ChAnGe

I was doing my "homework" tonight, and had to answer this question:
"How should Christians respond to change in the culture around them?" Coupled with Betsy's recent post, I decided to blog some thoughts:

Change is the only constant in life. Winston Churchill had a number of quotes on change, some that relate more to the topic of this post than others :)
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."
"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction."

As Christians, we must learn how to address cultural change, especially as society becomes seemingly more and more immoral. Christ was often found with sinners and tax-collectors. He did not participate in their sin, but he did not shun them because they were sinful. He met them where they were, by embracing who they were and sharing the truth. So my question, would Christ be hanging out in movie theaters today? Would he watch the filth that is plastered across the big screen? To be fair, I don't think it's an important question because it only addresses the activity, not the motivation. If Christ could use going to a bad movie with someone as an opportunity to share the truth with them, I'd think he would be there in a heartbeat. So the question becomes, can we use the elements in this changing society to share the truth with others around us? There's two approaches I can think of:
(1) Take an an existing element and point out Biblical truths (or lack thereof) in it. That was the reasoning behind my movie Bible study (scroll down to summer 2005) last year.
(2) Take an existing element that and inject Biblical truths into it. That was the reasoning behind my Christian music Bible study (scroll down to Fall 2004) a few years ago.

The tricky part is not becoming so wrapped up in society and catering to society's demands that the Biblial truths get lost or washed over. Both approaches must be done with care; both require conscious effort and prayer. And honestly I'm no good at either one. I have found that I either shun society and ignore it, or brainlessly participate in what society has to offer, siphoning off the entertainment factor and discarding the rest. But I can't help but think of what an impact we could all make if we engaged in society like Jesus did and thought about how to point people to Christ in the midst of our changing culture.