3. The market culture glorifies accomplishments more than essence of being. The market-driven culture may make for a robust economy, but it does not make for healthy humans. Even Christianity and some of its movements have been sucked into the performance trap that equates performance with human worth. Biblical Christianity teaches that the works that please God emanate out of a broken and contrite heart, as Scripture urges us to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (Is. 66:2-3; 2 Pet. 3:18). Jesus condemned the Pharisees who only had outward works without inward holiness (Matthew 23). He even said that some who do wonderful works in His Name will be turned away from heaven if they had no experiential knowledge of Him (Matt. 7:21-22). Truly we are human beings before we are human doers.

4. The market culture celebrates individualism rather than community. With the spirit of competition that arises out of the market culture comes individualism. Scripture admonishes every person to look out for the things of others (Phil. 2:1-4).

Christianity elevates community over individualism, as both the Old and New Testaments teach, that God's blessings and purpose flow in the context of the life of His nation and body (Acts 2:42-47; 1 Cor. 12). Hence, if a person was outside the camp of Israel, they were considered cursed, not blessed (Num. 12:14). And if a person was not part of the life of the local church, they would not have even known the Scriptures because individuals in that day rarely owned their own Scriptures.

Reading and hearing the Word usually was a community event as part of the liturgy of worship services, because it was too expensive for the average believer to own their own Old Testament scroll or New Testament epistles.

5. The market culture requires conformity to global trends rather than uniqueness. Because of technology the world is "flat" and, as a result, there presently is much conformity in style, dress, business, entertainment, music, science, philosophy and ethics. Although biblical Christianity encourages community, it values a unity in diversity based on the rich unique gifts of individuals, ethnicities and cultures. God created people with different ethnicities, who live in different regions of the Earth, who are equipped with unique redemptive gifts for the good of humanity and glory of God. The early church did not conform to cultural norms that were contrary to Scripture, as they refused to worship the Roman emperor, nor would they worship the materialistic god of mammon. For this they were persecuted. But apostles, such as Peter and Paul, would rather die than compromise their faith through conformity to culture (Rom. 12:1-3).

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