Christians and Culture - Part 463

As those who have followed our ministry from the beginning are aware, one of the most difficult issues we’ve faced is in balancing our emphasis on religious and cultural topics, that is, to what extent should Christians be involved in political and cultural matters? The more we explore this question, the more convinced I become that, while ultimate change in behavior is only brought about by changing the heart, we also have an obligation to engage the culture.

In Israel during Biblical times, there was no separation made between the sacred and secular. A person was to honor God with all one’s thoughts and actions. I believe Christians make a great mistake by treating religion, the arts, science, politics, etc as parallel streams to be studied and engaged separately with no intersections. If the Christian world view is true, it must be true for all the “spheres”. A person’s life view will determine not only how he or she views God, but everything else as well.

The prevailing liberal view is that, a Christian must put his religious views aside when discussing other topics, or must avoid becoming involved altogether, although the same restraint is not placed on the secular humanist. The only time this view is temporarily set aside is during an emergency. For example, after a flood, tornado or other disaster, very few complain that Christians are usually the first on the scene with food and shelter for the victims. After Katrina however, I do remember Diane Sawyer and other media talking heads distressing over the thought that Christian shelters might be forcing refugees to go to church or subjecting them to religious indoctrination as a condition for their food and shelter. While the media fears were unfounded, in their eyes, this would be a much more inhumane treatment than allowing the refugees to starve in the streets.

I hear people say that we should not legislate morality, but someone’s morality (or immorality) will ultimately become law. We have laws preventing immoral acts such murder and theft, while other laws allow the immoral murder of babies. Others confuse legality with morality. This is the guiding force behind such movements as the attempt to legalize gay marriage. Most homosexuals don’t really desire to get married (relatively few have done so in locations where it has been legalized), but equate legality with morality and acceptance. Many believe that if something is legal, it must also be moral. Does this mean that slavery was moral while it was legal and immoral only after it was outlawed? This belief also elevates humans rather than God as the ultimate authority over what is moral and ethical.

The Bible does not offer a lot of specific commands in the area of engaging the culture. Instead it gives us general commands such as the Cultural Mandate of “subdue the earth” (Gen 1:28) and to be “salt and light” (Mt 5:13-15). We are left therefore, to apply general Biblical principles to each situation. I’ve met many Christians with the attitude that, “the world is basically doomed so we should concentrate solely on evangelism in order to save as many people as possible”. Does this mean that we as Christians should turn our heads and ignore challenges to our laws, morals and ethics?

As Christians, we are to hate the things that God hates (see Prov 6:16-19 for one list among many). So, when crooked politicians steal money from the public, drug dealers sell dope to our children, or a new abortion clinic opens near our neighborhood, we don’t ignore the issue in the name of “tolerance” or to avoid forcing our moral views on others. As Christians, we are to transform the culture, not ignore it, and certainly not to assimilate into it.

Scripture Illustrations and Urban Legends

A good friend of mine is currently teaching a Bible Study class on the topic of shepherds and sheep. While researching the subject, he came across a pastor’s sermon posted on the internet that included some interesting illustrations which he suspected might not be historically correct. He emailed a request that I check it out and this post is a result of my findings and thoughts on the subject.

I read the pastor’s sermon on the 23rd Psalms which included several illustrations on shepherds and sheep during the OT period of King David. In Psalms 23, we have two beautiful images picturing God caring for His people. We see God as a Shepherd caring for His sheep (v 1-4) and God as a banquet Host caring for His guest (v 5-6). The pastor had interpreted the entire chapter picturing God as a shepherd, and included illustrations pertaining to verse 5 involving the "cup overflowing" as a sheep basin and the "table" as an area of grass around a wounded sheep. In technical terms, he was practicing eisegesis (reading his own interpretation back into the text) rather than exegesis (drawing out the original intent of the author and letting the text speak for itself).

In this particular case, perhaps no serious damage is done since both images (God as shepherd and host) refer to the same subject, God caring for His people. I began however, pondering the question: How concerned should pastors, teachers and students of the Word be regarding the use of manufactured stories or urban legends in the illustration of Scripture?

Read the entire Urban Legends article, including examples and proper use of fictional stories.

Compromising Our Principles

President B Hussein Obama recently completed his second international apologizing tour. This time he covered most of the Islamic countries. Am I missing something here? Aren't we the ones who were attacked? Has anyone heard even one Muslim ruler apologize to us? In his trip to Latin America, he sat quietly listening to dictator after dictator bash America, then when it came his turn to speak, rather than defending America by pointing out the many sacrifices that we've made for other countries, he thanked them that they didn’t blame him personally. BHO is perfectly happy with foreign dictators hurling insult after insult on America as long as they continue to praise him publicly. He has gotten so obvious that the foreign media is questioning, “Why does he hate America so much?”

Just as Obama regularly throws his friends, relatives and country under the bus for the sake of his own popularity, many “professing” Christians also throw God under the bus for the sake of perceived popularity with others. We’re afraid that if we stick to our beliefs and principles, people won’t like us as well, or will even subject us to ridicule. We sometimes compromise our morals and ethics in order to be more popular.

As we’ve seen, when Obama ignores the principles and traditions which made our country great in order to enhance his own ego, his actions have a much different effect on other international leaders than intended. Instead of garnering admiration, our nation loses respect and he is merely seen as a useful pawn in their agenda to destroy us. Likewise, when a Christian compromises his or her principles, rather than causing people to like and respect us (and our faith), this action produces an opposite effect. We merely confirm the presuppositions of those around us that think, “I knew they weren’t really a Christian. Look at the way they’re acting. If Christians aren’t any different from others, why should I become one?”

Many well-meaning Christians misinterpret 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (Paul becoming like those to whom he was attempting to preach the Gospel) as a license to act according to the unbeliever’s standards in order to reach them. We must follow the example of Jesus, who sought out and associated with the worst of sinners, but never compromised His integrity or standards, watered down His message, or participated in their sins. We must yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit in order to maintain our principles and win others to Christ. We must seek to please God rather than men.