Through His life, death on the cross, victorious resurrection from the dead, and present power, Christ is able to deliver us from the loneliness of separation from God; is able to free us from guilt over past failures, able to repattern our minds with a new image of ourselves and our potential; able to liberate our emotions of debilitating fear, anxiety, and worry; and is able to make us whole, integrated, complete persons, altogether new in every way for this life and eternity.

Christ has the power to save the inquirer in his or her sense of estrangement, the struggling Christian from discouragement, the unsatisfied, unfulfilled believer from dissatisfaction with his or her present stage of growth.

The Christian life is dynamic. (Reminder: the word comes from the Greek dunamis -- power. So does dynamite!) It must have a definite beginning, it is constantly growing, and it is never fully complete until we reach heaven. It is a personal relationship with Christ. And as we've said repeatedly, the power He has to save is released in us by His indwelling presence.

We are permanently saved when we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord. Once and for all -- our souls, minds, bodies. We have both the status of saints, people who belong to the Savior, and security that our standing will never change. Life's biggest insecurity is healed; we belong to God our Father.

What power this security gives us. It meets the deepest longings of our hearts, fills the empty void inside, gives confidence and courage. We are free from having to earn our status by competing with others or establish our worth by trying to be adequate. We have been elected to receive power, not continually to struggle for human control.

We are also saved persistently. Dwelling in us, Christ continues the process of salvation, healing our character and personality, and consistently presses us on to what Paul calls the "fullness of the stature of Christ." We are people programmed for progress. Being saved is being made in the image of Christ. We have His inner power.

So to those asking, "Is it worth it to be a counter-Cultural Christian?" my response is "Yes!" But it depends on what's really important to us. If we spend all our energies gaining the approval, accolades, and awards of human success, we'll probably get plenty of cheers from culture, though it may mean some costly compromises along the way. Each compromise cuts off Christ's power -- stalls us in our soaring. Christ's power is not given to make us culturally successful, but to be His servants in our culture. If professional or monetary success comes our way without compromising our commitment to Christ, we can use our positions to forward the Kingdom and our money to support Christ's mission for the spiritually and physically hungry.

I had the privilege of giving the invocation at two banquets, each honoring a personal friend who has risen to a position of human power without losing the flow of Christ's power. Both have eight things in common: they have put Christ first in their lives; they are filled with His indwelling power; they spend time in the Word and in prayer and consistently commit their decisions to Christ's guidance; they are husbands in long-term marriages and are caring fathers; they are dedicated to excellence in their work, with Christ as their real boss; they are involved in personally sharing their faith with individuals and are actively leading causes to alleviate social suffering and remove injustice. It just so happens that these two men work for the same company and one has succeeded the other.