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Culture Informs and Conforms…

Let’s be honest, who and what you allow to shape your heart will ultimately decide the direction you take in life.  Proverbs 4:23 tells us: “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Who’s discipling your heart: influencers on social media, talking heads on the news and talk radio?  Think about how much time you spend on your phone scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, X and other social media.

Paul David Tripp wrote in his book Everyday Gospel. “There is always a danger that the surrounding culture will weaken your trust in daily submission to your Savior.  It’s naïve to think that while our lives are dominated by a flood of constant noise that we’re unchanged by it.” 

This year I am reading through the Bible and while reading Numbers was reminded why God asked the Israelites to purge the land of the inhabitants from the land He had promised them.

“When you cross over into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive our all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places.  But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live” (Deuteronomy 33:51-52,55).   

When God asked the Israelites to purge the land and destroy all idols, He was not at all being harsh, His desire as always is to protect His children!  Unfortunately, Israel only partially carried out the Lord’s instruction. They are not alone! Partial obedience always comes with unfavorable consequences, no matter where one lives!  When we allow a culture such as ours that by in large does not adhere to God’s Word and principles to influence us, we will be swayed to live outside of God’s design for us.  

Ask yourself what voices are shaping your thoughts and behavior?  What idols (e.g. power, success, sex, comfort, approval, other) are you hanging on to and why?  Now think about how much time you spend in God’s Word? How often do you spend intentional time with friends who are like-minded Christ-followers?  What is one thing you can commit to today that will help guard your heart from the noise of our culture?    

 An MCHA Stop~n~Think - 04.10.2026 - Courtesy of  MCHA Ministry Coordinator Tim Chastain