The world is trying to conform you. The Holy Spirit is trying to transform you. This past Sunday, Pastor Chip Dean launched a brand new series called Counterculture with a message from Ephesians 5 and Acts 2 called Counter Culture Christians that was honest, practical, and deeply encouraging for anyone trying to live for Jesus in a world that pushes back.
Swimming Upstream on Purpose
Pastor Chip opened with a picture from nature. The trout is the only fish that swims upstream year after year against raging currents, jumping waterfalls and rocks, risking its life to create new life. Any dead fish can float downstream. But God has called his people to be culture shakers. Culture makers. People who swim against the current not out of rebellion but out of purpose.
He pointed to Romans 12 as the heartbeat of the series. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The culture wants to conform you to its image. The Holy Spirit wants to transform you into the image of Jesus. Those two forces are in constant tension. The question is which one you are submitting to.
He also gave a quick summary of what the world is telling people right now. That life is about self-worship. That sexual immorality is freedom. That truth is relative. That human life is disposable. That politics is god. He was clear that the church is not called to be a political organization. But when politics start redefining things like truth, identity, marriage, sexuality, and gender, those are theological categories that belong to the word of God, not to a political party.
The call is not to turn the world upside down. It is to turn the world right side up again.
The Culture of Ephesus Sounds Familiar
The book of Ephesians was written to a church surrounded by a hostile culture. Ephesus was wealthy, full of idols, and rampant with sexual immorality. Christians there faced social and economic pressure just to blend in. As long as they did not speak up, as long as they did not stand out, they could live quietly. But the moment they chose Jesus openly, isolation and difficulty followed.
Pastor Chip made the connection to today. That same pressure is real. The culture has never been more aggressive in trying to silence the voice of the church.
So how do you live counterculturally as a Christian? Pastor Chip gave four answers.
One: Live for Worship
Ephesians 5:15-18 says look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Do not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit.
Pastor Chip made the point that you were not just created to worship. You were created as a worshiper. You cannot help but worship. The question is not whether you worship. The question is who or what you are giving your worship to.
The most countercultural thing a Christian can do is to publicly, unashamedly worship Jesus. Not just privately. Not just quietly. Worship in community. Worship with your voice. Worship with your life. When King George II stood during the Hallelujah Chorus at the world premiere of Handel’s Messiah in 1743, he was not following a tradition. He was making a statement. When the king stands, the room stands. He wanted everyone to stand for the one who is truly king.
Pastor Chip’s encouragement was simple. Come to church prayed up and expectant. Arrive early and love on people. Sing out loud. Raise your hands. Take notes. Pray for the person next to you. Talk about what you learned at lunch. Make one goal from the message. Come back the following week and bring someone with you.
The world is discipling people constantly. If the Holy Spirit is not discipling you, the culture will.
Two: Live in Community
Acts 2:42 describes the early church. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon every soul.
This was not a small group of comfortable believers having tea. This was a community of Jesus followers living in the Roman Empire, one of the most hostile environments for Christians in history. They had every reason to scatter. Instead they gathered. They devoted themselves to the word together. They ate together. They prayed together. They gave generously to anyone who had a need.
Pastor Chip told the story of being in the Amazon jungle in 2019, staying in a village where missionaries had been killed. Surrounded by the culture, there was only one thing to do. Study the word together. Pray together. Share testimony. Nobody was checking sports scores. Their lives were on the line.
He asked the room a pointed question. What if our groups looked like that? What if we came together not just for social connection but to strengthen one another to go back out into the culture and make a difference for Jesus?
If you are not part of a group, you need one. You need people around you who know the word, know your life, and are willing to pray for you. If there is not a group that fits you at First Baptist, start one. God has a group for everyone.
Three: Live to Serve
Ephesians 4:7 says grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Jesus did not just die for your soul. He died to redeem your giftedness. Your talents. Your abilities. Everything you are good at. He died so that those gifts would no longer be used for yourself or for sin but for him and for his glory.
Ephesians 4:11-12 says that pastors and teachers are given to the church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. No pastor or staff team can do all the work of ministry. The job of the pastor is to develop the people so the people can do the ministry.
Pastor Chip pointed to the early church again. When plague broke out in third and fourth century Rome, citizens fled. Doctors fled. Who stayed? The Christians. They went in to care for the sick, nurse the dying, and serve those that everyone else had abandoned.
He shared something even more striking. History records that Romans who did not want to keep their infants would discard them outside the city walls. Christians would walk those walls at night, listening for the cries of infants, and take them home to raise them as their own. That is what service looks like when it flows from the gospel. Life is not about you. It is about Jesus.
Four: Live on Mission
Second Corinthians 5 says God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. God is not just calling you to receive his love. He is entrusting you with his message. He is sending you out to reconcile other people to him.
Pastor Chip closed with the story of a man named Telemachus in the fourth century. At the time, Romans filled the Colosseum to watch gladiators kill each other for entertainment. Telemachus had finally had enough. He jumped onto the Colosseum floor in the middle of the games and screamed at the top of his lungs, in the name of Christ, stop. The crowd stoned him to death. But the emperor was so moved by his courage that he banned the gladiatorial games permanently from that moment forward.
One man stood up. One man spoke up. One man changed history.
When you stand up, God stands up through you. When you speak up, God speaks through you. Live for worship. Live in community. Live to serve. Live on mission. That is what it means to be a countercultural Christian.
There’s a Seat for You
Whether you are just beginning to understand what it means to follow Jesus in a culture that pushes back or you are a longtime believer who needs a fresh fire, you belong here. We are a church that believes Christians are not called to hide. We are called to stand out, speak up, and live differently.
Plan Your Visit and come be part of what God is doing here. Or take your next step and Get Connected with our church family. We would love to swim upstream alongside you.