Apologetics in Ministry: Every Decision is a Religious Decision

Growing up in a Southern Baptist Church in the country, I was often taught the need for a Christian sub-culture. We were taught as teens to withdraw ourselves from culture; to have only Christian friends, listen to Christian music, watch Christian movies; and that if we were gifted, the only way to glorify God was to use our gifts speaking about Christ. So, if we wanted to represent Christ well in our school system, it was through wearing Christian t-shirts, necklaces, carrying our Bibles, attending F.C.A., and joining Christian clubs (there's nothing wrong with doing these things; unless we're withdrawing ourselves from the lost.). We were even told that if we got in a friend's car and they were listening to secular music, that if we wanted to be obedient to Christ, we should reach up and turn the station to a Christian station. The problem with this mentality is that if we form Christian sub-cultures, we can't make an impact in our own culture. We can't redeem our culture if we don't participate in our culture. We must be in the world, not of the world. We can't be "salt and light" if we're around "salt and light" all the time.

Also, if we teach teenagers to form a Christian sub-culture, we teach them to separate the "secular" and the "sacred". After all, how can a ditch-digger dig ditches for Jesus? The answer isn't in doing it wearing a Christian t-shirt (though there's nothing wrong with this); the answer is in doing his job well for God's glory realizing that God naturally gifted him to work for his food, his family, and to do it so God would be glorified. Apologetics (The defense and protection of Christian truth) have shown me that if God is indeed Creator God, then this is His world, and therefore, all truth is God's truth. This means that whether I sing about Christ or simply make good music, I glorify God equally in both. Whether I dig ditches or preach the word, I can equally bring glory to God in my vocation by doing it with God as my foundation and His glory as my goal. There is no distinction between the "secular" and "sacred"; there's only God's world or fantasy to choose from. Because of Apologetics, I now know that every decision that is made by everyone is a religious decision. This is true because every decision is made either believing this is God's world, or it isn't.