[Roundtable] Roundtable Digest, Vol 29, Issue 2

[Jefferis Peterson]

On 1/12/07 12:18 PM, "wes  olson" <wes at the101series.com> wrote:


> Jeff,

> Thanks for the reply.  Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree...wouldn't be

> the first time.  My family and I (and many Christians around me)

> struggle with their Christianity on the one hand, and the pressures of

> this culture on the other hand.  Now that we are Christians, do we go to

> war?  Should we celebrate holidays that are pagan in origin?  Should we

> watch movies that present unedifying images and message (98% of all

> Hollywood movies)?  Or do we watch them for the "redemptive" qualities

> we can find in them.  We perceive a tension here that is difficult to

> resolve since Christianity seems to provide no culture to replace the

> one we have left behind.  Does that make any sense?

> My "Christ & Culture" is coming in this week.

> Wes


Hi Wes, 
I believe the tension you face is the same one we all face, and all
Christians have faced throughout time. Christ against culture advocates
advocate withdrawal [like the Amish], but it usually produces no effective
ministry. The Mennonites are pacifists, but engage the world. The polar
opposite is of the Amish are those who identify an earthly government with
Christianity per se, which led to the corruptions of the Papal States and
wars between states over religious identification: Protestant or Catholic,
and the use of the state by the Church to enforce doctrines, as in the
Inquisition or Calvin's Geneva, or Luther's crusade against the Anabaptists.

Paul is an interesting case study. He was not above using his Roman
citizenship to protect himself from the injustice of the mob:

"But when they had tied him up with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who
was standing by, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who is
uncondemned?" When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said
to him, "What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen." The tribune
came and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" And he said, "Yes."
The tribune answered, "It cost me a large sum of money to get my
citizenship." Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." Immediately those who
were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune also was
afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound
him. Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews,
the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire
council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them." Acts
22:25-30, NRSV.

What was the problem here? If they flogged a citizen without proper trial,
the whole city could be destroyed if Paul pressed the matter. The Romans
were ruthless. Paul also used the benefit of the Pax Romana to travel freely
through the Empire spreading the Gospel, a road not possible if bandits and
warring city states ruled the land.

Paul considered the government, however imperfect and corrupt, an instrument
in God's hand for the suppression of evil {Romans 13}, as did Peter.
Governments can, by nature, more or less support justice and the gospel or
oppose them both through corruption and persecution, so the Church's stance
will vary on the degree of cooperation there is between Christ and Culture.

In the 1950's, e.g., with Leave It To Beaver on the television, the culture
generally supported traditional Christian moral values. The schools
encouraged and reinforced those values taught at home. Divorce was not even
legitimized by the Supreme Court, and in the 1940's cited the Scriptures as
their reason for not allowing it. There has been a massive shift in the
culture since then, where now, the schools in part and the government and
the laws in large part oppose Christianity and Christian values. Life is no
longer considered sacred, and sexuality is no longer a matter of morals but
of liberties, desires and 'rights.'  Rampant individualism has replaced the
sense of civic responsibility, which was considered more basic to the
foundation of social liberty.

Here is a short article I wrote about the way the church can cooperate with
civil society in the sphere common grace for the benefit of the mutual
common good:
http://www.scholarscorner.com/Scriptum/sherald.htm#Adversaries

 And it refers to the work of the Center For Public Justice, which based its
theology on Abraham Kuyper:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Kuyper

>  He developed so-called Neo-Calvinism, which differs from conventional

> Calvinism over issues such as divine grace and the role of the state.

> Furthermore, Kuyper was the first to formulate the principle of common grace

> in the context of a Reformed world-view.

> Most important has been Kuyper's view on the role of God in everyday life. He

> believed that God continually influenced the life of believers, and daily

> events could show his workings. Kuyper famously said, "No single piece of our

> mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not

> a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ,

> who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'" God continually re-creates

> the universe through acts of grace. God's acts are necessary to ensure the

> continued existence of creation. Without his direct activity creation would

> self-destruct.


Now as to how we participate in culture, it takes daily decision making.
Some movies, for example, that promote the occult [witchcraft and
divination], horror [fear is not of God], or pornography, we will not see as
a matter of course [keep yourself unstained from the world]. For why should
we tempt ourselves with things God despises, and use for our entertainment
things he calls 'abominations?'   But some movies are like the Psalms, they
tell the story of human perspectives, laments, hopes, and fears, struggles,
victories and defeats. Ballads of the human condition are not something we
need to shun. Some even wade deeply into theology: Amadeus for one or the
first Matrix [which I consider an anti-abortion film :-) ].

While not seeking out reasons to offend God, I also recognize that living in
this world is going to require a daily foot washing as I will come in
contact with the dirt of this earth. I will  make mistakes. I will be
enticed by things I should not and be tempted by the ubiquity of sensuality
even when I'm only trying to watch the news! Sometimes there are reasons for
withdrawal, for prayer and seeking God's face in the matters of life. At
other times, Jesus goes back down the mountain after a transfiguration to
get involved with the lives of people in the real world.

The more major questions of participation in war, citizenship and its
responsibilities, and the like, I will leave till you get deeper into the
course :-) 

Jeff 


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