Cultivating Your Culture

You are the light of the world. A city set on a [a]hill cannot be hidden.
–Matthew 5:14

What does it mean for ordinary people to cultivate their culture? Perhaps you are thinking, “I am powerless to have any influence over what is going on in Washington, D.C., or Hollywood, California.” But culture is what you make of the world, specifically the world God has placed you in. You are in a particular culture–in your home, workplace, or neighborhood–and your job is to influence that culture.

Perhaps you are a stay-at-home parent who thinks, “I could never influence the culture.” But God has given you influence over your children. In the Old Testament, Hannah was a mother who faithfully taught her son Samuel the fear of the Lord, and Samuel became a great prophet. Did Hannah influence her culture? You bet she did.

Students, your culture is the school where God has placed you. When I was in junior high, a teacher challenged me to pray for and share the gospel with five of my classmates. The first guy on my list was a student named Nick. Everybody was afraid of Nick because of his reputation. One day I screwed up the courage and I said, “Nick, could I meet with you after school today? I want to talk to you about something.” And he agreed. So we sat in our history classroom, and I shared with him the four spiritual laws, and I remember closing by saying, “Nick, do you want to become a Christian today?” And he prayed with me to trust in Christ as his Savior. Little did I know that he had a brain tumor, and within nine months he was dead. That year I saw every one of those students I had committed to pray for and share with come to faith in Christ. Now, I’ll be the first to admit my five converts did not match Billy Graham’s hundreds of thousands of converts. He preached in football stadiums. He influenced Hollywood luminaries and presidents. Billy Graham had a worldwide impact, but that was the culture in which God placed him. My culture was that little corner of the world: West Junior High School in Richardson, Texas.

Don’t ever underestimate your ability to change your culture. Wherever God has placed you–your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, your family–God has placed you there for a reason. When you faithfully represent Christ where you are, you will make an impact and God may expand your influence. That’s exactly what happened with Elijah. God left us here not to isolate ourselves from the culture, not to identify with the culture, but to influence the culture.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Secret #1: Discover Your Unique Purpose” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2017.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.