Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach a course called "Engaging Culture". This course is geared toward students interested in youth ministry, but there are a variety of disciplines represented. So far we have been working to establish the foundations for discussing the relationship between Christianity and culture. We are reading - or at least trying to read - Neibhur's Christ and Culture, which sets forth the different "solutions" Christians have given to the "problem" of Christ and culture throughout history. An important undercurrent of this discussion is the recognition that many Christian scholars question Neibuhr's motives and conclusions, even if he provides an important foundation for beginning the discussion.
But today the focus was scripture. How should we Biblically understand our relationship to culture? As we progressed from the Old Testament to the New, we ended with a passage from Paul. Colossians 1:15-20. Towards the end of this passage Paul says this:
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile
to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)
This led to two important questions: What does Paul mean by "reconcile"? And what does Christ's blood have to do with "all things"? Good questions. To take it one step further - what does this mean for culture?
Clearly this passage forces us to move beyond the individualistic expressions of Christianity held dear by many Americans. For sure, Christ did die for our sins...but the power of his death and resurrection reaches much further. Jesus Christ is not just Lord of my life, in an individual sense, he is also Lord of the entire cosmos. All of creation has been impacted by the fall - including the culture we create. For Paul, the good news of the gospel is that in Christ, all creation, including culture, is being reconciled to God.
What are the implications of this? Salvation is not just a human thing. The redemption Christ brings is for horses, grass, rivers and lakes; it is for ipods, airplanes, tractors, and power tools; it is for schools, hospitals, governments, and grocery stores; there is no aspect of culture untouched by grace. What does this look like? Well....that's what class time is for. Stay tuned.
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I am a part of this Engaging culture class, after reading this i felt like doing some verbal processing of my own. My thoughts may not be complete, my theology may be inaccurate, please address any issues you may have, but i believe my intentions are noble.
As christians what are our first steps away from this individualistic mentality that is distorting our view of the world and limiting the impact we have on the redemption of culture? I am challenged more and more with the idea of the church seeking to preserve a specific culture (1950's?) I can see that this is what i have grown up with but also what my generation is rebelling against, and rightly so i believe. It is my dream that the church realizes it's role as a forerunner in the delelopment and thus direction of culture. We should seek to engage our world and embrace it's accomplishments learning from it and contributing to it... It is only then that we can hope to have a meaningful lasting impact on the cultural attitudes of our world.
Never conservative- always discerning
Constantly reforming - never changing
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