Culture Wars
Culture Wars
Here is the promised continuance of the discussion on culture. I want to thank everyone again for sharing their many wise insights. It was a real pleasure and encouragement to me.
Many of the commentators addressed the foundational need for separation and discrimination, breaking from the bonds of darkness and exercising discretion as to what influences we will allow in our life. How do we make these choices? The principle question is, To Whom do you owe your allegiance?—to the world or to God, to darkness or to Light?
We Christians are citizens of Jehovah’s Kingdom. We are pilgrims here on earth; it is not our home. We must separate ourselves from the world. (By world I refer not to the physical earth or civilization, but to a worldly system.) We no longer hold allegiance to darkness, but are called to be shining lights in that darkness. We are in it, but we are not of it. Our God, who is holy, calls his people to be holy, which literally means separate. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” [First Peter 2:9]
Certainly we may be called peculiar!
The following is a list of four basic contrasts between these warring kingdoms. There are many verses throughout the Scriptures that illustrate these points; I copied out the passages that first came to mind as I considered each. Please feel welcome to share other Scriptures, more contrasts, and further thoughts! More posts on the subject of culture are to come.
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The Kingdom of Earth is fleeting, but the Kingdom of God is infinite. Throughout the Bible we are told that the present heavens and earth will perish, and that God will create a new heaven and earth, perfect and beautiful and eternal, for his people.
“And the voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all goodliness thereof [is] as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people [is] grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.” [Isaiah 40:6-8]
“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” [Psalm 45:6]
Because the world is temporary its purposes are too. All the unregenerate, at some point, must come to grips with the fact that, according to their world-view, their life cannot have ultimate meaning or real purpose. Christians can rejoice in true purpose and meaning in life because they have an infinite God who gives them these things. The Christian life is motivated.
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The Kingdom of Earth is changeable and unsteady, but the Kingdom of God will never be moved. The trust of the world will fail, but we can rest securely in God who is our rock and fortress.
“So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.“ [Job 8:13-15, emphasis mine]
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him. He only [is] my rock and my salvation: [he is] my defence; I shall not be moved. In God [is] my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, [and] my refuge, [is] in God, Trust in him at all times; [ye] people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” [Psalm 62:5-8, emphasis is mine]
“And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with revernece and godly fear.” [Hebrews 12:27-28]
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The Kingdom of Earth is ultimately unsatisfying, but the Kingdom of God is utterly satisfying. The pleasures of the world are false because they leave us empty, but God promises true joy and fulfillment.
“It shall even be as when an hungry [man] dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold, [he is] faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.” [Isaiah 29:8]
“Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, but wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” [Isaiah 55:2]
“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” [Jeremiah 2:13, emphasis mine]
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:14]
There are many passages promising ultimate and complete satisfaction in God alone. Here are excerpts from Jeremiah 31: “And I will satiate the soul of the priest with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.... For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” [v.14, 25; emphasis mine]
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The Kingdom of Earth is ugly, but the Kingdom of God is beautiful. It was sin that brought death and decay to the earth; it is sin that continues to ravage and deform lives. The world is a terrible, barren wasteland. God’s grace, however, drops like the dew to refresh His people and make them like a watered garden [Isaiah 58:11], a beautiful oasis in the midst of desolation.
“O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.” [Psalm 96:9]
“I [am] the rose of Sharon, [and] the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so [is] my love among the daughters.” [Songs of Songs, 2:1-2, emphasis mine]
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As we can observe by the above contrasts, there is great tension between the kingdoms of the earth and of God. It is the conflict between sin and holy righteousness. It is spiritual war! “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” [Ephesians 6:12] Yes, there will be those who, quickened by God, will be attracted by the beauty and authenticity of Christian culture; but be prepared to meet with great hostility.
Jesus’ words on this point are preserved for us in John 15:18-21: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
Jesus prayed to the Father that He would keep us separate from the world while we were yet in it. “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” [John 17:14-19, emphasis mine]
There is a lot of Romance in the idea of counterculture, but we must remember that what we are engaged in is warfare of eternal import. Arm yourself for the good fight!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009