Living In A Toxic Culture… Hello Hump Day readers. Here we are, smack in the middle of the week and I’m finding myself feeling kind of punky and sad. Another shooting in a school-6 folks dead; 2 more train derailments that spewed toxic chemicals into drinking water; the political ‘theater’ continues with lies and moronic gestures; the battering of violent weather that just keeps on and on.

Our society’s culture takes hit after hit. It reminds me of Peter Drucker’s words, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I cringe at those words because they are so very true. How have we become so gullible by buying into this culture? It is destroying us and our planet.

It is said that “if the culture is healthy then amazing things happen.” Sadly, it’s hard to find amazing things happening right now. A healthy culture has people loving and being loved, people growing, leaders coming and staying. Even our churches become attractive to their community so it can accomplish the mission God has set for it. Yet, the statistics tell us even the culture in a lot our churches are unhealthy.

Carey Nieuwhof, a best-selling leadership author, speaker, podcaster, former attorney, and church planter says “Culture is invisible but determinative. You can’t see it, but it defines so much. And sadly, a bad culture will consistently undermine an amazing mission, vision, and strategy, not just for the church but the workplace, families, and even our groaning planet.”

What does ‘culture’ really mean? As a noun, Webster says: “Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society. As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, art.” The verb definition is interesting and compliments the nouns: “maintain (tissue cells, bacteria, etc.) in conditions suitable for growth.” In other words, culture needs a good condition for growth for a society, the medical health of the society and its ecology and each one impacts the other.

Let’s think about culture this way: It’s the reason you love shopping in some stores and not others; or why you love some airlines and pass on others. And families—why do some always have fun when they’re together and others can’t stand to be in the same room together? There isn’t a moment where our culture does not impact us in body, soul, mind, heart, soil, air, water, flora, fauna—are all punching bags, making it very difficult to live in this society.

Think of the verb description of tissue cells, bad bacteria, etc. Those toxins lurk in every corner of our lives. For many, daily conflict leads to depression; selfishness and personal agendas divide workplaces, families, churches, etc. People are losing their passion for living! So, how can we create an amazing culture? Nieuwhof says: “Figuring out who you value helps you discover what you value” and those words take us right into God’s word.

I chose Psalm 139:13-14 [Voice] because it speaks well to this topic: “For You shaped me, inside and out. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath. I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe. You have approached even the smallest details with excellence; Your works are wonderful; I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.”   

We are the beloved children of God and that is our value and because of that, we can value others and discover that, even in a toxic culture, we can rise above it all. We can handle the mission God has given us to remove the toxins and share God’s incredible love and grace. Of course, the job isn’t easy, but we know God didn’t put us here for an easy ride.

God has a specific mission for each one of us. If you’re not sure what it is, read all of Psalm 139 and continue in Scripture where you will find more wisdom to assure you that putting your full faith and trust in God is the perfect “culture” for living in a toxic world. AMEN.