In Matthew 5:13-14, Jesus says that we are to shine for Him in the world. As I have highlighted in earlier issues, the word “world” in Greek is kosmos, which means the social order, arrangement, or culture of the people. Jesus was not referring specifically to land, territory or geography; He was talking about the social infrastructure of a society that enables it to function in an orderly way.

The seven institutions that define a society are family, religion, business, education, government, arts and media. To be the salt and the light of the kosmos, we must impact the culture within these social institutions.

THREE LIFE EXAMPLES

Example One. Indonesian businessman Wahju Hanafi started out as a storekeeper in Papua New Guinea at the young age of 18. When he came to City Harvest Church in the early 1990s, he was steep in debt and his marriage was strained. As Wahju repented from his sins and made Jesus the Lord of his life, God started changing his mindset toward his marriage and business.

Applying principles he learnt from the Bible into the business, his SVS Supermarket in Papua New Guinea soon grew into a grocery chain of 17 stores, hiring a total of 600 staff. Wahju started seeing himself not just as an employer but a “pastor” to his workers. He uses my sermons and shares biblical principles four times a week in his company and sees many receiving Christ as their Savior.

As Wahju’s business prospers, he increasingly becomes a positive influence in his adopted country. He conducts community outreach programs to feed the poor once every fortnight and ministers to scores of prison inmates each weekend. As his wealth grows, he contributes his profits to his local church in the city of Lae, helping it to put up a sizable building for its weekly worship. God keeps prospering his business and investments. Early in 2007, Wahju bought over a major glass factory in Indonesia and saw his personal net worth tripling. But more than the financial successes he has enjoyed, Wahju is totally committed to the kingdom of God and leading people to Christ regularly in the marketplace.

Example Two. Geng-Hong Liu is a famous Taiwanese actor-singer who has been dating a former Miss Taiwan for a number of years. Although he was a successful celebrity, Geng-Hong lived a reckless life. A few years ago, Geng-Hong and his girlfriend came to Christ and were filled with the Holy Spirit. As committed disciples now, their decision to stop cohabiting made it to the tabloid headlines. In the last two years, Geng-Hong brought more than 100 entertainers and celebrities from the showbiz industry to his church. Scores have given their hearts to the Lord.

Believers like Geng-Hong are fast changing the perception of faith in the entertainment industry, with Taipei as the epicenter of pop culture in Asia. There is now a revival among the youth in Taiwan, and Christianity has become the religion of choice among the glitterati.

Example Three. Fifteen years ago, Elim Chew was a hairdresser who attended City Harvest Church. Deep in her heart, Elim thought of becoming a missionary but felt that the Lord has called her to be a tentmaker instead. She had an interest in teenage apparel and I encouraged her to start a small business. Within a few years, her chain of stores known as 77 th Street became the leader in teenage fashion in Southeast Asia.

In 2002, Elim won the Mont Blanc Businesswoman Award. Although she only has a high school education, she became a member of the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore. Her positive role modeling among young people ensured her places on many national committees overseeing youth development.

Elim’s business continues to prosper and today, she owns a huge shopping mall at Tiananmen Square in China. With her profits, Elim provides care to the poor and needy. The Chinese authorities are so impressed with her that they offered her land to build a Bible school and a church!

Every day, people like Wahju, Geng-Hong and Elim are shining brightly for Jesus in the marketplace. The excellence, integrity and creative ingenuity by which they carry out their work in their respective industries earns them the right to be God’s voice in society. When Jesus says, “Go into all the world (kosmos) and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), His context is for believers to engage the very culture that God has planted them in and to wisely usher the kingdom of God into it.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we can, and must, be salt and light in the marketplace. But we do need to have a right concept of faith and culture before we can effectively engage the society God has planted us in.

ACCOMMODATION: THE CHURCH ON A LEASH

In his book, Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture, Watt Mueller wrote about two extreme mindsets prevalent among Christians. On the liberal left, we have Accommodation, or what some would call, “the church on a leash,” describing believers being dragged along by the moral values of the world.

Mueller reported on a Christian youth fellowship in which a “Christian” college girl went forward to give a testimony. Her testimony went something like this:

“As a teenager, I think a lot about sex. There are a lot of urges, temptations and opportunities. Last year, I started dating a guy and have been dating him ever since. One night, we got too physical and wound up going all the way—yes, we had sex! Right afterward, we felt dirty and guilty. For a few weeks after that, we spent time praying to God, asking Him to help us do things that are pleasing to Him. We also read the Bible. After a while, we began to realize that God made our sexuality to be a good thing. Not only that, He wants us to be happy, feel good and to enjoy our lives. Pretty soon, it became clear to us that it was okay with God if we had sex with each other. Ever since that time, we’ve been having sex regularly. I’m glad God just wants us to be happy and to feel good!”

With that, this college girl finished her sharing and her youth group members erupted into loud applause! More incredulously, her youth pastor went forward, hugged her and gave her a pat on the back, saying, “Well done! Good sharing!”

Ridiculous? But that is how “ Accommodationists” think. What they don’t realize is that even though Jesus was a friend to sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors, He didn’t adopt any beliefs and behaviors that went against God’s Word. “Accomm odationists” want so much to be accepted by the world that they will do almost anything to achieve that, even if they have to blatantly sin against the Lord. To be relevant to culture does not mean you have to compromise your faith.