The Future of the Church: The Counterculture Church

This is part of a four-part series on the future of the church. The previous article entitled, “Defending the Vision,” admonished the readers to hold to the revelation that God has given this fellowship. There will yet be a glorious church. We cannot give up our cherished promises. We cannot go worldly, and miss out on the glorious future of the church. In this issue, we address the nature of the church – in contrast to the ungodly society around us.

Jesus described the characteristics of those who are part of the Body of Christ in the fifth chapter of Matthew. Members are to display ALL of these attributes – we cannot pick and choose from among them. A true church is composed of Christians who are:

• Verse 3- Poor in spirit.
• Verse 4- Those who mourn.
• Verse 5- The meek.
• Verse 6- Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Verse 7- The merciful.
• Verse 8- The pure in heart.
• Verse 9- The peacemakers.
• Verse 10- Those who are persecuted because of righteousness.
• Verse 11- Those reviled and falsely accused of evil.

Note the counterculture nature of each of these characteristics. With the possible exception of the quality of peacemaker, none of these characteristics are sought after in the corporate world, the political world, or society at large. Politicians are not poor in spirit; sports stars are not meek; rock stars and teen idols are not notable for being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

The Bible says, marvel not if the world hates you. I John 3:13. The world hates the church because it cannot relate to the church. It is condemned by the righteousness of Christ that is displayed by the church. Jesus said that the world will hate and persecute the church. John 15:18-20.

If the world does NOT persecute and hate the church, it is because the church has compromised, and become worldly. If there is no difference between the world and the church, it is because the culture of the world has invaded and conquered the church.

But the culture that permeates a true, living church of Jesus Christ will be diametrically opposed to the culture that is inherent in the world. The true church is a counterculture church.

The characteristics that Jesus listed in Matthew 5, and the charity, or divine love of God, which Paul wrote about in I Corinthians 13, are the standards the Lord has set for members of His church.

“Standards” is not a dirty word. Standards are not a bad thing. If there were no standards in industry, the factories would turn out shoddy products. If parts were not made according to a standard pattern, they would not be interchangeable. The best of any type of product is manufactured according to a high standard of excellence. There should be a high standard of excellence for the representatives of Jesus Christ, also.

Jesus and His disciples were definitely counterculture. He was constantly warning His followers about the error and the hypocrisy of the First Century Jewish world. He pronounced woe on the best that Israel had to offer. The Scribes and Pharisees were not vile sinners, living in moral degradation; they lived moral and upright lives. Yet Jesus called them a wicked and adulterous generation, Matthew 16:4, a faithless and perverse generation, Matthew 17:17, and generation of vipers, Matthew 23:33.

How much more would Jesus separate His followers today from a culture that is immoral, pleasure-mad, materialistic and hedonistic?

What about the Early Church? It began in the holy city, Jerusalem. The multitude that gathered on the day of Pentecost were religious Jews from all over the world. They were not great sinners; they obeyed the law’s requirement that all males appear before the Lord in Jerusalem on this annual feast. What did the church say to them? The message of the early church was to flee from this untoward generation. Acts 2:40.

Consistent through the New Testament is an admonition to swim upstream, to go against the current of evil, to live a counterculture life. Grace teaches us to deny worldliness and live right. Titus 2:11-12. Paul was crucified to the world, and vice versa. Galatians 6:14. The scripture in Ephesians 2:2 tells us that this is the devil’s world; and it is populated by the children of disobedience. But Christians are to stand out, as lights in the evil world. Philippians 2:15.

Pure religion is to be unspotted with the world. James 1:27. James also wrote that friendship with the world is enmity to God. James 4:4. And Peter was thankful that the church had escaped the corruption of the world. II Peter 1:4; II Peter 2:20. It would be sad if modern Christians escaped from the corruption of the world, and then become entangled in it again. The Bibles says to love not the world, nor the things of the world. I John 2:15-17.

The church is a counterculture movement. We lose that vital element if we begin to love the world, or develop a passion for “things.” Proverbs 14:12 makes a very significant point: the way that seems right to everyone else – isn’t right at all! What is glamorous to the world, what is “cool” to society, and “awesome” to the youth of this present evil world, is not acceptable for the children of light.

Ephesians 5:8-16 describes the vast difference in light and darkness. The Spirit-filled child of God is a child of light. The ungodly in the world are in darkness. The counterculture nature of the church is seen in I Thessalonians 5:5: “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” We are a counterculture movement – we are of light; they are of darkness.

Because the Lord set His people in the church, outside the mainstream of society, and even contrary to the thinking of society, our conduct and deportment seems strange to the children of darkness. We don’t run to the same excess of riot. I Peter 4:3-4. While they are out there, living it up, we have found that to really live, you must die. See Galatians 2:20. You must die to the old nature, to fleshly desires, and to vain futility. While they are out there “having the time of their life,” – and wasting their life on trivialities; we have found that you have to lose your life to really save it. See Luke 17:33.

The church has always been a counterculture movement. In the First Century, or in the Twenty-First Century, the world cannot understand why some are separated from worldly pleasures for a heavenly goal. While they laugh and mock and scorn us, and think we are fools, in reality we are the ones who are wise. I Corinthians 3:18-19. While the church may be approved of God; it is typically despised of men. II Corinthians 6:4-10.

There is a difference, a glorious difference, between the church and the world. The world does not approve of the work of God. The true church does not need, nor does it seek, the world’s approval. They serve the god of this world; we serve the One True God! I Corinthians 2:12 states that we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God. And those who will live godly lives are rejected, and considered to be the off-scouring of the world. I Corinthians 4:13.

They cannot see what we see. Their vision is limited to the visible world. We can lift our eyes to heaven, and see the invisible. The visible is temporal; the invisible is eternal. II Corinthians 4:18. By faith, Moses saw the invisible. Hebrews 11:27. Verse one of the “Hebrew Hall of Fame” (Hebrews, chapter 11) states that we have evidence of things not seen.

There is a reason for the counterculture church. The reward of the unregenerate world is the judgment of God; but the reward of the righteous is eternal life. It’s no wonder we are different – we are laboring for an entirely different reward. We don’t want the reward of current society; we want the reward of the redeemed.

The reward of the unrighteous is set out in II Peter 2:12-13: “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.”

But there is also a reward for the righteous. “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:24. In fact, it is a great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:25. Moses could have enjoyed the pleasures of the society in which he lived, but he had respect unto the recompense of reward. Hebrews 11:26. We should also.

We must keep the counter-culture church intact; we cannot drift into accommodation. We cannot accept worldliness. There will be a people who stand for Jesus Christ, who will bear His name. In the next issue, we’ll address the healing in the Body of Christ.