Culturally Compromised Theology

American Cultural Trends

Geert Hofstede —> Dutch social psychologist; Pioneered Cultural Dimension Theory (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede%27s_cultural_dimensions_theory)

Six dimensions defined...

Power distance Index (PDI): How much people expect power to be uneven.

Motivation towards Achievement and Success (MAS): A preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material reward.

Unvertainty avoidance index (UAI): Tolerance for ambiguity.

Long-term orientation vs short-term normative orientation (LTO): Tendency to be rooted in tradition vs looking forward.

Indulgence vs restraint (IVR): Degree of freedom given to individuals fulfilling their human desires.

MAIN ONE FOR TODAY: Individualism vs collectivism (IDV): Degree to which people are integrated into groups.

Tool available at hofstede-insights.com —> United States is noticeably low in Power Distance Index (PDI), and high in Individualism (IDV) and Indulgence (IVR)

Basically:

We don’t want anyone telling us they’re better than us, we want to have the things we feel we’re entitled to, and...

We are egregiously offended when anyone tries telling us that our individual interests and beliefs aren’t as important as we think!

From the last two weeks, Jeremiah 17:9

Jeremiah 17:9 CSB

The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?

Consider what this verse looks like when you apply it to the church as it co-lives within a society...

Fighting Our Jezebels

Revelations opens with descriptions of 7 churches (Revelation 2-3). Each church represents different behaviors we see in churches across history, including to today!

The church of Thyatira was established largely due to the ministries of Lydia (WHAT?! A WOMAN?!)

Read about it in Revelation 2:18-29

Revelation 2:18–29 CSB

“Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze: I know your works—your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her works, I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secrets of Satan”—as they say—I am not putting any other burden on you. Only hold on to what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations— and he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery— just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

You simply CAN NOT understand this without digging deeply into the subject of Jezebel.

Jezebel —> Seduced an already compromised King Ahab of Israel towards idol worship, 1 Kings 16:31-32

1 Kings 16:31–32 CSB

Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and bow in worship to him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.

Jezebel seduces Ahab by “bowing in worship to him”… worshiping the “self”.

Historical context:

Likely a reference to an actual false prophetess (or several false prophetesses) in the region

Advocated in participating in guild life (celebrations of general spirituality)

Used Paul’s words in 1 Cor 8:4-8 (deceptively and out of context) to rationalize that it was “acceptable” for Christians to participate in these worldly things.

1 Corinthians 8:4–8 CSB

About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him. However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat.

“Jezebel’s” deception is seducing God’s people from the truth based on what is popular or convenient, even amongst the spiritual community.

There is nothing is more seductive than focusing on our own opinions, desires, and wellbeing, after all, in the garden of eden, Genesis 3:1-6

Genesis 3:1–6 CSB

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

In Thyatira’s day, the “spiritual community” included mostly pagan groups, but our spiritual community is more Christian-themed.... DO NOT BE DECIEVED.

The deception that walks in Christian clothes is not any holier than deception that walks in devil’s horns.

Satan's tactic is to appear concerned with your best interests. If your idea of “being on your guard” is to look for obvious evil, you are looking for the wrong thing...

Appearing Innocent and “Christian”: The remarkable relatability of Thyatira to our world… they had the love and charity part, but totally sold out the truth…

“Thyatira was just the reverse of Ephesus. There, much zeal for orthodoxy, but little love; here, activity of faith and love, but insufficient zeal for godly discipline and doctrine, a patience of error even where there was not a participation in it.” (Richard Trench, Anglican theologian on Rev 2:20)

Connection to our world: Many modern Christians want the love and grace, but they will recoil against a truth that asks them to think beyond themselves.

‘I want religion, but only if it moves my way...’

‘I want church responsibility, but only if it is run my way...’

‘I want Christ, but only if he submits to my way...’

Just as Jezebel was seducing Christians into moving away from truth in favor of “convenient spirituality”, we see a society (both Christian and secular) pulling Christians away from an unchanging truth into a self-serving form of religious practice.

The REAL warning to Thyatira in Revelation 2:23

Revelation 2:23 CSB

I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

The scary part isn’t “I will strike her children dead.” Rather, it is “I will give to each of you according to your works.” (Ref: Galatians 3:10-13)

Galatians 3:10–13 CSB

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

Those who seek a truth apart from Christ can not expect to be redeemed by the Truth of Christ.

I shudder to think about being damned to an eternity where I am judged according to my works and the merit of my own spirituality instead of being covered by the fully sufficient blood of Christ!

Hope for the Faithful

What, then, of those who are trying to “fight the good fight” amidst a culture that appears to be unwavering in their own cultural compromise?

Promise is found in “then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines hearts and minds.” Reminds me of Malachi 1:11

Malachi 1:11 CSB

“My name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense and pure offerings will be presented in my name in every place because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Armies.

We are encouraged to hold-fast in Rev 2:25-28

Revelation 2:25–28 CSB

Only hold on to what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations— and he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery— just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

Our priority must shift from what we see “here and now” to what we know is to come.

This is where faith comes in: the “is to come” has to drive us just as much as “here and now”.

Analogy: Priority matrix… priority = impact and urgency.

Impact —> Eternal

Urgency —> No one knows the day or time… Mark 13:32

Mark 13:32 CSB

“Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—but only the Father.

The warning of Thyatira for us today is to be vigilant against the deceptive heart we see in society, within leaders of the church, and within ourselves to seduce us into a “lesser form” of commune with our God.

Regardless of what the Jezebels around us or within us want to claim, nothing compares to the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Home Church Questions

Read about the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-21. “Jezebel” is seducing the church of Thyatira into living a compromised faith, intermingling what is socially acceptable, convenient, and individually gratifying with what Christ taught. This leads to a Christian practice that is more about what “makes sense” or “feels right” to an individual rather than what is the most spiritually and eternally beneficial. How is this sentiment reflected in our world today? In what ways do we see Christians (from casual attendees to ministry leaders to pastors) falling to the same compromise? What happens when we attempt to find spiritual fulfillment in our own works or cultural reasons?

Read on through Revelation 2:22-29. There is an assured ending here that is echoed in Malachi 1:11 —> ‘My name WILL be made great.’ It’s a promise, not an aspiration. How do some of the world’s (or sometimes the church’s) attempts to create “seductive religion” lose sight of the promise in Malachi 1:11 in favor of more near-term fulfillment? How does ministry sometimes prioritize what appears urgent to human eyes rather than the divine goal of God’s glory?