Culture has everything to do with the local church. Culture refers to “a public lifestyle that expresses a shared mindset and convictions held in common,” and churches exist on a spectrum of worldly and godly cultures.
If a church has a godly culture, it preaches the Gospel (Mark 1:14–15), teaches that the entire Bible is authoritative (2 Tim 3:16), champions that everything comes from God (Gal 1:11–12), and maintains that we as believers are to serve with our utmost dedication (Phil 1:27–30). In other words, a church’s culture should look like self-giving love for others that in turn reflects the sacrificial love for us of Jesus Christ our Savior and our Lord.
Conversely, a worldly culture church creates obstacles or barriers to getting the gospel message across to the congregation. We are to be aware of the world and its deception (1 John 2:15). When worldly culture creeps into the church, hypocrisy results, and hypocrisy has no place in the church. Christian belief minus Christian culture equals Christian hypocrisy.
In closing, please pray that we here at Community Bible Church continue to exhibit a godly culture.
Rick Vallery, Elder