Lessons from Babylon: How to Live in Culture

Written By Mel Hennegan

Summary

How should Christians live in the world? This sermon explains 5 different ways Christians have interacted with the culture and then gives two universal lessons we can learn from Judah in Babylonian exile.

Sermon Questions

  1. Using Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture Spectrum, how would you describe your engagement with culture around you? What is the right balance between being faithful to Christ and engaging our culture?
    a. Do you think it was right for the baker at Masterpiece Bakery in Colorado to refuse to make a cake for an LGBTQ wedding? Why or why not?

  2. Jeremiah 29:11 is a favorite verse for many Christians. How do you reconcile the meaning of this verse knowing that these Israelites were going to suffer captivity for 70 years (Read Jeremiah 29:10–11)?

  3. The Hebrew word shalom is translated “welfare” in the ESV (See Jeremiah 29:7, 11). Read it in different English translations. How do other versions translate the word shalom?
    a. How would you explain what shalom is in your own words?
    b. And how do we as God’s people bring shalom to our island?

  4. How did Jesus bring shalom into this world? Read Isaiah 9:6; Romans 5:1–3; Romans 8:1.

Mel Hennegan