Culture is good and is part of how God has ordained for us to live. In Genesis He told our ancestors to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue the earth. The only way to do this is through some kind of human culture.
I often pray that the Lord will show himself mighty in the godless culture we are living in.
“…the kings…heard that the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross. So they lost heart and had no courage left to face the people of Israel” Joshua 5:1.
My pastor son Chris is taking his Doctor of Ministry degree and is required to spend two weeks a year on site at Biola University in Los Angeles. 10 days ago I joined him for the weekend. During that time, the professor kindly invited me to join his class of doctoral candidates for the days’ lecture on Christians in culture, which I eagerly accepted. What a great mind expander from a warm evangelical perspective! I took five pages of notes and want to share a couple of thoughts for you as Encounter people. Professor Rick Langer proposed three views we can take on culture.
Culture is good and is part of how God has ordained for us to live. In Genesis He told our ancestors to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue the earth. The only way to do this is through some kind of human culture. For example, marriage is appropriate for all of humanity – a cultural icon. Of course, because of sin, there will be much not to like in culture, but even in modern secular culture, there are nuggets of wisdom and beauty to be found. I find this to be true, even of people who do not love the Lord I love. So we Christians involve ourselves fully in the culture around us.
Culture is necessary in a fallen world. Sin has introduced all kinds of aberrations to human communal life, so culture must intercede to make life habitable. Governments are a necessary technology to cope with our sinfulness. Sometimes a war must be fought to curb evil (a ‘just’ war). While I am certainly no fan of our current Canadian government, I do see the need for government. As Winston Churchill said: “…it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…”
Culture is humanity’s rebellion to be like God. Satan directs culture while God directs Kingdom. There are persuasive arguments for this view as well. Cain was the first murderer, and it is his line that is noted for technology and culture – metallurgy, development of cities that led to the tower of Babel, etc. We resist culture in this view. I certainly resonate here as well. I am reading the book of Joshua at this time and see how the Lord was using the Israelites to eradicate the pagan cultures in the promised land. I often pray that the Lord will show himself mighty in the godless culture we are living in.
Culture - friend, necessary, or foe? I kind of think it is all three. Rick presented the concept of culture as a seagoing ship. At some point it will sink – that is inevitable for every ship at sea. If we knew the ship was going to sink tomorrow, we don’t need to swab the deck (be involved in culture). While Jesus has told us that He is coming back and the Kingdom will be ushered in, He has not told us when. With that in mind, we swab the deck – we involve ourselves in culture where we can – praying against evil and working for the good – until Jesus comes. I think this is a reasonable and wholistic way to approach the culture around us.
I began this blog with a longing for God to show himself mighty to the evil people pushing their propaganda upon us. But let me end this blog with the counterpoint – which is also appropriate – from Jeremiah 29:7: “…seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Pastor Leon Throness
