Resisting Ungodly Culture: Standing Firm in Christ

The elderly Filipino grandmother wore a cross around her neck, marking her as a follower of Jesus Christ. Yet beside her humble home stood something deeply troubling: a spirit house, erected to ward off evil forces. When challenged about this contradiction, she replied simply, “I just wanted to make sure that all the bases were covered.”

This anecdote introduces a critical issue facing Christians everywhere: the subtle yet dangerous influence of ungodly culture on genuine faith. The apostle Paul addressed this very problem in his letter to the Colossians, a small church in Asia Minor facing intense pressure to supplement their faith in Christ with elements from the surrounding culture.

Paul’s warnings to the Colossian believers are striking in their urgency. Despite describing them as “saints and faithful brothers” who possessed genuine “faith in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:2, 4), he repeatedly cautioned them against spiritual danger. Four times he issued stern warnings: “Let no one deceive you” (2:4); “See to it that no one takes you captive” (2:8); “Let no one pass judgement on you” (2:16); and, “Let no one disqualify you” (2:18).

The threats came from “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world” (Colossians 2:8). The Colossians lived in Phrygia, where Roman, Greek, and Jewish religious ideas mingled with local traditions. Archaeological evidence reveals the spiritual atmosphere: amulets worn for protection, curse tablets calling down vengeance, papyri containing prayers to angels, and consultations with those claiming ecstatic visions.

These practices were driven by fear—fear of capricious spirits and deities that supposedly controlled daily life. Magic was common, not the fictional variety of children’s stories, but real attempts to summon spiritual powers for protection or advantage. For the Colossians, this was simply the air they breathed, the culture they had inherited from parents and grandparents.

Understanding culture is essential. Culture encompasses the customs, values, and worldviews that make specific groups think and behave as they do. Crucially, all culture is ungodly and wicked to the extent that it remains untransformed by the gospel.

This truth stems from the doctrine of total depravity. Since Adam’s fall, all humanity walks in darkness unless brought into light. Scripture teaches that we are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), alienated from God and hostile in mind. Therefore, any culture not influenced by the gospel—regardless of ethnicity or geography—reflects humanity’s fallen condition.

For African Christians, specific challenges arise when Christianity is dismissed as “white man’s religion” or the Bible as a “Western book.” Scripture is God’s authoritative word over all mankind, transcending culture and ethnicity. The temptation to embrace African traditional religion, witchcraft, or ancestral worship as markers of authentic African identity must be tested against biblical truth.

As one Zambian Christian observes, many African believers face a dilemma: rejecting overt paganism while clinging to cultural practices born of false religions—bridal price rituals laced with superstition, distorted teachings on sexuality, and fear-driven interpretations of misfortune. These are not mere customs but theological declarations that contradict Christian faith.

Western culture presents different temptations: radical individualism, materialism, and self-sufficiency that denies our need for community or help. The English saying—“an Englishman’s home is his castle”—epitomises this isolating worldview. African ubuntu—the principle that it takes a village to raise a child—offers a helpful corrective, but only when that village consists of believers committed to biblical truth.

The solution to cultural compromise lies in understanding who Christ is. Colossians presents a magnificent, full-length portrait of Jesus: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15–16).

The Colossians weren’t denying Christ’s deity or his saving work; they were downsizing his authority over spiritual beings. Paul’s response is emphatic: Christ has “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15). These defeated powers cannot harm those in Christ, whose ultimate overthrow is assured.

This brings immense assurance to believers: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Christ is our refuge and stronghold, our hiding place. We need not fear evil spirits, demonic forces, or ancestral spirits. “In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (Colossians 2:9–10).

Christ is enough. He covers all the bases. There is no higher authority to whom we might appeal, no supplementary protection required. Charles Wesley captured this truth perfectly: “Thou, O Christ, art all I want; more than all in thee I find.”

Paul’s ultimate exhortation is simple yet profound: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6–7).

This walking in Christ must occur daily and all year round. It means continually trusting him for salvation and security while following and submitting to his lordship. We must “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1), adopting a radically new worldview shaped by heavenly standards rather than earthly values.

In Christ, “there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). Our primary identity isn’t ethnic, tribal, or national—it’s being in Christ. We have more in common with believers across the world than with unsaved family members who share our language and customs.

This allegiance to Christ shapes everything: how we think, spend money, marry, raise children, face tragedy, and contemplate tomorrow. God’s word alone—not culture—must determine these matters. The cost may be high, including rejection by family and exclusion from cultural ceremonies, but as Jesus warned, “A person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:36).

The call is clear: Beware of human traditions and ungodly culture, know that Jesus Christ is supreme and sufficient, and keep trusting in Christ and living for him alone. Only then can we truly say that Christ is our all in all.