Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Culture War?

The concept that we Christians are in a culture war actually implies that we have a distinctive culture. Unfortunately, much of what we consider to be evangelical culture is actually derived from the world around us—not just in the imitation of the world but also in the very foundations of how we think about the world.

It’s relatively easy to poke at the culture presented in a Christian bookstore and see many cheap knock-offs of the world. From Bibleman to Thomas Kinkade, from romance novels to pop cantatas and Christian Rap, we have cleverly adapted and marketed a more “acceptable” notion of worldly products. However, we are still operating within the same categories and pre-printed shelf labels of a secular bookstore. They have literature, self-help, and biographies—so do we. They have jazz, pop, alternative, and country—so do we. What we don’t have is an attempt to defy the categories and customs of the world and to think differently, more biblically, about developing a Christian worldview. Christian worldview is not replacing disposable romanticized secular stories with disposable romanticized Christian stories.

Biblical worldview requires the re-examination of all of life with Christ as the integration point of all things. From mowing the grass to watching t.v. to dressing in the morning to worship, how does the lordship of Christ influence and direct our steps in all areas of life?

Until we more clearly grasp the undergirding of Christ’s authority and integration of all things, all of our efforts will be faint replicas of various ungodly philosophies with little to do with authentic Christian culture. We are all called to be theologians—to study doctrine—and then to put it in practice, to the glory of God and for the changing of culture. That’s when we’ll really see a culture war.

2 comments:

Jason Parolini said...

Greg -

I agree wholeheartedly!! Now....where do we get started. We need to start "presuppositionaly". After all, Jesus is LORD of all. Maybe this could be a regular post on your blog. Oh I don't know, maybe something like "Elements of a distictively Christian culture". Would you agree that Lords day worship is at the heart of such a culture? Nancy Wilson on her blog (I know it is supposed to be for women....but there is a bunch of terrific stuff over there)has started a series on "Sabbath Celebration". It is similar in many ways to your link "Abondante Living". This strikes me as distinctively christian and not derivative. Although unbelievers do have to eat. On that note, Calvin said “Unbelievers differ from the children of God in this respect, that, while they enjoy in common with them the bounties of Providence, they devour them like cattle, and look no higher. The children of God on the other hand, knowing that all their blessings have been sanctified by the promises, acknowledge God in them as their father”... Thanks for your provocation to do all things to the glory of God.

Linda said...

Your blog today reminds me of a favorite Spurgeon quote:

"Hopeful contentment in the face of never ending responsibilities is a virtue that continually breeds in us anticipation for new beginnings not old resolutions. It is a virtue that provokes us to a fresh confidence in the present as well as in the days yet to come. The quesiton is how do we reclaim that glorious heritage? By walking in grace, by walking together."

What DOES a distinctly Christian, Biblical worldview look like? How do we attain it without "Christianizing" a worldly attribute? I don't think we can describe it, but we'll know it when we see it, and we'll find it by walking in grace together.