Culture Wars

Culture is defined (in one sense) as the set of values held by a group of people that determines what is considered normal. Cultures are derived from the people that hold the shared values ... from people. And cultures will obviously change with time. Consider, for instance, the family from Leave It To Beaver. June wasn't an unusual wife when they shot the series. Theirs was a normal family life. Today, of course, June is considered an oddity, quite bizarre. And Beaver's hi-jinks would be considered bland compared to today's youth. "Who lives like that?" we ask. Well, in the '50's, most of America did. Today? Hardly anyone. You see, the values that are held in common have changed and that which is considered normal with them.

American Christians tend to be somewhat unclear on culture. We know (mostly) that Man is sinful. Human beings are sinners -- yeah, we get that. But culture, from our perspective, is good ... neutral at worst. And it stands to reason. Since culture defines what is considered normal, we think that it's, well, normal. We incorporate culture into our worship, into our preaching, into our lives. We willingly separate "public life" from "private life", the sacred from the secular. We've gotten used to high divorce rates, sexual sin of all types, the music and entertainment of our time, and so on. We like to think we're a little above it (morally), but it's not wrong; it's normal. So we hear phrases like "redeeming the culture" because, well, culture is essentially neutral.

The problem, of course, is that it's not true that culture is good or even neutral. Devised by sinful humans and informed by sinful values, today's culture is defining sinful as normal. You know, just like Paul says: "Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them" (Rom 1:32).

What we are mostly oblivious to is how culture has invaded our own thinking. That's because it's ... normal. We've mixed Christian values with cultural values and come up with a hybrid that is, in fact, a contradiction. You're pretty sure it hasn't affected you? Let's see if I can suggest some views you might hold without thinking that come not from Scripture, but from today's culture. "Personal fulfillment is an important thing." "Theology is important, but what is much more important is my personal relationship with Christ." "It is important to first love yourself, then others." "It's important to do what makes me feel satisfied." "We shouldn't let things get in the way of achieving our dreams." I have even heard Christians defend pornography at home. "It's in the privacy of our bedroom for our own use. We're not lusting after them, so what's the problem?" We've bought the lies. Well, it's the central lie. Without even being aware of it, we've "exchanged the truth about God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom 1:25). To a large extent, we are the important ones. God expends His efforts on us because we are the point. Self-healing, self-fulfillment, self-satisfaction, self-realization, self-esteem, self-help ... we're steeped in self and self first. Our culture says it's normal. We buy it. We decide what church to go to by how it makes us feel. We decide whether to stay married by how our spouse makes us feel. We decide our career by how it makes us feel. We decide our view of God by how it makes us feel. We've bought the lie.

Some of you may wonder who I have in mind. "Is it generic, or is he thinking about specific people?" Some of you who know me may be thinking, "I wonder if I know who he's thinking about?" Yes, when I write this, specific people come to mind. The problem for me is that all of my readers know the first person who comes to my mind because it's me. I'm not ranting here because you are all so bad. I'm on a rant because I see such nonsense in my own thinking. Sadly, it's not just me. Do you find that you're in there, too? Do you see some room for you, too, to adjust your thinking ... like I do? Do you suspect that you, too, have bought the lie?