Are You Captured by Christ or the Culture?- Stacy Lynn Harp

Today I wanted to share with you the show I recorded last night, which I titled -

Are You Captured by Christ or the Culture?

This is a question I’ve been asking myself, as I’ve been examining my heart and those things that capture me. I talk about how we all have idols, and how we need to recognize those in our lives and ask ourselves….are we exalting these things above Christ Jesus or are we living more for our idols than we’d like to admit.

I also talk about “being real” – this is the call on my life, to proclaim that we do not have to live as fake people. Yet, Ironically, our society is the biggest promoter of being fake and sadly, it has even captured followers of Christ in the church. We go to church and pretend, and then we go home and watch television where people are pretending to be someone they are not. We’re entertained by it….

The question is why, and naturally I posit an answer – we do it because we were created to worship, and we do it because we are always trying to meet needs with something that God didn’t design to meet that need except for Himself. We need to be captured…by Christ, not the culture.

Isaiah 61:1-3 says
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, [a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

And yet if we’re honest, we do not believe what Christ says, instead we get captured by the culture which tells us something like this…

1 The spirit of myself is my guide,
because I have anointed myself
to preach bad news to the rich.
I have been sent me to break up the whole,
to proclaim captivity for those who are free in Christ
by blinding His truth from the Light, so prisoners, remain imprisoned,
2 to proclaim the year of my favor
and the day of my vengeance on all of those who offend me, so that I
can attack all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve, more condemnation, guilt, shame and pain
to bestow on them a crown of condemnation
instead of freedom,
the oil of sadness
instead of joy,
and a garment of dirt
instead of a spirit of freedom.
They will be called oaks of destruction,
a planting of the enemy of our souls
for the display of his human splendor.

Which will you choose…to be captured by Christ or the culture? Choose wisely.