Impacting Culture as Lay Christians

What is your purpose in life? If we were honest, this is one of the many questions that all of us have struggled with. As Christians, our purpose should be centered in God’s eternal plan. He seeks that none should perish but that all come to eternal life through Jesus Christ. God has set us here on earth to fulfill His eternal plans.

What is God’s eternal plan? In addition to proclaiming the Gospel, I believe a critical aspect is to impact our culture. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” Just as light is a luminator, we are to show how Christ can transform not only the individual but our society for the better. Just as salt is a preserver, we have a duty to preserve the Christian influence that has pervaded our culture.

We need not be priests, pastors or professional missionaries to impact our culture. Jesus has commissioned all of us to impact our world, in whatever role we have in life.

There is a cultural battle that rages today seeking to suppress Christ’s influence in the name of separation of church and state. Interestingly, without Christ and the Church, much of the modern concepts of individual rights, freedom, liberty and justice for all would not have developed as we have it today.

While the Church can grow in any system of government, whether supportive or oppressive, it grows much healthier and faster in a supportive environment as opposed to suppression. As Christians, regardless of what we do in life, we can help advance the work of Christ by living out our faith in our school, work and business. When we pervade our culture with good Christian role models, we impact culture, transforming it into a supportive culture that will minimize barriers to the Christian faith.

One of the ways that lay Christians can help the Church is to go into the world and live Christianity as a teacher, mechanic, police officer, businessman, physician, politician, scientist, attorney, judge, etc. As God puts us in a position of influence, we need to remember that He placed us there for a purpose. When provided with an opportunity to help the Church and people in need, remember to do so in a way that will advance the kingdom of God. Christianity cannot just be a Sunday event. It needs to be lived 7 days a week to be effective. When we live Christ in what we do, we can influence and impact our culture.