Shaped by Culture of Shaped by Christ

Every generation is formed by the culture it lives in—often more than it realizes. Looking back, it’s easy to see how norms shift. Elvis was 24 when he met 14‑year‑old Priscilla. Even into the 70s and early 80s, relationships with wide age gaps—some involving minors—were not viewed with the same moral clarity we have today. Many of us remember thinking it was odd, but not necessarily wrong. That’s the power of culture. It shapes what feels normal.
Culture changes. It always has.
But something deeper has shifted in the last century—something far more significant than changing social norms. For most of human history, including biblical times, behavior was behavior. Choices were choices. Actions were actions. They did not define a person’s identity.
Yet between the late 1800s and mid‑1900s, a new idea began to take root. Thinkers like Freud, Nietzsche, Rousseau, and Marx taught that the “true self” is found inside—within desires, impulses, and feelings. Slowly, culture embraced a new creed:
“What I feel is who I am.”
This is a radical break from Scripture’s understanding of the human person.

1. Modern Culture Treats Desire as Identity
Today the message is everywhere:
My desires define me.
My behavior expresses my true self.
My feelings reveal my identity.
Sexual desire becomes sexual identity.
Political behavior becomes political identity.
Consumer choices become lifestyle identity.
Even hobbies become identity statements.
This is a massive shift from how humanity has thought for thousands of years.
But Scripture warned us that a time would come when the foundations of morality, identity, and truth would be inverted:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves…
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
— 2 Timothy 3:1–5
We are watching this unfold.
A culture that elevates desire to identity will inevitably redefine morality.
A culture that treats feelings as truth will eventually lose truth altogether.

Think About It
Culture is loud.
Culture is persuasive.
Culture is constantly shifting.
But Christ is steady.
The question for every believer is simple:
Will I be shaped by the culture around me,
or by the Christ within me?
Identity is not discovered by looking inward at our desires.
Identity is received by looking upward to our Creator.

Walk in truth and clarity today according to God’s Word NOT culture.

Blessings