The Christian’s Place in the Culture

Good morning! Today is Sunday April 19th! Welcome to today’s episode. For the last few weeks we touched on what may seem like a series of random topics. But the truth is they have all centered around a common theme. And that is they have all had an element of focus on the culture to some degree. Today I want to look closer at the topic of culture. When we look around us and see things in chaos. Or we see acts of bravery or kindness. I wonder sometimes if we truly understand our place as Christians in the culture? So that is what I want to discuss on today’s episode. I want to say a bit about what culture is. What it is not. But then spend the majority of our time talking about the Christian’s role in the culture. Some of the information I will be referencing is from the works of Dr. Darrel Bock. He is a scholar from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also the head of the Center for Cultural Engagement @ DTS. He has a long history in the field of cultural engagement. On this topic he is top in the field. So, we will be taking some cues from him.

So, I want to begin by talking about culture. Often as Christian we think we know what culture is. We think that from a Christian’s perspective. Culture equals the world that is out there! But that would be incorrect. It is almost incoherent to talk about a “world culture” because within what we call the world, there are a variety of practices and expectations within the world. So, we have to talk about culture(s) within the world. The distinction that culture does not equal the world is important because when read Scripture and then think about the world. We typically think we are supposed to react in a certain way. Which is often against the culture. And as we will see this is not necessarily always true. We assume the culture is something to be consistently challenged. To the extent that culture removes God from the equation, it is certainly true that we should resist. But because culture involves practices and values. Cultures are not always bad. So, in fact what we might say about how a Christian engages with the culture falls more on the lines of cultural discernment. There are things within culture that are valuable. Culture is a mix that requires discernment and we have to learn to look for those things that we need to affirm and those that we need to challenge. So not only does culture require discernment. It requires maturity as well. Because culture is always a moving target.

So, if that is what makes up the culture and it is not this gigantic thing out there that constantly needs to be resisted. Then what is the Christian’s place in the culture? Which is now where I want to focus for the rest of our time together. Now before we move on we have to acknowledge that we all come to the culture with different awareness and expectations. First is obviously an awareness of God. Some people approach culture with this awareness and other do not. But also, as a Christian without our understanding grounded by Scripture we could potentially come with some expectations that could be flawed. So, what we want to do is build our understanding on the picture given in Genesis 1. So, we are going to look as several verse that look at the Christian values and perspectives that feed into our identity that impact how we view and interact with the culture that is around us. So, we begin by looking at Phil 3:20.

VERSE

1.WE ARE CITIZEN OF HEAVEN FIRST.

This verse talks about how our home is ultimately not the earth. We would even say our nation is also not our home. Also, what we find is that nationalism gets in the way of our understanding of our Heavenly citizenship. Especially we here in America tend to confuse American identity with Christian identity. Our identity belongs to Christ. We are “in Him”. We seek not only forgiveness in Christ but also life in him by embracing the Gospel. This gives us a different passport. This citizenship transcends nationality. I can actually have a closer relationship with someone from another country than say my neighbor next door. Because I have a connection through Christ. So, the citizenship of Heaven is “trans-national”. So, one of the tensions that arises is that we have a national identity that we are born into. But we also have a Christian identify that often comes later. In the OT when Israel’s focus was more national. It got them into all sort of trouble. So, the issue is how do I function with a Heavenly citizenship and a national identity. This is one thing that introduces tension when we seek to engage the culture as Christians.

2. WE ARE CHRIST’S AMBASSADORS.

Because we are citizen of heaven. We have a different kind of calling. 2 Cor 5:20.

VERSE

This passage has a lot going on in it. But the main focus is that we are Ambassadors. We represent God. We represent His presence in the world. His message in the world. We are in charge of bringing the Gospel to the world. But it is to be done as an “appeal”. We do it with a call to be reconciled to God. This is in essence an invitation that is being handed out to someone. As opposed to a demand. This is extremely important. Because engaging the culture is not just about “content”. It is about “tone”. It is not only the message we deliver. But it is about “how” we convey it. This passage gives us the “tone” of our engagement with the culture. Some translations say “implore”. This is almost a begging. What is interesting is that Salvation is being pictured as “reconciliation”. Usually when we talk about salvation. We usually speak in terms of forgiveness, or deliverance. Forgiveness from sin and deliverance from judgment. Here the emphasis on reconciliation is about putting something back together that has been fractured. This is the picture of Genesis 3. Man’s choice to work independently of God. This introduces the tension into the Good creation that God made. The call to be reconciled is to be reconnected to the One who made us and live life reflecting the image of God. This is accomplished through the work of Jesus Christ. We are Ambassadors for the responsibility. We have a message that is different than those that think the way life should be lived apart from God.

3. WE LIVE A LIFE IN EXILE.

1 PET 1:1.

VERSE

He is writing to churches that are scattered across the Roman empire. The way he chooses to define them in the midst of their dispersion. He describes them as living in exile. They are stranger in a strange land. This is in association with the idea that our citizenship is in heaven. Earth is not our home. These 3-verses work together to form an identity that as people of God we have been given an assignment to interact on behalf of God with the people that are around us.

4. WE LIVE FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD.

We are put in this position for the life of the world. JER. 29:7.

VERSE

This text is written to Jewish people who have been sent into exile into Babylon. The arch enemy of Israel. This was one of the most pagan cities of ancient history. But here the command is to contribute to the welfare of the city. But to do this in such a sway that the city will be benefited by the presence of those Jews who contributed in a positive way to the society around them. This is a positive statement about how we are to conduct ourselves in the midst of the world.

RECAP 4 POINTS.

We are to serve in light of the creation mandate. We are to seek what is best for god’s creation. And we are to live well and live wisely. This requires a humble faith that roots itself in love for God and neighbor. I conduct myself in a way that extend an invitation to people by the way that I live to be reconciled to the living God. I am called to live truthfully on one side. And to love well on the other. I have said before that one of the things that we need to do is to learn to read our Bibles well. The other is that we need to learn to love well too. To live truthfully and to love well does not mean that everything everyone does is ok. This is not our modern version of tolerance that just sit back and say you do your thing and I do mine. And we are both ok. When I love well. Sometimes I challenge people. We challenge people, not because we are trying to control their lives. But I am challenging so that we may be able to live well together and engage one another in a way that is helpful to one another. Living truthfully and loving well comes out of that creation mandate in Genesis. Scripture has a lot to say about what that life looks like and what goes into it.

Cultural engagement is challenging. Because it is life lived in the midst of having a different citizenship. It is challenging because that puts you in tension with the people that are around you.

We tend to think of our goal when we interact with the culture solely as a means to an end. And that end being converts. Getting people to commit to serving Christ. But that is only half the task. As important as the first goal is. It is more about creating disciples than coverts. We are called to live “in Christ” and “for Christ”. This means we have to live wisely in how we represent Christ to the culture in “our time”. We cannot merely sit on the sidelines and expect something to happen. We have to be in the game. Engaged in the process. Make no mistake. The stakes are high! But the reward is a life that is not only pleasing to God. But the benefit of relationships with people who can find a life that is better than living it on their own terms.