Art and music reflect a culture. Sometimes they lead it. So, in the 70s, as rock-and-roll music reflected the standards of younger audiences, bands like Alice Cooper and KISS did new things to shock audiences and stretch the limits of
tolerance (not to mention the debauchery of a live Marilyn Manson show in the years to come!). How were we to respond to all of this? What did the torch of God's Word look like? How much can Christians bend to a changing culture, yet not be a part of the thinking behind it? What parts are essentially harmless? What parts are dangerous? What parts are downright ungodly and immoral? Christians had to make choices. BUT, God's Word did not change! The message still stood, unaltered by the culture.
Christians might have bent to it a little, but the influence of God's Word should always be used as the filter in order for it to burn brightly as a torch!
Ironically, I remember saying the same thing to my own children as they grew up. The culture they faced was very different than the one I faced. The culture continued to change and challenge
the standards set forth in God's Word. They, in turn, could say the same thing about the culture their kids face now! Just a few years ago, marriage was still considered a sacred thing between a man and a woman. You never saw ads on TV explicitly referring to lifestyles considered even by the world to be "wrong". People knew what gender they were, and weren't trying to change it. Furthermore, people confused as to who or what they are were never considered for appointments in government -
leaders of the people. All that has changed. How will the next generation of Christians face all of this?! Continued...
