At the Intersection of Christ and Culture

How do church and culture intersect? One of the most difficult tasks in being a Christian is answering that question. The question is probably more important now than ever before, as our culture is becoming more globalized and with the continual growth of technology becoming more essential to the make-up and framework of the average man and woman. How does one live out his or her faith?

I must say that this question baffles me. And here’s why. When I first got into the ministry, I was learning. I had learned from professors, other godly and older Christians, and under their tutelage, embarked on a journey using the ministry methods and insights that they had learned from years of successful and fruitful ministry. I was told, though indirectly, “If you journey down this path, you will have success.”

As I journeyed down that path, I noticed a disconnect between myself, my mentors, and the individuals that I was ministering to. The ministry methods of the previous generation were inherited from their mentors. And their methods came from the previous generation before that. Most of the generations have done it the exact same way. There was one key area of commonality between them; their ministry methods were born in a culture where the Judeo-Christian message was well known if not intimately acquainted with. My culture was and is completely different. Theirs was, for lack of a better term, Christian, or at least from a greater cultural perspective, born in a society that was moderately religious, tolerant, and embracing of the Judeo-Christian worldview, because there simply wasn’t much else. In my culture, it was not the majority view, but simply one view, and not a widely held view at all. Pluralism, globalization, and technology have served to bring the world to their doorstep.

Perhaps an analogy will suffice here. If worldviews were ice cream, then the previous generation had vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry to choose from. Mine had 31 flavors, plus 100 more. The question then became for me, how do I modify the ministry methods I inherited from the previous generation (if I can modify them at all or do some need to be scrapped altogether)? Or, better yet, how do I put to death the methods that no longer work, embracing a view that allows me to reach the lost without alienating those whom I love so dearly? That is the question that I have wrestled with for the past decade and am still wrestling with. Others of my generation have bid a “sayonara!” to the previous generation’s ministry methods, but in doing so, have not only jettisoned the ministry methods, but the theology upon which it was built. Others have adopted the ministry methods in a spirit of homage and honor to the previous generation, but have filled their churches with the proverbial choir of churchgoers who have plunged their heads in the sand of Christian safety all the while ignoring the greater culture at large. What is one to do?

I believe that there is a new vehicle of ministry on the horizon that is loyal both to the biblical text and to the culture in which we minister. I am not sure what it is yet, but I believe it to be here, or right on the horizon. I just hope and pray that when it comes, I am not to dense to see it.

Bitterness & Forgiveness

“I have a friend is really struggling with bitterness. She is extremely faithful, but recently she and her husband have been dealing with a lot of hurtfulness from others and are being pulled through the wringer publicly. She is praying for God to soften her heart and remove the bitterness; to try to find forgiveness and focus on the truth.”—Wendy B.

Bitterness is a killer of souls. Once it takes root in a person’s soul, it consumes them. Christ could have been bitter. He was misaligned and misunderstood. His apostles deserted Him and His family did not believe in Him. He was put into an unjust trial, a kangaroo court on trumped up charges that could not have been proven, but He persevered. As Hebrews 12 says,

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”—Hebrews 12:1-3 (ESV)

He considered the joy set before Him. God the Father offered fullness of joy at His right hand for Christ. He knew that His death would reconcile sinners to God.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”—Ephesians 4:30-32 (ESV)

Or,

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.”—Hebrews 12:14-16 (ESV)

Bitterness comes from unforgiveness. When others hurt or misalign us, we get angry, then we hold on to that anger, and it becomes bitterness. And in doing so, we are opening ourselves to Satanic influence in our lives.

Ephesians 4:25-27,

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”—Ephesians 4:25-27 (ESV)

The point here is that anger, or “letting the sun go down on our anger” is not letting it go. Letting it take root in our lives. We do not forgive the person for what they have done to us, we harbor it and nourish it. We feel we are entitled to it. We say, “They did it to me and I am justified in feeling this way.” Yes, one is justified in feeling pain. But, bitterness and unforgiving does nothing to the person who wronged them, it only keeps them in prison. Forgiveness, even in the most dire circumstances (think about what Christ Jesus has forgiven us from), is giving up one’s right at retribution. It is a giving it over to the Lord. “Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”—Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)