To some people the culture and values of the Bible seem bizarre in today's world. How relevant is the Bible to our culture today? The principles that God teaches us in the scripture transcends cultures.
[Gary Petty] I've been doing some research on why people become disillusioned or fed up with church. It's interesting to read why people, you know, they do these surveys, why people say, "Yes, I'm becoming fed up or disillusioned with attending church". One thing that I thought was very interesting, I've been writing down these reasons that people give, is the culture and values of the Bible seem bizarre in today's world.
And I can understand that, but I want you to think about something. Maybe that's not really the issue. Maybe our culture is bizarre. Think about the Creator of the universe, think about God. He's the one who knows how life works. So He's going to tell us how life is supposed to work. The principles that God teaches us in the scripture transcend cultures. They transcend time. What was wrong for people to do 5000 years ago, to murder, to steal, to hate, to cheat, is just as wrong today. And if you go through all of history and you would find someone following God, if you went through all the Christian history of the New Testament, clear up until today, you would find people asking the same question. How relevant is the Bible in terms of culture to my culture today?
Well, it's very, very relevant. What I encourage you to do is study up on biblical cultures. Understand why things were said in the Bible and in the context of when it was said to people and then learn how to apply that to your culture. You'll find that there is something really wrong with our culture, and we need to get in line with God.
That's BT Daily, join us next time.
Gary Petty is a 1978 graduate of Ambassador College with a BS in mass communications. He worked for six years in radio in Pennsylvania and Texas. He was ordained a minister in 1984 and has served congregations in Longview and Houston Texas; Rockford, Illinois; Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin; and San Antonio, Austin and Waco, Texas. He presently pastors United Church of God congregations in Nashville, Murfreesboro and Jackson, Tennessee.
Gary says he's "excited to be a part of preaching the good news of God's Kingdom over the airwaves," and "trusts the material presented will make a helpful difference in people's lives, bringing them closer to a relationship with their heavenly Father."