What Is Culture? (5)

You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2.10-12

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10.31

A framework for culture
We have defined culture in the most general of terms as the collection of artifacts, institutions, and conventions whereby we define, sustain, and enhance our lives. As it stands, this definition is largely descriptive only. It offers almost nothing to help us in assessing the value or propriety of culture or in how we should use culture.

As Christians, therefore, we need to add an additional phrase to our definition of culture. Culture is the collection of artifacts, institutions, and conventions by which we define, sustain, and enhance our lives to the glory of God and the progress of His Kingdom. Christians have been conveyed out of the kingdom of darkness, self-centeredness, and sin into the Kingdom of God’s own Son. As citizens in this Kingdom, we want to bring our lives and culture into conformity with the nature and purpose of the Kingdom of God. We want to express our Kingdom citizenship in all we are and do. Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God—first, that is, as the defining principle or motif and not just first on the list of things we do. Our citizenship in the Kingdom of God is transformative, and the transformation to which we aspire will necessarily affect the ways we use culture.

Because God gives us the gifts of culture and calls us to follow Jesus in His Kingdom, we should expect that our use of culture would be different from those who have no interest in the things of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. But this will be a difficult goal to attain until we have further clarified our definition of culture by fleshing out the qualifying phrase we added here. What do we mean by “the glory of God and the progress of His Kingdom?”

The Kingdom of God
Jesus helps us cultivate a vision of the Kingdom. His many parables, other teachings, and personal example create a presence of and vision for the Kingdom which we can seek.

But for concise explanations of difficult ideas, you can’t beat the apostle Paul. He tells us that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14.17, 18). In our personal lives, all our relationships, all our involvement with culture—in all these areas, we seek to realize and to advance more of the Kingdom of God—His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit (Matt. 6.33).

Righteousness describes the character of the Kingdom. It is the character of Jesus, the Law of God, and all the moral teaching of the Bible. We must learn righteousness, or holiness, and then “put it on” every day, in every situation, in all our words and deeds; not our righteousness, of course, but that of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4.17-24).

Peace is the condition brought about by a life of righteousness. When we live in righteousness we are “in step” with Jesus Himself (1 Jn. 2.1-6), the Prince of Peace. His peace reaches us to the depths of our souls, so that nothing can shake us from that overall sense of wellbeing which walking in righteousness produces (Philippians 4.6, 7).

Joy is the consequence of righteousness and peace. As we work to bring the character of the Kingdom into every aspect of life and know the peace that comes with that, joy and rejoicing lead us to worship God with gladness and gratitude. Thus, God is glorified and we experience and express His glory.

And all this, of course, can only be accomplished “in the Spirit,” as Paul says. The Spirit is the power for our pursuit of the Kingdom and glory of God, and for all our use of culture to these ends.

The glory of God
The glory of God is nothing other than the “weighty” Presence of God, when He manifests Himself to our senses in glimpses of His eternal beauty, goodness, and truth. The glory of God is the very Presence of God in all His majesty, wisdom, goodness, beauty, wonder, might, and love. God has “hidden” His glory in all of creation (Prov. 25.2), and in all our uses of culture.

We are called to live in such a way as that everything we do will glow, glimmer, and glisten with an aura of “other-worldliness” that declares our citizenship in the City of God and points others to our King. By learning about culture and its standards, sources, and fruits, and by keeping in mind our calling to love our neighbors as ourselves, we will improve our skills at discerning and mining the glory of God in all the cultural “veins” where He has hidden it, so that we use culture to enhance our lives and those of others.

God makes His glory known to us by His Word and Spirit, as He shapes us into the image of His own dear Son (2 Cor. 3.12-18). The more we become familiar with the experience of God’s glory, in those times of reading and meditation, sweet prayer and reflection, the more we will be able to recognize that glory when we are confronted with it in everyday situations, and to express that glory in all our words and deeds.

To have culture, which we receive as a gift, and to enjoy and use culture to define, sustain, and enhance our lives so that the Kingdom of God advances and God is glorified—even in such quotidian activities as eating and drinking—is the most thrilling and most challenging life anyone can embrace.

But it doesn’t come naturally.

For reflection
1. How do you seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God?

2. When do you most experience the glory of God? How do you know you are experiencing His glory?

3. What difference might it make if you began praying to God about all your use of culture?

Next steps—Transformation: Pay attention to the various ways God shows you His glory today. Give thanks and praise for each one, no matter how small.

T. M. Moore

Following Jesus
What does it mean to follow Jesus? How does following Him affect our lives? Our course, “Disciples Making Disciples”, can help you bring your life and culture more into line with the Kingdom and glory of God. Click here to learn more and to register for this free self-study course.

Two books on culture are available to accompany this series on “A Christian Approach to Culture.” Christians on the Front Lines of the Culture Wars shows how important it is that we consider culture as a way of bringing glory to God. Order your copy by clicking here. Redeeming Pop Culture examines the nature of pop culture and some ways we can make good use of it for God’s glory. Order your copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.