Building Biblical Culture

Introduction

We’ve talked about this from the beginning of this series, the entire Bible is about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation the culmination of God’s sacred text, where he used broken human authors, under the authority and guidance of the Holy Spirit is about the Son of God, Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. Because of Christ’s submissiveness to the Father, and the Holy Spirit’s submissiveness to the finished work of the Son and to the Father we have the good news of God’s redemptive plan to save those who He awakens to the knowledge of Himself.

And even though Christ is submissive to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is submissive to Jesus the Son and God the Father. This act of submission within the Godhead does not reduced nor take away the co-equalness of the Godhead. All are God. Three persons in one.

Just as we talked about last week the same is said for our creation and the creative order. Though man, created first and head of the home and church, and woman created as his helper and submissive to his headship, does not lessen that together with God the Father, we are co-equals as agents created to reflect His glory and partner in the mission of sharing the good news that God has restored all things through His Son Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:28 ESV

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:8 ESV

8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

This is the good news for those in Christ. And we who are a part of Christ’s church are in Christ and that being the case we want to be a gospel-centered church that thrives within a culture of gospel-centrality.

What does that mean? It means we want to be a Biblical church. That has been the thrust of our series “Flesh and Blood” as we are now entering week 7 of trying to grasp what it means to be a Biblical church instead of church built-on and submissive to “man-made” traditions.

So let’s answer a few questions surrounding our identity as a church and what implications that has as it pertains to our culture and how we are view in our community.

Let’s talk about what it means to be Gospel-Centered.

The word Gospel literally means “good news,” but what do we mean when we say that? It’s important that we know.

This is the gospel by definition from my friend Pastor/author, Joe Thorn, from his book Note to Self:

“At its core, the gospel is Jesus as the substitute for sinners. We could summarize the whole by saying that in his life Jesus lives in perfect submission to the will of God and he fulfills his righteous standard (the law). In his death on the cross he quenches God’s wrath against sin, satisfying the sovereign demand for justice. In his resurrection he is victorious over sin and death. All of this is done on behalf of sinners in need of redemption and offered to all who believe. This is therefore very ‘good news.’

Jesus’ life is good news, for his obedience to the Father and fulfillment of the law is for us. While we as sinners fail to keep the law, Jesus was perfectly faithful. Jesus’ death is good news because his death was a payment for our sin, and by it we are cleansed from our guilt and released from condemnation. Jesus’ resurrection is good news because his victory over death is ours and through it we look forward to a resurrection of our own.”

– Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself

With that understanding we rejoice in the Apostle Paul’s word to the church of Galatia:

Galatians 3:28 ESV

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

However the other important component that we live out that can easily be misconstrued with the modern-world is the word culture. We want to create a gospel-centered culture here at Concord.

So what is culture? One definition...

Culture (cul·ture): is the secondary environment that man builds upon the creation, comprising language, habits, ideas, beliefs, customs, social organization, inherited artifacts, technical processes, and values.

Why is gospel-centered culture important? Because it is every thing that we as man and woman build own and value. So how do we achieve gospel-centered culture?

I’m glad you asked.

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

Concord’s Cultural Values stem from our vision and mission. Here are some of the cultural values in which we are striving for: 

1. Building Christian Representatives in our Culture () Our attitudes as Christians and how we build Biblical culture in our church and community communicates the culture in which we reject, and the culture in which we accept.Concord’s Cultural Values stem from our vision and mission. Here are some of the cultural values in which we are striving for: 

Concord’s Cultural Values stem from our vision and mission. Here are some of the cultural values in which we are striving for: 

) Our attitudes as Christians and how we build Biblical culture in our church and community communicates the culture in which we reject, and the culture in which we accept.Concord’s Cultural Values stem from our vision and mission. Here are some of the cultural values in which we are striving for: 

) Our attitudes as Christians and how we build Biblical culture in our church and community communicates the culture in which we reject, and the culture in which we accept.Concord’s Cultural Values stem from our vision and mission. Here are some of the cultural values in which we are striving for: 

Our Vision: Concord is a place where we strive for you to be KNOWN, LOVED, and BELONG, because our God is bigger than our circumstances; we desire to live out this belief in faithful community. (built off of the Great Commission and Great Commandment given by Jesus, as is our mission)

Our Mission: We exist to connect people  through loving community as we introduce them to Jesus and help them follow Him.

The Cultural Markers within our Vision and Mission:

KNOWN discipleship & assimilation

LOVED community

outreach - reaching community

evangelism - building community

ministry - serving community

BELONG -  equipping servant-leaders

Other Cultural Values: that we strive for and that should define us as a church…some of these we are working on and we are always trying to build on.

TRANSPARENCY

We want people to know what we are for, but we also want to be bold and confront sin and anything that compromises our cultural values with truth in love. "Hire slow, fire quick." Deal with things quickly...not letting it fester.

COMMUNICATION

We must strive to develop clear communication within our church for Covenant Members and Servant-Leaders to have clear expectations of what is expected of them. This helps people understand how they fit in, what roles they can serve in, what roles they cannot serve in, and how that all works to the glory of God and contributes to united fellowship. Clear communication and organization of church leadership structures and roles help those in authority and those serving to know what is expected and the proper channels in which they are present needs and concerns. How we communicate in issues between brothers and sisters within the body must be handled as instructed in the Bible (; ).

WORSHIP

That worship is: prayer, Scripture reading, the preaching of God’s, sacrificial giving, repentance, praise, and singing. As we sing to God songs of praise our goal is to teach people to sing God’s truth and to sing it loudly.

THEOLOGY

What we believe about the Bible, God the Father, Jesus, God the son, and the Holy Spirit of God, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the communion of the saints, and how they serve with their spiritual gifting, as well as their time, talents and resources.

our probing question: What does a healthy Biblical culture look like? 

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

2. Building Christian Principles in our Culture  (19-22; ; ; ; , ; ; ;  )  The Bible speaks to salvation of the individual soul, but it also speaks to the issues of culture. Such as:

Christ’s Kingship and authority,

Ephesians 1:19–22 ESV

19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 1:20–22 ESV

20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

and

Eph 1:20-22

Colossians 1:16 ESV

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Col

Our culture matters as the church it engages in the world:

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 2:15-17

or as it says in...

John 15:18–19 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 15:1

The Bible instructs us in how we are to escape the unhealthy culture of the world. As Jesus prayed:

John 17:11 ESV

11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

John 17:14–18 ESV

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

John

and how we must navigate both worldly culture and Christian culture while in the world knowing the evils that exist? The Bible warns instructs us how to engage culture but stay true to Biblical culture and holiness. The Apostle Paul says:

1 Corinthians 9:20–23 ESV

20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Paul warns in Romans:

1 Cor 9:

Romans 2:14–15 ESV

14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

Paul instructs yet again:

Rom 2

Romans 13:3–4 ESV

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Romans q0:

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

3. Building Christian Transformative Principles into our Culture (; ; ; ; ; ; ) As Christians, we should seek to transform the culture in our community with our own  Biblical cultural values. So we must ask: 

What is our church’s role in this process?

The Apostle Paul tells us in:

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 ESV

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 ESV

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

2 Cor 10:3-5

What is our role as redeemed individuals? How are we to live in this culture?

Luke records Jesus’ instructions in:

How are we to live in this culture? Luke records Jesus’ instructions in:

Luke 3:12–14 ESV

12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Jesus told us who we are in Him to this culture in his most famous sermon:

Matthew 5:13–14 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

How do we exercise discernment and keep this initiative before us?

Again, the Apostle Paul tells us:

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Do our cultural efforts have eternal value?

Rev

Revelation 21:24–27 ESV

24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Isaiah 60:10-21

Isaiah 60:10–21 ESV

10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 11 Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. 16 You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

Conclusion

So how do we take this source, the Bible and apply it our own lives in a way that we begin to live out the life of Christ and engage the culture of the world with the culture of Christ?

Abraham Kuruvilla, who is the Senior Research Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Ministries for Dallas Theological Seminary says this:

Application involves discovering the world projected in front of the text [in the Bible] and aligning oneself to that world. Such an alignment restores the relationship between God and his community.

Let’s flesh that out.

Kuruvilla is saying that how we read the Scriptures matter. We must first understand the Biblical and historical culture in which the particular text was written and then we must overlay that culture with others. That means the differences and the similarities. Once we do that viewing our worldly culture through the lens of God’s ordained Biblical culture, we are able to apply and move ourselves into position to line up with God’s command on how we are to live.

Kuruvilla takes applying this view to another level by comparing this process like using a periscope.

What’s a periscope?

A periscope, defined by dictionary.com as: “an optical instrument for viewing objects that are above the level of direct sight or in an otherwise obstructed field of vision, consisting essentially of a tube with an arrangement of prisms or mirrors and, usually, lenses: used especially in submarines.”

So get that image as you hear what Kuruvilla says next...

A periscope [a lens in which we see things that are above direct sight or obstructed in our field of vision], by way of its theology, thus contributes to the corporate mission of covenant renewal.

This means in order to compare our present view of God we must first see above our limited sight and see the Biblical culture in which God was using the author to speak to the orginial culture, so that through this lens we are better able to see how to apply it and walk it out today in this culture in a way that allows the culture of Christ’s church to restore true meaning and purpose to one’s life through the lens of Jesus.

Kuruvilla goes on to say:

I submit that what God would have is that his people be captivated by the world projected in front of the text, and that they seek to be its inhabitants, aligning themselves to its precepts, priorities, and practices. This is Gods gracious divine command.

Pastor, Author and Preaching Professor, Jim Shaddix says is this way:

When the natural outgrowth of a text is the identification of Christlike qualities or practices that God intends for our lives, there’s a direct application for listener’s [and readers] to embrace, adopt, or align themselves with those qualities. Doing so fosters restoration into His image.

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

So let me ask you another way, “What do the Scriptures teach us about our need for Jesus in our culture?

A periscope [an optical instrument for viewing objects that are above the level of direct sight or in an otherwise obstructed field of vision, consisting essentially of a tube with an arrangement of prisms or mirrors and, usually, lenses: used especially in submarines]

We have to first see our lives and our culture through what Christian author Bryan Chapell calls the fallen condition focus. He defines this focus as “the mutual human condition” between the Bibles original audience and us.

When we can see “the mutual human condition” between the orginal audience and us, then we can find the redemptive solution in Christ’s life and that faithfully points us to understand how the Bible is speaking to us as Christians and our culture in which we submit to.

Here’s the big question: Which culture are you submitting to? The world’s culture or Christ’s culture? Because Christ’s culture leads us directly to the cross.

Matthew 16:24–26 ESV

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

What lens are you looking through? The broken lens of the this world? Or the lens that sees above your current circumstances, your current blurred cultural view. The lens that overlays the good news of Jesus and what He has done through his life, death, resurrection, and what Scripture promises about Him returning to take us home to our eternal inheritance.

The Bible is the source for building and understanding culture and our engagement of it.

The entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about Jesus.

Have you or would you make your entire story about submitting yourself to Jesus?

Let’s pray.