How Are We to Experience Christ and Culture?
Good Morning Friends,
Whether you believe and experience that Christ is against culture, or of culture, or above culture, or in culture or as some paradox that oscillates as Spirit and Body, as transcendent and empirical, as of God and in society, as essence and existence always in revolt and anticipation, there is an enduring problem. And if you desire to experience Christ as a transformer of culture there is a problem too. It is a challenge that H. Richard Niebuhr begins to address in his book Christ & Culture. As disciples and students we, as each new generation, must confront the ethics and challenges of being true to Christ in a materialistic and changing age. We must seek Christ’s relevance for us today in the world we live. And so with that in mind we explore the persistent problem of today’s question. How Are We to Experience Christ and Culture?
Scripture: He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:1-10 (NRSV)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 (NRSV)
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:13-16 (NRSV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (NRSV)
Message: Clearly how we read and emphasize the Bible affects our experience of God and our perception of culture. I see these differences when I pray with my friends who are Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians and Catholics and Pentecostals and in fact all those of faith as I experience how we each interact in the world in our unique ways. But I also see a potential commonality as well which could help the cause of Christ in outreach to those of the world. Still we have a choice to read the Bible has a warning about worldliness, instructing us to not be conformed to it or to embrace its exhortations to engage culture. And if this is not confusing enough, there are always other obstacles to building a real relationship with Jesus. Whether the obstacles arise in one’s own soul or are obstacles one will inevitably encounter in the world and in society there are problems like prejudice. Thankfully each of the positions on Christ and culture listed above in the introduction have a solid point to make that help us to address the problem. From them we learn that at times the Church must act prophetically and oppose the culture in its sin and wickedness. We also learn that our culture has things that it can teach believers about Christ and the Bible. And as we explore the different perspectives, we recognize how important our natural lives in culture are and that this arrangement is a gift of God. But then we see how hard it is to be both in the world and not of it, and that we find ourselves in a serious struggle to keep ourselves unspotted by the value systems of the age. None of these are completely right or wrong. However the direction I think I am led is to a perspective able to absorb all these strengths as not an either or but as an and both reality that is a bit of a paradox. You see I have the desire to experience God in what I see as the next step to cultural transformation. It has been my life’s work for the last 40 years. And it is all about loving on people that culture might think unlovable. In today’s scripture we see how Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus is a foretaste of how our Lord can impact our lives and will. Here we have the case of a person no one liked…a tax collector. Interestingly Zacchaeus discovered he needed love more than money. Here we might just learn that we are to experience Christ’s love redeeming our past, transforming the present and redirecting our future. It challenges us to think about and feel about the relationship between our spiritual life, evangelism, culture, and the Kingdom of God. It asks us to have a purposeful love that affirms life as a collective act. Friends, God loves you and me. Sure Jesus will return in the sweet by and by but what are we going to do about it now? Your action…my action in response to God’s love may well be at the crossroads of Christ and culture. No, not perfect, there will surely be unintended consequences, yet still something that affirms God in the world in which we live. How will you experience God today?
Pray that Jesus draws near to us personally to accompany our journey so that his life and ours can truly meet. Pray we learn from the amazing encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus and overcome our obstacle of the smallness of our spiritual stature. Pray we overcome our paralysis of shame and risk the possibility of forgiveness and peace. Pray we overcome cultures that would deny we are worthy of such a relationship with God. Pray Jesus calls us out of our captivity in culture to become the catalyst for changing it. Pray we realize that all truth is God’s truth. Pray we realize that not only are we saved from something but also to something. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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