Skip to main content

Greening_inlineBible in hand, John Greening, GARBC national representative, looks out over a packed conference room and asks a series of pointed questions. “How will we respond when our back is up against the wall? When we find ourselves pressured? When we find ourselves facing hostility from the culture around us?” In light of the recent SCOTUS decision, these questions come across as neither merely rhetorical nor hypothetical. Indeed, many conservative Christians in North America, having taken for granted their country’s nominally Christian values and cultural norms for far too long, are eying the very real possibility of having their backs pressed firmly against the proverbial wall in the not-too-distant future.

But this is nothing new. Two millennia ago, the recipients of Peter’s first epistle found themselves in the same boat. Dispersed from their homelands, pilgrims in a strange world, and facing down moral resistance from the surrounding society, these believers must have felt hard-pressed to survive another day, never mind trying to make any appreciable impact on their culture. Yet Peter appealed to them not to cave under the pressure, but rather to exercise their faith, stand firm, lean on God’s grace, be wholly holy, cultivate godly reverence, and love the brethren with a contagious and heavenly affection. “Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Peter is trying to get us to be ready to influence,” Greening says. But this influence comes not from impulsivity or combativeness (ironic, given Peter’s track record); rather, it stems from a settled confidence in God and the gospel, and that settled confidence has the effect of controlling believers’ reactions to resistance.

“First Peter 1 provides the theological platform on which the apostle builds a construct for cultural engagement,” Greening says. “And this needs careful attention. In broader evangelical circles there are a lot of discussions going on today about cultural engagement. And I think it’s really important that we build our construct on the ideas conveyed in this book.” According to Greening’s reading of 1 Peter 1, God would not have us storm the world system with swords in hand and mouths filled with indignant invective. Rather, cultural engagement should be gracious and compassionate in expression, and solidly Scriptural in content.

“When it comes to engaging a culture, the gospel is the message that saved us and it is the only message that will make a difference in the culture in which we live,” Greening insists. “Evangelicalism is once again getting sucked down the road of social justice and activism.” What is the proper response? A cultural engagement firmly rooted in the message of Christ’s person and work to save sinners. “If all we’re doing is trying to clean up culture and fix society by reformation and change laws, nobody gets saved and nobody goes to Heaven. It is only by the blood of Jesus Christ that a person’s sins can be forgiven! It is only by the resurrection of Jesus Christ that I have any hope of eternal life! And that is the message that we must communicate.”

Hear the sermon audio below: