When Culture Calls - Don't Answer

One busy afternoon I worked on the computer while watching one of my favorite home decorating shows. Distracted by the show’s music and chatter, I turned down the television’s volume thinking that would solve the problem. No such luck. From my periphery, I watched pictures flashing onscreen, but not just a casual panning from one scene to the next: nearly a dozen images zipped by in rapid succession creating an almost dizzying effect. Hypnosis wouldn’t have created a more captivated audience. I understood the producer’s silent yell: Don’t change the channel! 

Do our multi-tasking habits require over-the-top antics to get our attention?  Does slowing down and focusing on one thing with complete absorption for any length of time feel foreign and unproductive?  I multi-task with technology so frequently that I created a new word: “multi-teching.”  Perhaps you have spotted me at the bus stop texting instead of enjoying God’s fresh air and waiting on a word from Him. It’s sad how often I drown out God’s still small voice with our culture’s technology.  

Too often I use the radio as entertainment when I am driving in the car alone and must remind myself to ignore text messages while the collection plate passes at church. At home I use the television to beat back the silence. Cell phones and news shows with ticker tape updates encourage me to multi-tech, to develop habits that are antithetical to being still, listening, and soaking up quiet devotional times with the Lord. When I continue to answer the culture’s call, the insidious habits of today creep in and threaten to rob me of my precious time with the Lord.   

The world may change, but God never does (Mal. 3:6). He still desires to communicate with us heart-to-heart, guiding us with His wisdom. Despite the world’s chatter and celebration of superficial relationships, Scripture reminds us to be still and remember who Gods is, how He works, and what He can do. In Psalm 63:6 David says, “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Hidden away in the desert, David’s recollections of God’s sovereignty gave him the faith to hope for future deliverance. Sometimes when I awake in the early morning hours—before thoughts of yesterdays’ goofs and tomorrows’ plans begin jockeying for attention—I pray to the Lord for peace. Regular meetings with Him bring clarity to my perspective. Yet when I temporarily lose focus and forget my daily devotions, I feel like I have failed the day’s first test. Without ample quiet time, unrepentant thoughts and feelings build up threatening to make me impatient and cranky, a poor example to non-believers and fellow Christians alike.

Samson neglected his devotions, too.  In the book of Judges, we see a fellow who experienced a series of bad days fraught with anger and poor moral judgment. Despite leading Israel for twenty years and winning great battles in the Lord’s strength, the Bible highlights only two times that Samson sought the Lord. After killing a thousand men with a jawbone he cries out, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised” (Jud. 15:18)? Samson had a compelling way of making his requests known. Later, as Samson stood between two pillars about to bring down the temple on top of the Philistines and himself, his last prayer focused on getting revenge against the Philistines for the horrors they had committed. I certainly do not want my prayers to be infrequent, fleeting, or a quick series of gimmes.     

Jesus demonstrates a more excellent example that, while being both God and man, He found time to steal away to pray. Very early in the morning, Jesus sought out a solitary place to commune with our Father. I receive a peace that accompanies me throughout my day when I set aside time early in the morning to partake of the wisdom that the Lord has reserved for me. He knows what the day will bring, so when I seek His face and meditate on His Word, I can rest in knowing He walks with me through every family or ministry challenge. 

Another Bible hero, Moses, teaches us how God speaks once He has our full attention. In Exodus 3, while tending sheep alone in the desert, Moses spotted a burning bush and turned aside from his work to investigate. He stopped what he was doing to focus on something greater. This single pause allowed God to introduce Himself and disclose an amazing escape plan for the Israelites. During that moment, God also revealed Moses’ role in that plan. Once Moses accepted the call, God provided direction and birthed a new ministry in Moses.  

Sometimes, in obedience to God’s will, we join a ministry or accept a role with high expectations of success, but inevitably we hit roadblocks. Moses could have decided that this new exit strategy had kinks; instead Moses exercised faith. With Pharaoh’s “No!” still ringing in his ears, rather than run from God, Moses ran to God with his complaints. “Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all” (Ex. 5:23).  In spite of his frustrations, Moses sought the Lord. When I become battle weary I am glad to attempt to follow Moses’ example by leaving my burdens at the foot of the cross, knowing that God hears me, be it through a whisper or a call.  

As difficult as it may seem in the midst of running a household and leading a ministry, reserving a quiet time to communicate with the Lord is a discipline I must continue to exercise. Some mornings I begin my daily devotions with good intentions; unfortunately, I find myself rising from sleep instead of from soul-satisfying prayer. Nevertheless, over time, day in and day out, I press on to develop the discipline and an everlasting relationship with the Lord.  

When I turn off the car radio, even in the middle of my favorite talk ministry program, the silence improves my connection with the Lord. I hear God best when I listen for His still small voice through the Holy Spirit that dwells within me. While shopping, if I refrain from walking the aisles with the cell phone attached to my ear, I can decipher the Lord’s voice as He guides my purchase decisions and stewardship. I trust He will tell me that we already have dessert at home or not to purchase yet another pair of black shoes, in spite of the sale.   

Whenever we commit to daily devotions and connect with God at various times throughout the day, we gain the opportunity for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit which prepares us for wiser decisions regarding our families, ministries, churches, and communities. By focusing on the Lord, we can push back a culture that encroaches upon our faith. Once we put God and multi-teching in the proper perspective, we’re able to engage the culture on our terms. The next time culture calls, we won’t answer… until after a good talk with the Lord.  

~ By Bethanie Baker Henderson