On Being Counter Cultural

Wade Hodges had some very good things to say about the need to live within your means on this post. It is a very insightful post about the need to be prudent in our financial affairs in contrast to the consumerism and materialistic orientation of society at large. While I like the main thrust of his post, something he said about being counter cultural set me thinking. It is one of those terms that we all take for granted. There are many scriptural references to validate the notion that Christians are supposed to adopt a lifestyle that is counter to the cultural norms and standards of mainstream society. We are to be "in the world" but not "of the world." We are to "come out from among them" and we are to let our "light so shine" in the dark corners so that unbelievers can observe our "good works and give glory to the Father." For years, parts of the church interpreted this motivation for distinctiveness by adopting a legalism that turned out to be counter productive to the gospel and the mission of the church. I wonder if in our eagerness to be culturally distinctive that we go out of our way to be different for the sake of being different. That can very easily lead to arrogance, aleniation, and render us ineffective in relating to the very people we are supposed to reach. So, how do we strike a healthy balance?