*DAILY DEW 3/DECEMBER/2022* *The Church’s Mission to Make Culture* (II) _Key Bible Text:_ *"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."* (Genesis 1:26 (KJV)) _Bible Insight:_ _Making Culture and the Church’s Mission_ The idea that Christians ought to “redeem” and create culture can be controversial. When so many people still haven’t heard about Christ, why bother with engaging the culture? Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse? In fact, Christ-honoring culture benefits society as a whole, including the people who have not heard the good news about Jesus. Furthermore, Scripture tells us that God commanded human beings to exercise dominion over all creation (Gen. 1:26–28). Thus, creating culture is one of the tasks we were made for. It is one of the main ways we reflect our Creator, who brought order from chaos (Gen. 1:2). Theologians call this “the creation mandate.” It’s a commission that necessitates both a whole-life education—what the Greeks called paideia (cf. Eph. 6:4)—and social action that is rooted in biblical ethics. To ignore this aspect of the church’s mission would be a detriment to all. _The Modern Struggle to Engage_ Unfortunately, evangelicals have often struggled to engage, reform, and create culture. Some have settled for a gospel that redeems worldly people yet fails to redeem the world itself. This relegates the pursuit of peace and prosperity to the personal realm instead of seeing it as a public facet of loving God and loving our neighbor (Jer. 29:7; Mark 12:30–31). Globally, this oversight has contributed to economic hardships, threats to natural resources, and various forms of injustice and oppression. At times it has even hindered the mission of God’s people. We simply can’t ignore the state of the world and expect things to turn out fine for the church. Whether as a beneficiary or a casualty, the church is never insulated from the consequences of cultural reformation or cultural collapse. _MEDITATION:_ *“We simply can’t ignore the state of the world and expect things to turn out fine for the church.”* *#Dayton_Hartman* *#Daily_Wisdom_for_living* *#Becoming_More_Like_Jesus* *#The_Rise_of_An_Army* *#Daily_Dew_Devotional* *#Guest_Message* *#Hello_DECEMBER* ❤ Links To Visit: *Register4HTP2022:* https://bit.ly/HTP2022_ACTIVATED *FB Pages* https://www.facebook.com/DavidJoshuaEgbochuo/ https://www.facebook.com/thedavidgen/ https://www.facebook.com/THEREVIVALCORPS/ *Telegram Group:* https://t.me/joinchat/NzXQlVc9Hx7LfaRSnh9fHg Feel Free to Share with Friends. God bless you.