Framework - How to Counter Attack

In this session, Jeremy discusses how, we as Christians and citizens, can reclaim our society and culture for God. It's not simply putting out a simple message of love or hope with Christian language. It takes much more effort than that but produces far greater results. Are you in a position to reclaim some small part of our culture for Christ?

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas, we
have a small sample of thelarger lesson which is coming
tomorrow.
These lessons are in theFramework series.
They are all about taking moredetailed, intricate and complex
doctrines and building upon theframework that was established
in the Basics series.

(00:21):
The intent is to greatly expandyour knowledge and appreciation
of the intricacy and the beautyof God's holy word.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Third view is the counter-attack approach to
separation, and this, I think,is the biblical position.
It's a position that in churchhistory has been thought long
about and thought hard about.
It's the position that what wedo is we present an alternative

(00:50):
to the world's ideas.
So alternative ideas, okay, andwe highlight these alternative
ideas, because what we're tryingto do with people in the
culture around us is get them tothink.
So this is what we want todevelop, and to do it, I want to

(01:11):
go to Romans 12.2 first.
So Romans 12.2.
Most of the scripture we'vealready looked at.
So today is just distillationof everything we've learned in
the last four or five weeks.
Usually we're right in a text,but today it's just distillation
of everything we've learned inthe last four or five weeks.
Usually we're right in a text,but today it's just distillation
of the concept.
So Romans 12.2.

(01:32):
The first step in theseparation from culture in terms
of counterattack first step ismind transformation, mind
transformation, and we'redeveloping this from is mind
transformation, mindtransformation, and we're
developing this from Romans 12.2.

(01:53):
In your mind, in my mind, youhave a map.
It's deep down on theoperational level of your mind.
There is a map.
Everyone has one, believers andunbelievers, it doesn't matter.
That map is how you view theworld, and here's the thing.
I'm going to tell you somethingthat might offend you.

(02:13):
So be ready, brace yourself.
It's wrong, not in all aspects,but it has parts that are wrong
.
That map that you hold in yourmind has problems with it.
Now, that is the presuppositionunder Romans 12.2, isn't it?
Because Romans 12.2 says Do notbe conformed to this world, but

(02:38):
what?
Be transformed by the renewingof your mind.
That's why I call this mindtransformation being step one.
Now, why do you need your mindto be transformed if the map in
your mind is right?
You don't.
You wouldn't need that at all.
So this is the classic NewTestament text on the

(02:59):
counterattack method of beingseparate from the culture.
The first thing that has tohappen is your mind has to be
transformed, it has to berenewed.
Notice the emphasis on notbeing part of the culture.
It doesn't say what you need todo is change where you live,
get a different job or go to adifferent church.
It doesn't say that.
The emphasis is on what's goingon in here in your mind, the

(03:25):
way our minds think, have to bechanged, and so the mind is
basically what I call the maplevel.
It's deep down.
You're operating out of this ona daily basis.
It's basically where all yourissues are, and when we teach
Scripture, we teach the Bible,and you hear it, and the Holy

(03:46):
Spirit comes along and he startsto renew your mind.
That's, who does this operationin your mind?
I like to think of him likecutting a wrong connection and
making a new connection.
Okay, so whenever you'rehearing the word and like
there's a new connection andit's like a light bulb comes on

(04:10):
oh, I never thought of thatbefore.
What just happened?
The Holy Spirit cut oneconnection and he made a new
connection for you that you hadnever thought of before.
In other words, he correctedpart of the map.
Okay, but don't forget, as hemakes new connections, he's also
cutting bad connections.
So that's a good thing in theend, but he's remapping your
mind through the Scriptures sothat you become to think like

(04:33):
him.
And so this is where separationhas to start, because if you
can't get separated in your mind, you can never get separated in
anything else.
This is just the root of it.
All Everything else comes outof your mind.
So what happens as you undergomind transformation is something
radical happens.
You start to realize that thisis the way the world system
thinks over here.
What happens as you undergomind transformation is something
radical happens.

(04:53):
You start to realize that thisis the way the world system
thinks over here and this is theway God thinks.
And you see that there's thisstark contrast.
One is light and one is dark,and they're not.
There's no gray areas.
This is what you begin torealize.
Okay, that leads to the secondstep in the separation method
that I call counterattack, andthat is engaging the arts and

(05:20):
sciences.
And I want to explain this alittle bit, of course.
What I mean is developing thearts and sciences in a
distinctly Christian fashion,developing the arts and sciences
in a distinctly Christianfashion, developing the arts and
sciences in a distinctlyChristian fashion.
I'm going to quote from a guyway back in 1920.
His name was J Gresham Machen.

(05:40):
I used to read Machen a lot andenjoyed reading him.
So this was 101 years ago.
Here's what he said Instead ofdestroying the arts and sciences
or being indifferent to them,let's cultivate them with all
the enthusiasm of the varioushumanists, but at the same time
consecrate the arts and sciencesto the service of our God.

(06:02):
Let us go forth joyfully,enthusiastically, to make the
world subject to God.
Okay, let's practically explainwhat he's saying.
Okay, he's saying, for example,let's say you watch a movie,
okay, and you say that's a badmovie.
Okay, it may be a bad movie,but that's not enough to just

(06:24):
say it's a bad movie.
Go to film school and make goodmovies.
Okay, make Christian movies.
In fact, some people have beendoing this in the last 10, 15
years.
They've been working on it,right.
Some groups have sought uponthemselves to develop movies
that are biblically based, sound, good movies that a family

(06:46):
could sit down and watch, right?
Okay, frankly, my wife thinksthat a lot of these, you know,
go to the movie downtown orsomething like that and you go,
I can't even watch this and youleave.
You know, go to the moviedowntown or something like that
and you go, I can't even watchthis and you leave.
But a lot of people will wantto go watch these movies, good
movies.
So it's not just it's sayingthis is saying don't just
critique, critique, critique.
It's easy to critique.
That's a bad movie, that's abad piece of art, okay, fine, do

(07:10):
something about it.
Go to film school, go to artschool, develop a new technique
and develop distinctly Christianart.
Why not do that Instead of justcritique all the time, right?
So when I say this, for example, let me clarify here's another
thing.
I don't mean let's takeChristian music, okay.
I don't mean ball the world'smusic and put Christian lyrics

(07:34):
on it.
That's not what we want to do.
That's accommodating.
Okay, that would be anaccommodation technique.
You try to keep all the tunesof the world, but you just put
Christian lyrics in it.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
I'm talking about inventingmusic.
That is specifically what Iwould call or classify as sacred
music.
Set apart music, which is whatwe're trying to do here.

(07:57):
That's what our whole musicteam is all about.
So, Francis Schaeffer I don'tknow if you know Francis
Schaeffer he's been gone since1980, but he basically pushed
for this, engaging the arts andsciences for his whole life and
he basically said that thechurch in the 20th century

(08:19):
failed.
What did he mean?
That the church of the 20thcentury failed?
What he meant is that they didnot develop an alternative, no
alternative to the culture.
The only disciplines where theydid this, other than movies I
mentioned some Christian moviesthat are coming out is in the

(08:39):
area of science.
In the 1970s in this country,it really got underway.
Biblical scientists startedshowing up and they were looking
at the evidence.
But rather than look at theevidence through the lens of
pagan philosophy, they looked atit through the lens of the
Bible, and what do you know?
But it resulted in alternativeinterpretations of the evidence

(09:01):
that were actually more rationaland logical to the common mind.
And so the idea here is that ifwe don't develop a competing
thought form in all these areas,then what happens is, over time
, we lose all these areas topagan thought and, before you
know it, christians becometotally irrelevant to the
culture around them and we'reisolated in this little

(09:21):
religious box over here.
And you know people out therein the world.
I was about to say they want totalk about science, but I'm not
sure what kind of science theywant to talk about anymore,
since it's so politically andeconomically driven.
But people generally want totalk about things that are
interesting, like science.
They might want to talk aboutart, they might want to talk

(09:42):
about music and they want totalk about government and
politics, of course.
But because Christians don'treally have anything to say in
those areas, in their mind we'rejust pretty much irrelevant.
All that Christians want to dois blah, blah, blah about Jesus.
So they think, why should weeven be interested in you?
In fact, that is what hashappened in America.

(10:05):
Jesus and Christianity havebecome irrelevant to all modern
culture because Jesus andChristianity supposedly don't
have anything to say about thereal world we live in.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Beyond the Walls with JeremyThomas.
If you're interested inlearning about the foundational
doctrines and themes of theBible that gave rise to this
series, then Season 1 of thispodcast is for you, on the
basics.
Additional material can befound on our website at

(10:38):
beyondthewalls-ministrycom.
If you found this informationuseful and helpful in your
spiritual walk, then pleaseconsider rating this podcast in
your favorite podcast player.
And until next time, we hopeyou're living by the fruit of
the Spirit.