Alistair Begg: how to respond to a postmodern culture.

this is wretched radio with Todd for his Scottish accent isn't very good but is preaching sure is failing and the oppressive assumption of today is that there is actually no such thing as truth that of course would be Alistair beg this is wretched radio Alistair beg talking about our current culture not to just dis not to just put down but to equip us to engage with our culture he starts with a little reminder that we are living in a postmodern world and Alistair bag is a post not a postmodern girl why don't I just let him preach prevailing and the oppressive assumption of today is that there is actually no such thing as truth or any real sense of right and wrong at least in the sense that we can attach to it all of the time everywhere and for everyone and this relativism should be understood biblically a man is not something that has just come out of nowhere and behind the relativism and all that is represented in it is what Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 where he writes for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and the relativism and post-modernism that is represented in the philosophies and experiences of our day should be understood in that way this is an argument this is a lofty opinion and this is raised against the knowledge of God oh that's so helpful from Alistair bag this can actually help you even with your parenting say what instead of listening to somebody and hearing what they say and then going ok I accept what you say on the surface therefore this is going to be the consequence this is my response stop analyze it diagnose it if you will biblically we look at our culture that is postmodern and we go they're crazy well yeah we all are after the fall but what exactly is going on biblically because if we don't understand what's happening biblically we're not gonna respond rightly what is wrong with our culture well what's wrong with our culture is we're in a spiritual battle there's a war going on this is much bigger than just marriage a much bigger than economic issue Marxism this is much bigger than that this is in the context of a spiritual war alistair beg reminding us that the result of this particular culture frankly quite weird and once again one does not have to go looking around for these things if you take what is currently a huge multi-billion dollar industry in the realm of virtual reality avatars invented coinage and a whole notion of quasi reality in the press in the last two weeks here there have been articles concerning how many people have embraced an avatar an invention of themselves through whom they communicate in this quasi real world and when they invent themselves the article pointed out if they're a little person like me then their avatar is a big tall person if you're a funny-looking little character then you're a magnificent looking character and these people are living in this strange world and we're going to go and speak to them about reality exactly what was Spielberg's latest movie errs are just coming out now I can't recall he had the post and then the ready player one where it's better forget Keanu Reeves trying to get out of the matrix they want to get into it because the world is so bad it's so hard sounds like culture doesn't it high suicide is suicide rates ever highest depression rates ever people want out of this current reality than their will desiring to be in a virtual reality why they have no grounding they have no truth they have they have no way of processing and thinking these things through they've got the wrong software everything about their thinking is cuff fritz now we know that our thinking isn't perfect but that's the process of sanctification that God progressively fixes our brain so that we have the mind of Christ more and more alistair beg now helping us to make sure that we respond rightly to this world and he talks about two ditches that we can fall into we want to reach these people don't fall into the first ditch of postmodern response the first one that is possible we might refer to his admonition admonition in other words to respond to the cultural milieu in which we find ourselves living in a spirit of condemnation I encounter this when I came to America for the first time in 1972 I want to tell you where the church was but I went to a church my hair was rather long and it didn't it didn't fit the framework didn't fit my mother's framework either but that's another question altogether and after I'd addressed the church the man said there you go folks look at that even someone who looks like that can be a Christian but it was the same man who introduced me to a phrase that I'd never heard and that was he said that apparently America was going to hell in a handbasket what was most troubling though was that he actually seemed pretty pleased about it the spirit of admonition we see the world and it's nothing but critique rity critique critique now do they need to be critiqued yes we should start with the household of faith nevertheless we preached the gospel we point out sin to lead them to the Savior but that's not what Alistair Begg is describing here he's talking about an attitude that well if you will kind of resembles the sons of thunder there's biblical precedent for this kind of approach the sons of thunder were right along those lines weren't they coming back from the evangelistic venture in Samaria where the response has not been exactly what you would call fantastic they said to Jesus Lord do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them the kind of reverse altar call approach that would be a no gotta be careful that we don't adopt that same spirit seeing the culture they're just lost call down fire they're all going to hell and who cares now that's one ditch don't be too quick to dismiss yourself from that category because that's a pretty easy one to fall into because it is a wee bit frustrating out there however there is another ditch in response to post-modernism we don't want to fall into second poor alternative is accommodation and that approach continues in certain quarters and and tragically not just now in the quarters of that which we would regard as liberalism but actually in quarters that would now be within the broader framework of evangelicalism so if our audience is offended by our theology then we can just switch to psychology if they don't like the notion that they are guilty lost sinful responsible and accountable to God and we can change that a little after all we do need a crowd ouch if propositional truth claims are unwelcome then we'll just tell stories welcome to the seeker-sensitive movement the spirit of accommodation don't make anybody feel bad about anything unless of course you happen to be conservative then you should feel terrible about your high view of the Bible that's the spirit of accommodation never judging never saying anything we need to remember that we're the church and that our job isn't just to be a wet blanket our job is to preach the laws of God so that we can proclaim the grace of God that's our response to this culture in other words we need to be preaching the Bible so what are we to do we say no to admonition we say no to accommodation and we say yes to Proclamation amen the proclamation the weapons of our warfare are strong for tilling tearing down strongholds and those notions that set themselves against the knowledge of God God has entrusted to us not only the armor that protects us as we go into battle but he has also provided us with the weapon of our warfare table iBall we needed to take it out of its sheath and wield it but lovingly not that's not with a spirit of just we're better you're doing it all wrong our society would be in better shape if you would stop we want to win people we want people to repent and put their trust in Jesus Christ and so we don't simply accommodate we don't constantly condemn with a spirit of admonition instead we preached the law to bring about the knowledge of sin and then we point them to the Savior who died for them while they were yet sinning so that they will see God as being magnificent repent and put their trust in him that is the response and goal of living in a postmodern world until tomorrow go serve your king thank you very much for watching one segment you can listen to three more well if you can stomach it for free at wretched org iTunes Android whatever your listening device is if you have a plate in your head you can pick up the program from anywhere around the world thanks to the ongoing monthly support of our Gospel of partners should you be one of the people who has listened to the program for an extended period of time meaning more than once would you please consider becoming a gospel partner so we can continue to proclaim the good news of the gospel simply visit wretched dot 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Channel: Wretched

Views: 26,026

Keywords: Todd Friel, Wretched TV, Wretched Radio, Evangelism, Gospel

Id: _bckDAJOiQs

Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Tue May 08 2018