Transforming Culture with a Mission
Telling the story of Christ through culture
“Culture, or civilization, taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
(Sir Edward Tylor)
Just look around. Culture is fascinating. From the local artist painted mural you see on the exposed brick siding of a building that once had a hardware store attached to it to the eccentric clothes people are wearing as they are walking down the sidewalk to their favorite local coffee shop. Maybe it’s the music you hear radiating from the car strolling down the street with their windows rolled down. You can almost close your eyes and picture the colors, smells, and sounds. Imagine scenes from New York City to the small village in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. From the wealthy to the poor. From America to China. From language to language. Observing culture is a transforming experience.
What makes culture so fascinating? I would argue that the most fascinating aspect of culture is the story that it tells. You can almost experience people’s life stories by the captured moments of cultural scenes. I immediately think of Dorothea Lange’s famous photograph, Migrant Mother, that captures culture during the Great Depression. You can almost step back in time and experience the pain and exhaustion that was experienced in this moment of time.
Though the arts are a part of culture, they also capture culture. We see culture through regional traditions and customs, economical structures, religions, government hierarchy, language, and more. Photography, music, and paintings are just a few ways that we can experience other cultures without actual physical immersion.
Moving beyond just the Western practices of Christianity, how should the Church respond in the context of Culture? A brief understanding of the five common cultural views in relation to the Church will help us lay a foundation. These are taken from H. Richard Niebuhr’s book, “Christ and Culture”.
· Christ Against Culture — “All expressions of culture outside the Church are viewed with a high degree of suspicion and as irreparably corrupted by sin.”
· Christ of Culture — “Cultural expressions as a whole are accepted uncritically and celebrated as a good thing.”
· Christ Above Culture — “Regards cultural expressions as basically good, as far as they go. However, they need to be augmented and perfected by Christian revelation and the work of the Church, with Christ supreme over both.”
· Christ and Culture in Paradox — “It sees human culture as a good creation that’s been tainted by sin.”
· Christ the Transformer of Culture — “It also recognizes human culture as initially good and subsequently corrupted by the fall. But since Christ is redeeming all of creation, the Christian can and should work to transform culture to the glory of God.”
For the sake of time, I am going to argue the validity of one view, Christ the Transformer of Culture.
We live in a fallen world. That is seen since the story of Adam and Eve. God created everything with perfection but gave Man a choice. That choice resulted in sin, therefore separating us from God. The indescribably incredible aspect of the gospel, however, is that Christ came to redeem and restore. Through the salvific work of the cross, we are renewed, and those who know Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their life are transformed by grace through faith. If Christ can restore us, how can we as the Church not work to transform culture through Christ? This is a way that we glorify God!
God is the ultimate creator of culture, as He created everything good from the beginning. Over centuries, however, Man has changed and adapted culture to his own needs. We have in some ways perverted culture to meet our preferences of societal comfortability. I am not suggesting that all culture is inherently bad, but that the Church should be set apart. Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
So, how do we as a Church achieve this? We establish Christ-honoring culture. We take what has been perverted and through the power of Christ work to transform it to God-honoring. We do this through artistic excellence in acts of worship. If music and visual arts are aspect of culture, let us step forward and use it for God’s glory. If traditions and economical status are aspects of culture, let us humble ourselves before the Almighty King and work to transform ourselves in the likeness of a gentle and lowly Savior.
Church, rise up and allow Christ to use you to transform the very nature of culture and be set apart as a new and distinct people group that share biblical values, just as Scripture calls us to. If culture tells a story, your cultural lifestyle should tell the story of Christ. In this way, we express the goodness of God.
