cultural revolution
Some people talk about "culture" like it's a cuss word: it's the stench of pollution that we avoid as much as possible. But that avoidance itself is part of culture. You can't escape it; everything you do is shaped by your culture. Even your thoughts are shaped by language, and no Orwellian badspeak is necessary. There are thousands of ideas that cannot be conceived in our language, and we don't even know how limited our thoughts are, because we can't even imagine the things we can't say.
Culture is too pervasive for us to ever escape it: it's like our skin, like the air itself. We are surrounded by something we cannot see or feel, and yet it is the power that shapes all we do and all we are. We are controlled by something that is greater than us and yet created by us. It's foolish to think we can separate ourselves from it.
And the church: they say it shouldn't be changed by culture, but how could it not be? I do believe that the church is, at least in one sense, free of it, in the mystical and spiritual realm. But what good does that do? We live in the earthly realm, in the world of sweat and dirt and stones, and here, the church is just as trapped as anyone else. We are chained by our consumerism, enslaved to our image, caught in our greed. Most of the time, we don't even want to be free.
But there are a few points we take a stand on. We fight and split over issues that we're certain are clear, cultural trends that we see as intrusive, invasive, subversive. But there are so many other things that we accept without question, without even fighting for truth. We let our culture brainwash us when it's comfortable; it's only when it's uncomfortable, when it involves the acceptance of someone unlike us, that we rebel.
But Christ commanded far more than acceptance: he required love and sacrifice not just for those who are unlike us, but for those who hate us, those whom we hate. He tells us to love, not just sinners, but our enemies. He did more than welcome sinners to His house: He solicited invitations to theirs. So why are we so quick to draw lines in the name of holiness?
I doubt there's an easy answer. But surely, somewhere, there is an answer. If nothing else, we have to believe that, because that hope can give us the courage to press through our differences, to press through our fear, and maybe find something on the other side: if not light, then at least a little less darkness.
Culture is too pervasive for us to ever escape it: it's like our skin, like the air itself. We are surrounded by something we cannot see or feel, and yet it is the power that shapes all we do and all we are. We are controlled by something that is greater than us and yet created by us. It's foolish to think we can separate ourselves from it.
And the church: they say it shouldn't be changed by culture, but how could it not be? I do believe that the church is, at least in one sense, free of it, in the mystical and spiritual realm. But what good does that do? We live in the earthly realm, in the world of sweat and dirt and stones, and here, the church is just as trapped as anyone else. We are chained by our consumerism, enslaved to our image, caught in our greed. Most of the time, we don't even want to be free.
But there are a few points we take a stand on. We fight and split over issues that we're certain are clear, cultural trends that we see as intrusive, invasive, subversive. But there are so many other things that we accept without question, without even fighting for truth. We let our culture brainwash us when it's comfortable; it's only when it's uncomfortable, when it involves the acceptance of someone unlike us, that we rebel.
But Christ commanded far more than acceptance: he required love and sacrifice not just for those who are unlike us, but for those who hate us, those whom we hate. He tells us to love, not just sinners, but our enemies. He did more than welcome sinners to His house: He solicited invitations to theirs. So why are we so quick to draw lines in the name of holiness?
I doubt there's an easy answer. But surely, somewhere, there is an answer. If nothing else, we have to believe that, because that hope can give us the courage to press through our differences, to press through our fear, and maybe find something on the other side: if not light, then at least a little less darkness.
posted by lisa c. baker at 9:35 AM
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