Love Your Culture - Romans 13:8-14

1215 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all…

138 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

 11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

1.Which approach to South Bay (or broader) culture do you usually lean toward: harsh rejection or thoughtless embrace?
2."You can't love your neighbor if you don't care at all about what they love." Are there people around you — neighbors, coworkers, people at your kids' school — whose world you haven't really entered? What's kept you at a distance? 
3.What's the darkness in your workplace or industry or other key community? What would you name? And is it something you've mostly accepted, or actively resisted?
4.Saying yes to a culture — being genuinely present and engaged — is what gives your 'no' real weight. Have you experienced that? A time when your presence earned you the right to be distinct? 
5.Augustine's restlessness — the inability to feel fully at home anywhere — is offered as something universal, not just his personal neurosis. Does that resonate with you? Where do you feel it most? 
6.“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh." This is preparation — what you dress for depends on what you're anticipating. What practices actually help you do that in the morning, or throughout the day? What's missing?