Adapting to Culture

For at least the last half-century, the American church has been attempting to adapt itself to the culture in which if finds itself. Now, to be fair, there are certainly good reasons to do so. As an obvious example, if I were to hand my neighbor a Greek New Testament and tell him, "Read this book; it's the most important book you'll ever read", I would have wasted my time. If we want people to read the Bible, it must be offered in their language. On the other hand, it should be equally obvious that there are adaptations we can't use. As a crude example, the Christian that regularly hires prostitutes so that, while he is meeting their needs by paying them for their services, he can share the Gospel with them has clearly "jumped the tracks" on adapting to culture. So while some adaptation is necessary, it is apparent that not all adaptation is good adaptation.

There is a fundamental problem, however. What is the culture to which we are trying to adapt? Let's take a look at American culture for a moment. These days, American culture is largely defined by its entertainment. If that's true, we find that our culture is largely obsessed with youth and appearance. The most popular shows are about who can sing best and who can survive on remote islands under obscure and strangely controlled circumstances. You can find thousands of ads about how to improve your appearance, your sex appeal, your skin, your hair, but you won't find a single ad about how to be a better person. Our entertainment centers largely around sex and excitement but certainly not about character. Our current society, in fact, has moved away from character as an issue. We prefer to judge a person by his or her appearance rather than character. Values are devalued and morals intentionally sidelined. In terms of morality, our culture is specifically and purposely amoral. You're free, of course, to have whatever moral viewpoint you wish, as long as you don't try to force it on anyone else. Oh, by the way, if you try to espouse things like "abstinence is good", we'll ridicule you 'til the cows come home. In fact, if you use quaint phrases like "'til the cows come home", we'll ridicule you just as much. No, no, American culture is not about values or morals or character. Our societal mores include the disdain for the old, the ugly, and the boring. It is more about meaninglessness and lack of content.

Back to the question, then. When the church seeks adapt itself to the culture, to make itself relevant to the society in which it finds itself, how would it go about doing that? Most people, Christians included, like to think that culture is morally neutral. It is what it is. The truth today is that our culture has made itself anti-moral. Enter the church. If we are to adapt to the culture in which we find ourselves, how do we become anti-moral, keeping character as irrelevant in our approach and spread the Gospel? It seems that, in today's world, our culture has become the enemy of the church. Is the church, then, supposed to adapt to the enemy, or is the right thing to stand against it?

The Gospel is fairly simple. Human beings have defied God and earned themselves His judgment. To remedy that problem, God sent His Son to live a perfect life, die a sinner's death, and take our place in God's judgment. To appropriate this remedy, all we need to do is recognize that we have defied God and earned ourselves His judgment ("God is right and I am wrong.") and accept Christ's payment on our behalf. And, oh, by the way, there is no other remedy. Reject that one and you're left with God's judgment rather than His mercy. That's about it. Of course, the underlying mechanics may be more complex and the results are certainly more extensive ("Changed hearts make changed lives."), but that's the basic Gospel. Now, how does the church take that basic Gospel and adapt it to our culture? The most common way to do it is to simply drop components. Let's not talk about sin (the first component). Let's not emphasize judgment (the second component). In fact, this whole "get right with God" thing is a bit much. Let's just emphasize feeling good, being happy, that kind of thing. In other words, when the church today tries to adapt to today's culture, the only way to do it is to drop that singular distinctive that makes the church the church. In his book, God in the Wasteland, David F. Wells says that the church "has bought cultural acceptability by emptying itself of serious thought, serious theology, serious worship, and serious practice in the larger culture." That, I contend, is a step too far.