Countercultural

Since we are told not to love the world (1 John 2:15) and that the world will oppose us because it opposes Christ (John 15:18), it stands to reason that some, perhaps a lot, of Christianity will be countercultural. It will run against the grain of the world's point of view. And, to the extent that we've bought into the world's point of view, it will also run against the grain of our own ideas. This is an example.

In his epistle to the church at Ephesus Paul explains about how we should become "imitators of God" and "walk in love as Christ loved us" (Eph 5:1). Now, there is a lot to it -- things to avoid and the like -- but the one that I found interesting is this one.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Eph 5:11)

It's pretty straightforward. The "unfruitful works of darkness" aren't hard to imagine, although I would like to point out that it doesn't require "the evil works." "Unfruitful" is enough to avoid them. That would obviously include the evil works of darkness, but also the worthless, the pointless, the frivolous works as well. But the other thing that is abundantly clear here is what to do instead. "Instead expose them." Different translations put different words there for "expose." The King James says "reprove," for instance. Same thing. The word is ἐλέγχω -- "elegchō" -- and means to convict, refute, correct, find fault. "Expose" works here particularly because of the context where Paul goes on to say, "When anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible" (Eph 5:13). So that's the idea.

It is clear what it means, but it is equally clear that we don't like it. Not one bit. Not in today's world. Not in today's culture. No, no, here's what we know: just keep your mouth shut. Do not expose sin. Don't correct sin. Don't talk about it. What we need to be is non-judgmental. Actually, that's not enough today. We've redefined "tolerant" from "allowing for differences" to "embracing sin." Sure, you may have thought X was sin, but today you're supposed to be encouraging and enabling and accepting. Certainly not convicting, refuting, correcting, or exposing it. This has become so drummed into us these days that lots of Christians think it's the way it should be. So I'm pointing out here that Paul disagrees.

Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault" (Matt 18:15) (followed by a whole procedure to continue the process). Paul wrote, "If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness" (Gal 6:1). Again and again we are told not to ignore or embrace sin, but to expose and oppose it. Biblically, if we care about each other, if we are bearing one another's burdens, if we love each other, we must be exposing sin. It is commanded. When we refuse to do so, it's sin. When we do so without love, it's sin. But to fail to correct that which harms a fellow believer because we "don't want to be judgmental" is both a refusal to obey and a refusal to love. Since our aim is to love and not to sin, if we have that mindset that we should not confront sin but just keep quiet, perhaps we need to change our thinking to align with Scripture rather than the alternative (Eph 4:22-24).