The Jesus Way Week 6: Cultural Pressure

The Jesus Way

Week 6: Cultural Pressure

How Jesus remained faithful to truth and purpose without conforming to the world.

October 25, 2026

Sermon Notes
Pastor Brad Myers

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Current Series: The Jesus Way—How Jesus faced life and how we can too.

• Watch: cpointe.church website, YouTube, Facebook
• Listen: Podcast
• Study: Weekly Devotional & Discussion Guide

Review

• Temptation: What happens when we are tempted?
• Relationships: What happens when relationships become difficult?
• Money: What happens when money starts competing for our trust?
• Worry: What happens when uncertainty and anxiety begin to take over?
• Opposition: What happens when people resist us?
• Next Week—Injustice: What happens when life is unfair?
• Loneliness: What happens when we feel alone?
• Suffering: What happens when we experience pain, loss, and grief?
• Thanksgiving: What happens when our circumstances do not naturally make us feel grateful?
  
  

Today—Cultural Pressure: What happens when the world around us pressures us to think, believe, and live differently than Jesus?

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What Is Culture?
Culture is a shared set of beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that characterize a particular group, society, or organization.

• What to value,
• How & why we believe,
• What’s normal or acceptable,
• What’s True!

Culture is what everybody keeps repeating until eventually it just feels normal.

Rarely does someone say: “Today I am going to change what you believe.”

• Subtle Process…
• Ongoing exposure to the same values...
• Same assumptions…
• Same priorities...
• Same definitions...

Eventually, what felt abnormal begins to feel normal, and what feels normal begins to feel right.

Cultural pressure may be one of the most powerful pressures a follower of Jesus will ever face.

Opposition was obvious.

• Stop believing that, saying that, or living that way.

Cultural pressure is quieter.

• Do you still believe that?
• Does that matter anymore?
• Everybody else has moved on.
• Times have changed.
• God doesn’t expect you to take that literally.
• You’re not one of those people, are you?”

Little by little, the pressure is not necessarily to reject Jesus but to redefine what following Jesus means.

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Q) What happens when the world around us pressures us to think, believe, and live differently than Jesus?

• Does culture dictate, or does Jesus?

Started Immediately

Genesis 3:1 (NIV)

Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?

What Culture considers “normal” can change dramatically within one lifetime.

Major American cultural shifts since the mid-1970s

• Gallop & Pew Research

1. Homosexual behavior moved from disapproval to acceptance.
   • 2001 40% to 62% in today.
   • Support: 27% in 1996 to 65% in 2026. Gallup.com
2. Male & Female redefined apart from biological sex.
   • ·Gallup tracks moral acceptability of “changing one’s gender."
   • Not considered decades ago
   • Today: 38% of Americans say it’s morally acceptable. Gallup.com
3. Intimacy separated from marriage.
   • 65% consider unmarried sex morally acceptable.
   • 58% consider a baby outside marriage morally acceptable.
   • Decades ago cultural sex, marriage, and childbearing belonged together. Gallup.com
4. Marriage declined as the dominant family structure.
   1. 1970, 67% of Americans ages 25–49 lived with a spouse and at least one child.
   2. Today that figure is 37%.
   3. No core family structure in America. Pew Research Center
5. Christianity moved from an overwhelming cultural majority to one of many.
   1. Christian U.S. adults fell from 90% in 1960 to 62% today.
   2. Religious unaffiliated: Up to 29%. Pew Research Center
6. Americans reject absolute moral standards for situational judgment.
   1. Pew 2023–24: 55% say right or wrong depends on the situation.
   2. Less than 50% say clear and absolute moral standards. Pew Research Center
7. Marijuana from overwhelming rejection to broad acceptance.
   • 1969: 12% of Americans supported legalization.
   • ·2023: 70% supported it.
   • 2025: 64% supported it. Pew Research Center
8. Pornography became normalized and culturally accessible.
   1. 30% in 2011to 43% in 2018, 31% 2026 Gallup.com
9. Confidence in major institutions declined sharply.
   1. 12 of 14 core institutions at/approaching all-time lows in public confidence.
   2. Core 14: Presidency, Congress, public schools, U.S. Supreme Court, military, criminal justice system, police, Banks, Big business, Organized labor, medical system, Newspapers, News, church & organized religion.
   3. 2 holding steady: Banks & Organized Labor. Gallup.com
10. Technology & social media are the dominant force in cultural formation.
    1. 2000: 52% of U.S. adults used the internet.
    2. Today: 96%
    3. 2011: 35% owned a smartphone
    4. Today: 91% do
    5. Today: 59% of adults get news from social media. Pew Research Center

In one lifetime, America has changed its thinking about sexuality, male and female, marriage, family, religion, morality, drugs, pornography, authority, and even where we go to determine what is truth.

Add Note

1. Culture Is Always Trying To Form Us

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,….

• Conform: Shaped according to a pattern.
• Paul warns believers not to let the values, assumptions, and behaviors of the surrounding world quietly become what shapes their lives.
• Culture doesn't convince overnight.
• It influences us gradually.

Culture is most powerful when we stop noticing that it’s actually shaping us.

Paul doesn't just say: Don't conform.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
...but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

• Another alternative influence.
• God's truth; presence; Spirit.

Add Note

2. Jesus Was Present in Culture Without Being Shaped by It

• Jesus was not isolated from society.
• Jesus attended weddings.
• He ate in people's homes.
• He interacted with political leaders.
• He spoke with Samaritans.
• He touched lepers.
• He welcomed children.
• He engaged religious leaders.
• Jesus ate dinner with IRS…. Tax collectors

Matthew 9:10–11 (NIV)
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’”

• Jesus was so close to broken people that religious people questioned Him for it.

But notice:
Jesus was close enough to love people without becoming shaped by what separated those people from God. That’s where we struggle!

Christians Make Two Mistakes When Facing Culture.

• ISOLATION: “If culture is sinful, stay away from everybody.” Jesus didn't.
• ASSIMILATION: “If we're going to reach a culture, we have to be just like it.” Jesus didn't do that either.

Jesus entered people's world without letting their world enter Him.

We should be close enough to unbelievers that they know we love them... without becoming so culturally absorbed that they can no longer see anything different in us.

• If people don’t see us as different, then they see no reason to listen to us.

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3. Jesus Allowed Truth — Not Cultural Pressure — To Set His Convictions

Jesus is approached with a politically and culturally explosive question.

Mark 12:13-14 (NIV)
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?

• Herodians: non-religious Jewish party who supported the policy of the Roman government. They perceived that Christ’s pure and spiritual teaching and influence were antagonistic to their interests.
• Pharisees: ancient Jewish sect who believed in the strict observance of oral traditions and the written Law of Moses. They didn’t believe that Christ was the Messiah, despite His many miracles during His earthly ministry.
• Imperial Tax: Roman tax imposed on people living under Roman rule

Notice

“You aren't swayed by others.”

• Jesus' opponents recognized something different about Him.

If Jesus said “Yes, pay it,” some Jews could accuse Him of siding with Rome.

If He said “No, don’t pay it,” He could be accused of rebellion against Caesar.

Mark 12:17 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

• There is a kingdom of this world, and Caesar holds power over it.
• But there is another kingdom, not of this world, and Jesus is King of that

Jesus didn’t change the truth according to His audience.

• What’s popular?
• What keeps everybody happy?
• What does Rome want?
• What do the Pharisees want?
• What do the crowds want?
• What will protect My reputation?

His standard was truth.

John 17:17 (NIV)
“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

• Not Your Word contains some truth.
• Jesus says: “Your word IS truth.”
• Jesus didn’t allow people to determine what was true.

Remember Genesis 3: “Did God really say...?”

• Every believer must determine
• When God's Word and culture disagree, who gets to decide?

Add Note

4. Jesus Refused Isolation and Conformity

• Night before the cross, Jesus knows He is leaving His disciples.

Listen to how He Prayed

John 17:14 (NIV)
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.”

Then..

John 17:15 (NIV)
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

Then..

John 17:16 (NIV)
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”

Then…

John 17:18 (NIV)
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

Not: “Of the world”

But: “Sent into the world.”

Jesus doesn’t pray:

• Father, get them away from everybody who believes differently.

He sends them right back into the world.

MY: Jesus never intended His followers to escape culture. He intended His followers to live faithfully inside it.

This means: He wanted us

• Live with conviction without hostility
• Live holy without isolation
• Engagement without assimilation
• Compassion without compromise
• Truth without arrogance

MY: We aren’t called simply to complain about darkness; Jesus sends us into it.

Cross Pointe Church exists to help people discover:

• A Better Way - A Better Life.
• But people must be able to see that Better Way lived out!

The goal is not to see how far away from culture we can get. The goal is to live so faithfully within it that people can actually see the difference Jesus makes.

Add Note

5. Cultural Faithfulness Requires the Holy Spirit!

• Message is not about trying harder not to become like the world.

It’s not behavior modification, but transformation

Look back at..

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
“...be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

• We love this!
• BUT..

Jesus promises..

John 16:13 (NIV)
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”

Notice how Jesus describes Him:

“The Spirit of Truth.”

• Holy Spirit: convicts, teaches us, reminds us of truth, renews our thinking, exposes compromise, changes our desires, produces holiness, empowers obedience

This Means..

MY: We cannot overcome the formative power of culture simply by developing stronger opinions. We need the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit.

This is the Pentecostal answer to cultural pressure.

Not: “Try harder.”

But: “Walk in the Spirit.”

Not merely: Know the truth.

But: Allow the Spirit of Truth to transform how we live.

The answer to cultural pressure is not greater isolation; it is deeper transformation.

It’s easy to sit in church and say: “Culture has really gotten bad.”

• But that's not Jesus' question for His disciples.
• The better question is:

Q) Where has culture shaped ME more than I realize?

Not: What's wrong with America?

But: Where has America gotten inside me?

Has culture shaped:

• The way we view sexuality?
• What we consider entertainment?
• The way we spend money?
• Our definition of success?
• Our ambitions?
• Our marriage?
• Our parenting?
• Our relationships?
• Our politics?
• The way we treat people who disagree with us?
• Our technology habits?
• Our priorities?
• Our expectations of church?
• Our belief about truth?

The greatest cultural danger may not be what the world believes; it may be what believers gradually learn to accept without noticing.

Jesus was never afraid of the current culture, nor was he controlled by it. Jesus entered it! He understood it. He loved people in it. He spoke truth into it. He demonstrated compassion within it.

Add Note

Question for all of us!

Q) Are we influencing the culture around us—or has the culture around us been quietly influencing us?

In one generation, America has dramatically changed how it thinks about sexuality, male and female, marriage and family, Christianity, morality, drugs, authority, and even where we go to determine what is true.

Questioned Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Q) What would you do if you were the devil?

A) I’d convince people to drift from God without realizing they were drifting.

Through ordinary things like:

• Through Distraction: I’d keep people so busy and entertained that prayer and reflection always get postponed.
• Mistrust: I’d turn disappointment into suspicion about God’s goodness.
• Division: I’d make winning arguments feel more important than loving people.
• Distortion: I’d mix enough truth into a lie to make it sound wise and spiritual.
• Isolation: I’d convince hurting people that nobody understands, and they’re better off alone.
• Shame: I’d make people believe their failure is their identity, so they hide instead of seeking grace.
• Pride: I’d make success feel like proof that they no longer need God.
• Replace: I’d make working for God gradually replace being with God.
• Adopt: I’d encourage people to adopt the current culture's values, then find religious reasons to defend them while continuing to think of themselves as faithful Christians.

As a church, we need to help people discover

• A Better Way. A Better Life.
• People must be able to see that Better Way lived out!