 70's and 80's I have some incredible cultural moments that my kids look at with awe and envy. Man, I've got Nixon, Watergate, Saturday Night Fever, Starsky and Hutch, The A-Team, The Reagan Administration, Bell Bottoms, Parachute Pants and Pet Rocks...and the list goes on! All of these cultural icons and moments have power over us.They gave momentum and context to shape our opinions (well...not pet rocks), affected our lives, fashion, enjoyment, name it. Culture causes change.
Remember SNL from the 70's...back when it was funny? I recently saw a piece on Yahoo about how Bill Murray saved his career on SNL by issuing an apology for not being funny. He had replaced Chevy Chase and was bombing. So one night on the show he addresses the audience and apologizes for not being funny and it was so hilarious that it immediately endeared him to the public. His authentic plea for America to give him a chance ended up giving us the great movie "Groundhog Day", because America bought into him.
Seeing that made me wonder, as individuals how many of us give thought to shaping the culture, attitudes, life views,or simply make people think differently around us. The idea if you follow Jesus (and it's the right idea because it's God's) is that by the very nature of whose Spirit you possess, you are given that potential and that assignment. Culture influences people...Jesus remakes people. Transforms people. Are you aware that in the first century, Christians had such a huge cultural impact that it shifted the fate of the Roman Empire? Even the fall of the Berlin Wall was heavily influenced by the impact of authentic Christianity. Change a person, change a culture.
I had a man say to me when I was a teenager; "Brent, people love you for the way you make them feel." That changed me, because this guy made me feel amazing. I never forgot what he said. See? A moment in time that changed a person. Ten words.
All this to say, don't take yourself for granted. God doesn't! If your life has been changed by Jesus you have supernatural ability (because God in you is supernatural) to cause a shift in another life.
I Peter 4:10 gives us a clue. "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another."
We live in a culture that needs change. You ARE that person. You can be the person another remembers for the rest of their life. I Peter 4:10 is about you. Enjoy what God has given you and go change a life.
Brent
Brent
