Clash of Swords (5)

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”  Acts 17.6

For the weapons of our warfare arenot carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…  2 Corinthians 10.4, 5

Transformed culture
The cultural world of ancient Rome was a wonder, to say the least.

Wherever one traveled in the Roman Empire he could experience the benefits of Roman culture. Augustine enumerated many of these toward the end of his sweeping and majestic work, City of God. He attributed Rome’s cultural grandeur to the grace of God. As he wrote, “man’s invention has brought forth so many and such rare sciences and arts…that the excellency of his capacity makes the rare goodness of his creation apparent, even when he goes about things that are either superfluous or pernicious, and shows from what an excellent gift he has these inventions and practices of his.”

Of course, Augustine did not commend all of Roman culture: He condemned in particular the lurid stage plays, savage gladiatorial combats, rampant idolatry, and corrupt practices of educators and government at all levels. In City of God Augustine, like many of his Christian contemporaries, wielded the Sword of the Spirit against the cultural and social norms sustained by the secular governments and thinkers of his day.

The Christian hope – that God might be glorified in all things – coupled with an ethic of holiness, self-denial, and love, will issue in cultural opinions and products, from the humblest and most common of everyday conversations, actions, and implements to the grander and more enduring cultural forms of the arts, government, education, and society. What Christians strive for and how they strive for it must issue in forms of culture, and, as they do, many aspects of the surrounding culture will be exposed as sinful and shallow and made subject to dramatic transformations.

Christianity and culture
Culture consists of the artifacts, institutions, and conventions by which people define, sustain, and enrich their lives. People make culture and then use it to make their way around in life. Most people don’t think about culture very critically; they simply accommodate to whatever suits their tastes and enables them to achieve their larger objectives. This pragmatic approach to culture suits the priorities of those who wield the sword of men, because it allows them to cater to and patronize subjects who hold a variety of cultural tastes and practices.

But from the beginning, Christians thought about culture not as something that everyone should be free to pursue and indulge as they like, but from the perspective of the Kingship of Jesus Christ and the glory of God. They sought to discover how to make and use culture so as to benefit others and to honor and exalt God, even down to the most ordinary, everyday aspects of their lives (1 Cor. 10.31).

One thing the first Christians learned early on was that any form of culture or any cultural activities which opposed the glory of God had to be put aside. Culture that promoted the worship of false gods, encouraged and supported illicit behavior, took advantage of or oppressed others, was merely vulgar or frivolous, or led people away from the Truth of God to the Lie of unbelief – all such culture had to be denied, set aside, and, if necessary, eliminated.

In Ephesus, Christians made a public show of repentance by burning the trappings and writings of their pagan culture (Acts 19). In Philippi, Paul interrupted a perfectly typical Roman cultural practice – the exploitation of slaves – by casting a demon out of a young girl (Acts 16). In Antioch, Christians broke all kinds of social and cultural taboos, as Jewish and Gentile believers fellowshipped, worshiped, and shared together (Acts 11).

Christians scandalized esteemed Roman institutions by freeing their slaves, standing up to corrupt public officials, rescuing exposed children from death, providing for widows and orphans, and caring for those dying from the plague.

New forms of culture
At the same time they began to innovate new forms of culture – in literature, the arts, local government, husband/wife relations, popular education, even in dress and conversational manner – which the world had never seen before.

And, as we can imagine, these new cultural practices, together with the renouncing of illicit cultural practices, frequently put Christians at odds with their contemporaries.

When we live for Christ, in every aspect of life, we will find ourselves having to oppose Caesar and many of the cultural ways which are flourishing under his authority and approval. We must neither apologize for our convictions nor accommodate to the cultural forms of the dominant worldview of the day. Instead, let us press on to forge new culture, at every level and in every form, that honors God and exalts our King.

For reflection
1.  What would you describe as some distinctly Christian expressions of culture in your own life?

2.  In the culture you encounter each week – at home, work, school, in the community, on the news, and so forth – do you find any forms or expressions that are offensive to God? What is the Christian’s responsibility with respect to such things?

3.  What would you say are the key ideas to keep in mind when thinking about glorifying God in all your cultural activities?

Next steps: What is the glory of God, and what does it mean to live for the glory of God in even the most ordinary, everyday, and mundane cultural activities (1 Cor. 10.31)? Talk with a church leader about this question.

T. M. Moore

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This week’s study, Clash of Swords, is a bonus part 6 of a 6-part series on a Biblical view of government and politics, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We cannot understand God’s view of government, or how to function in a political environment apart from faith in King Jesus and His rule. Order T. M.’s books The Kingship of Jesus  and The Ground for Christian Ethics to supplement our studies of God and government.

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