tatoos and nose rings for jesus?

The past week I went to Winter Park, Colorado for some skiing in the beautiful Colorado Rockies. It was a great week of relaxation and time spent with the Lord. On the way home I had 14 hours of free time so I decided to listen to the May 2006 Reform and Resurgence Conference audio podcast. The link for the audio podcast is at www.theresurgence.com. I highly recommend listening to these great men as they talk about how to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in today's culture. My favorite sessions were with Dr. Ed Stetzer as he shared the importance of being relevant and a part of the culture. There are many people who advocate the complete separation of the church and the culture. They believe in creating their own little evangelical subculture where Micheal W. Smith sings the children to sleep, and Billy Graham is the elementary school principal. This is extremely dangerous and not in accordance with scriptures. If we completely withdraw ourselves from the culture, we don't know how to present the gospel in a way in which the culture will respond. The gospel is unchanging and remains the same, but the way it is presented must change with the culture. The apostle Paul is a great example for us in Acts 17:16-34. Paul is proclaiming the gospel to the Jews in the synagogues when some Athenian philosophers question him and bring him in front of the Areopagus. The Areopagus was a council of highly trained thinkers and reasoners that did nothing but hear and decipher different thoughts and beliefs. After being questioned about what he was teaching he addresses the court by using their culture, for example v. 22 says "So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. v. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you." Paul immediately started with what they believed. He carefully observed the Athenian culture and engaged it. He continues in v. 24 "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, v.25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." Here he addresses their belief that their gods are just like humans and they need material goods. There were many altars around the city to different gods in which they would bring food and clothing daily. Paul uses their culture, but boldly points out where they are wrong. This is what we are called to do in our culture. Be relevant by using the same music and thinking styles that the culture uses, but bring them the offensive, unchanging gospel. Paul does this boldly. Verse 23b can also be translated "For what you worship in ignorance, I now proclaim to you." We must be as bold as Paul was, and it must be out of love. However, not all things in culture are bad, for example, in verse 28 he quotes their poets. It is acceptable for the church to adopt good cultural items into the church, as long as they proclaim the truth. This example from scripture proves that Paul used the culture to proclaim the gospel in ways that were most relevant to it. It is important that we become relevant to today's culture in North America. However, it is more important that we stay true to the gospel and Christ's commands. There are too many churches who have become so relevant, that they have become part of the culture and share in it's sin. It is important that we safeguard ourselves with an extreme love for Christ and his Kingdom. Constant prayer, study of God's word, and a reliance on the Holy Spirit is essential in this fight.