How Can Christians Cause Cultural Change?
We live in a society that is riddled with partisan ideals and beliefs. There is a great divide across our nation concerning issues from ethics, social justice, politics and so much more. In a recent article from christianitycentury.org, pastor Jason Micheli shared about the difficulty that takes place within his church community. His church is near Washington D.C. and consist of worshipers from all sides of the political spectrum. His message to the congregation challenges them to align themselves first to the Kingdom of God and the community therein, before any earthly affiliation they may side with. It is truly a situation that is directly and regularly impacted by the constant sway of power in the political realm within our culture. Thus, Micheli’s church faces the threat of disunity on a regular basis. However, He makes a profound statement that I believe is noteworthy as we embark on the journey to discover how believers can effectively invoke change in culture. He says, “The church subverts the politics of the day by refusing the either/or dichotomy so often found in our politics.” In other words, when the church is unified and functioning as it should then they impact their culture for the greater good. He is leading them to be guided by the principles of God’s design for unity rather than condoning the typical “my way or the highway” approach that currently guides our political/secular culture. Essentially Micheli charge them to not compromise the unity of the church, regardless of the divisive cultural influence of their environment.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary; cultural change is the modification of a society through innovation, invention, discovery, or contact with other societies. Consequently, I believe that we are called to be culture makers; those who build and cultivate a culture that honors God within their respective spheres of influence. (I recommend the book Culture Making by Andy Crouch, as it has been influential in shaping my views on this topic.) We have been made in the image of God, therefore we are innately creative. God created something from nothing and we are called to continue to create out of the abundant ingredients that God has given to us by way of His creation. We are commanded and entrusted by Him to enrich culture as we seek to fulfill God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). Thus, we are given a cultural mandate. If we back up and read the first words of that same verse (Genesis 1:28), we see that this mandate is a blessing from God. Personally, as I contemplate this mandate and blessing, I am both challenged and motivated by the inevitable process of culture making.
First, it is important to understand the foundation of culture making. Where does it come from? Creation is what God made and culture is what humans make. Culture making, in and of itself, is not necessarily sinful, but it is inevitable. Yet, through culture we can see both the sinfulness of mankind, as well as God’s judgment and mercy. Markedly, the gospel challenges human culture to be accountable to fulfill that which they have been created to do… Glorify God and serve Him only. The gospel reveals to us the beauty of redemption — the ability to be forgiven and re-positioned into a righteous place before the Lord. For the believer, culture making is centered around glorifying God. Thus, our cultural mandate is to work out our faith and strive to be good stewards of that which God has entrusted to us.
Second, when we think of culture making, we don’t have to start from scratch. In other words, we don’t make something out of nothing, we are developing something from that which has already been given to us. This is quite encouraging to me. I often reflect on the generations of my family — tracking it from my grandparents through to my children. I see how the Lord has woven different family cultures together. For instance, my grandfather (on my father’s side) was a sickly orphan with three sisters in the city of Philadelphia. They grew up in an abusive environment at their orphanage. At the age of 16 my grandfather’s oldest sister took it upon herself to change the culture of her family. She had saved up her money from working odd jobs over several years, secured a place to live, packed up her siblings and moved out of the orphanage. She would continue to raise and support them until they grew old enough to support themselves. My grandfather grew to be a rough man among men yet had a respectful admiration for women, as a result of his sister’s devotion. He created a culture of responsibility, hard- work, duty and strength amid adversity. However, the verbal and physical abuse that he had been freed from would return as he caved to the pressure of fatherhood and he introduced a culture of abuse to his sons, one of which was my father. My father grew up and was known as a North Philly street brawler. He would eventually fall for a girl from the suburbs and began attending her family’s church. At that very church, the Lord touched his life and revealed the truth of the gospel. By God’s grace my father was saved. At that time, he set out to establish a new culture for his young family. He was a work in progress for sure, yet there was no doubt that he had a relationship with the living God. He would go onto raise four children (of which I am the youngest) in a confusing culture of faith, filled with remnants of his fleshly struggles with anger, rage and abuse. Yet, He was striving to establish cultural change while building on the legacy that he had received. Both of his parents were impacted by his life and eventually came to believe in the saving grace of God. The cultural dynamic would again change due to God’s grace. Today my father and my mother have since passed away and are in the presence of the Lord. Each of their children have established faith-filled cultures within their respective families. Interestingly enough, my three siblings, their spouses, my wife and I were all married in the very same church where our parents married, and our father was saved. I share this story to display two things: we creatively build upon the culture that already exists; and family is where we first begin to make something of the world. My most difficult and valuable lessons have been learned in the context of family.
As we continue through our journey to understand and implement good principles of culture making as believers, we must have the right perspective. We need to define our intent to “change the world.” What is our motivation? Often, we set out to change the world for the better which leaves us vulnerable to the temptations of pride and arrogance. We dabble in the realm of relying on our own abilities to make changes for good with the desire to lead others in our way. Thus, we believe that we are changing the world. When we do this, we tend to “play God.” We are tempted in the same way that Adam and Eve were tempted as the serpent told Eve that if she ate of the fruit that she would be like God. And the result was catastrophic. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie of Satan. They believed that they could be the captains of their own destiny and change the world for what they perceived to be for good. If we are not careful, we can fall into the same trap as we strive to invoke change through culture making creativity. Scripture says that when God created everything “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Therefore, our culture making must be within the boundaries of the intent of the Creator for His good and perfect will, not our own.
So then, what exactly is our calling? How do we fulfill our calling?
We need to be vigilant, as a whole, not to be transformed by the culture as we desire to transform the culture. Likewise, our calling is to be culture makers who understand our role, while displaying the creativity that God has given us as his image-bearers as he transforms us by the renewing of our minds, so that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2). We must remain humble in our approach as we establish and build upon culture for the glory of God. Godly change will come as the mission of God is fulfilled in his time.
For the most part the powerful tend to create a culture where they serve one another in their elite sphere of influence and subsequently share some of the benefits with the poor and less ‘fortunate.’ On the other hand., the powerless operate within the cultural context of needing the powerful to supply the resources for the poor and lowly for them to function. Thus, establishing and maintaining a culture of neediness and continuing the status quo of oppression. However, the Lord has shown throughout biblical history that he shows up most powerfully through the powerless being victorious over the “status quo.” This is shown through Israel’s exodus and the resurrection of Israel’s Messiah. Both accounts represent cultural power, represented in the political leaders of the time, being overcome by the culture making of powerless peoples. Although they appeared to be culturally powerless they were powerful to overcome the natural outworking of their respective societal tendencies by the presence of God at work on their behalf to bring forth the result of his will in action. God is at work in all situations. He is active in the details of both the powerful and the powerless.
Cultural change is possible. In fact, it is inevitable.
We are called to be culture makers. We are called to create and cultivate cultures that reflect the beauty and greatness of God. We must begin to cultivate and creatively play a role in our respective communities today. Andy Crouch says it well, “We will have the greatest cultural effect where we already have cultural influence.” Bloom where you are planted, watch the fruit of the Lord grow and impact the culture for His glory!
Works Cited
“Can Christians Transform Culture?” The Christian Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2018.
Crouch, Andy. Culture Making. Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter Varsity Press,
published 2008. Print.
“Cultural Change.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2018.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2001. Print.
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