How do we grow as disciples equipped with the culture around us?
 

The early disciples understood the culture around them, new converts to the faith stepped out of their ‘known’ and into the ‘unknown’ of being a follower of Christ. They couldn’t just create a new culture, they had to adapt theirs to be shaped by the good news of Christ. This is why the early church had conversations around what to eat, circumcision, temple worship and women in leadership. The early church was embedded within the culture of the day, so they had to understand how to stay distinct whilst also engaging with those around them. 

Today we can often find ourselves in a ‘Christian bubble’, unable to understand or keep up with what is going on in our world and what is important to those around us. It’s important that we stay distinctive as Christians and ‘not conform to the pattern of this world’,  but  live within and/or be part of other communities and marketplaces not isolating ourselves from those around us. As disciples then we need to be able to live out our faith in the culture around us, being relevant and able to speak into it.  

This series seeks to consider those areas of our modern culture that can be unfamiliar or uncomfortable and explore how we how we can be discipled to thrive not just survive, by finding creative ways to speak into the culture around us and point to the hope that we have. Unless we seek to understand the people around us, how can we earn the right to speak into people's lives.