Cultural Currents
This week I will conclude my look at Salmon Families. Each of the past two weeks I have examined aspects of the dangerous journeys our families maneuver through as we fight the constant flows at work against our values. Unlike the gentle stream we see in this photograph, the cultural current is a raging torrent.
Today we look at the constant stream of cultural trends, mores and expectations that are hurled at us from all sides. From the television and movies we watch, to the internet sites we visit, the music we listen to, and beyond we are all being fed what I will call a “new norm”. This is a dangerous departure from the traditional values that we as Christians hold dear.
We are attacked, mocked, and ridiculed by those who control the messaging of our current culture. Our positions are said to be outdated, short-sighted, and divisive. Those same ridiculed positions have stood the test of time for thousands of years, not without challenge or cyclical rises and falls in adherence, but have steadfastly provided a clear path for excellent living.
We swim upstream against an advertising industry that sells vice at every turn as it attempts to delude us further in our thinking. This very industry that just a few short years ago turned to sexualizing ice cream in a series of commercials for Dairy Queen. If there is a product on the market that doesn’t require sex to sell, then ice cream would have to be near the top of that list, yet it happened. This flow includes the sexualizing of our young children, primarily girls, in the fashion industry. A practice that has elementary school aged girls wanting to be “hot”, “sexy” or other such concepts that are totally inappropriate.
While I admit we cannot revert, at this point, to living in caves we must take steps to fight the good fight. Going against this cultural current is a necessity if we don’t want to lose our children.
Judges 2:10
“When all that generation had gathered
To their fathers, another generation
Arose after them who did not
Know the Lord nor the work which
He had done for Israel.”
If we are not careful in how we let the culture influence us and our children we could very easily find ourselves in this same position as Israel during the time of the Judges. As the strength of the faith community has diminished in our society, and our own Biblical Literacy has dissipated we have allowed this upheaval to occur.
It has been said that we should keep Satan at arm’s length. That sounds well and good if it were not for the fact that the more important goal should be to draw a line that we will not cross. When we keep the evil one(s) at arm’s length we lose track of where we are in relation to God and His directives. When Peter took his eyes off of Christ while walking on the water he began to sink. Our culture is very much a stormy sea, and Christ is our savior, the hope upon whom we should affix our attention.
We have been given the gift of free will, and Satan and his minions have taken full advantage through distortion, delusion, and disinformation. We must renew our focus on those things such as prayer, Bible study, worship, gratitude, and Christian fellowship that are at the heart of our values system. Until or unless we get these right the crashing currents of our culture will continue to impede our progress.
Like the salmon, we are by necessity swimming upstream. It is the ONLY way to generate another generation of faithful Christian followers who can have a hope to influence others to return to basic values expressed in scripture. Despite the onslaught of evil influences we will continue to hold true despite the best efforts of a diligent and dangerous enemy. I pray that you will hold the course and Do Well in your upstream swim.
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