The word “church” comes from the Greek word Ekklesia, which means “a called-out people.” The Church is not simply a building or a Sunday gathering—it is a community of people set apart by God, called to live out His purpose in the world (1 Peter 2:9).
To be a Christian is to stand out from the prevailing culture. We are not called to escape from culture, nor are we to conform to it. It was John Stott who once said: “Christians are neither to seek holiness by escaping from the world nor to sacrifice our holiness by conforming to the world”. Our mission is not primarily to change culture but to represent Christ within it—to live as people who are insulated from its corrupting trends and actively counter-cultural, promoting the values and vision of Jesus in a world that often rejects Him. Jesus uses two metaphors in the gospels to describe the counterculture influence of disciples. As salt slows down the rate of decay and as light actively inhibits darkness, disciples of Jesus influence their corners actively and quietly.
To be a disciple, one must be under discipline and government of Jesus—living with intentional submission to his teachings and character. In today’s world, there are four major cultural trends that disciples must resist, not by isolation, but through conscious, Christlike counteraction. These trends have been well articulated by John Stott in his last published book; “The Radical Disciple”.
Pluralism – The Denial of Exclusive Truth
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
—John 14:6 (NKJV)
Pluralism promotes the idea that all worldviews are equally valid and that truth is relative to the individual. While this may sound tolerant, it is neither logical nor true, because truth by nature is exclusive—two contradicting ideas cannot both be true at the same time.
The disciple’s response is to boldly affirm the uniqueness and finality of Jesus Christ:
- Unique in His incarnation – The only God-Man who lived perfectly (John 1:14)
- Unique in His atonement – The universal and sufficient sacrifice for all humanity (Hebrews 10:10–12)
- Unique in His resurrection – The only one who conquered death and lives forever (Romans 6:9; Revelation 1:18)
Because of His incarnation, He lived as our example; because of His atonement, His death is the greatest reflection of the greatest ethic – love; because of his resurrection, He offered the only hope for damned humanity.
Materialism – The Worship of Possessions
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'”
—Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
Once, Jesus was asked to arbitrate over an inheritance dispute. Jesus quickly observed the motives of the one who asked him to arbitrate. He immediately warned the audience to be careful of greed. He said: “A man’s life isn’t determined by his material possessions’. (Luke 12:15). Materialism celebrates wealth, status, and accumulation. Yet biblical Christianity reminds us that while the physical world has value, our relationship to it must be sober and spiritual .
As John Stott wisely said:
“Life on earth is a brief pilgrimage between two moments of nakedness. So we will be wise to travel light.”
The disciple’s response is to emulate Jesus in simplicity, generosity, and contentment:
Ethical Relativism – The Rejection of Moral Absolutes
Amazing Spider Man (2012) is well loved by a lot of people. There is a part of the movie where Mary Jane encourages Peter Parker (Spider man) to speak his own truth. Ethical relativism teaches that there are no universal rights or wrongs—that morality depends on personal preference. However, Jesus calls His followers to obedience and alignment with His truth which is really the truth.
He challenges us directly:
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”
—Luke 6:46 (NKJV)
To be a disciple is to embrace Christ’s authority over every area of life—not just in belief, but in obedience to His standards.This is how to walk in truth.
Narcissism – The Idolization of Self
Modern culture exalts self-love, self-expression, and self-preservation. But the way of the cross is a call to self-denial and sacrificial love. Jesus never commanded self-love as a virtue.
In Scripture, we are told:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… and your neighbor as yourself.”
—Matthew 22:37–39 (ESV)
There is no third commandment to love oneself—Jesus assumes we already do. Instead, we are called to agape—a self-giving, sacrificial love that prioritizes others. The essence of love is sacrifice.
Paul warns us of the these times:
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves…”
—2 Timothy 3:1–2 (NIV)
This obsession with self is not freedom—it is bondage, and it contradicts the life of a disciple.
Swimming Against the Current
The British journalist G.K. Chesterton once said,
“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”
In other words, only those alive in Christ can resist the cultural current and live out their faith in bold, countercultural ways. As disciples of Jesus, we are not called to be silent observers or passive participants in a broken world. We are called to live differently—to reflect the light of Christ in every context. We must stand firm in truth, walk in love, and advance the kingdom not by blending in, but by standing out.
Stay tuned to Mission Titus for more teaching, resources, and stories that inspire you to live as a true disciple in today’s world.
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