Culture can be friend or foe as it engages the Christian faith. Families that want to stay true to the radical path of Christian discipleship will often be faced with cultural pressure to compromise standards of holiness. However, needless rejection of one’s current cultural norms in the name of religion is a sign, not of sanctification, but of misguided zeal that can bring reproach on our Christian witness. Carefully discerning between which cultural norms are compatible with Christianity and which are not can be a source of intense disagreement among believers (e.g., the buildup to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15). A listening ear, a humble attitude, and sensitivity to the Spirit’s direction are all needed to stay biblically faithful and culturally sensitive.
As Christian families navigate the level of cultural accommodation that they believe is appropriate, they can be sure there is no room within authentic Christianity for devaluing any human, for all have been made in His image (Gen. 1:26, 27; 9:6). If a culture disparages any group based on these criteria—gender, ethnicity, social class, mental or physical impairments, age, etc.—then there is a justifiable and grand opportunity to make a clean break with that culture and to reveal by one’s actions a God who shows “no partiality” (Rom. 2:11, ESV; Acts 10:34, ESV; Gal. 2:6, ESV).
The families in the Bible provide a bevy of mistakes for us to learn from and to avoid. These families were inspired, at least partially, by the cultures in which they lived. From the Abram/Hagar blunder (Genesis 16) to the presence of idols in Jacob’s household (Genesis 35), culture has always exerted its pressure on God’s people. As you teach this week’s Sabbath School lesson, convey the point that those unaware of the cultural influences in their lives may be unreflectively conforming to them.
Part II: Commentary
Culture: It’s Everywhere
The problem with culture is that it is a driving force in our lives that escapes rigorous reflection. In the West, when a friend asks, “Do you want to get a cup of coffee before work?” few will express surprise when asked, because in the West coffee is a cultural beverage. Try instead asking a coworker, “Hey, would you like to grab some kiwis and applesauce after work?” and watch them smile suspiciously and ask, “Are you serious?” Why the surprise, though? Kiwis and applesauce are just as arbitrary as coffee. But even though a much healthier choice, kiwis and applesauce have not taken their place among the food folkways of broader Western culture, so one will appear as an oddball for suggesting it.
The above is a relatively benign example. Bring up at the next board meeting whether churches should use older hymns or more contemporary praise songs, and brace yourself for a cultural clash. Things get even more complicated when music from other cultures migrates into vastly different areas, creating cross-cultural tensions. All this mixing and blending goes to show that culture is exerting a ubiquitous influence. Sometimes people will think they are being theologically astute in criticizing or affirming a church practice when in reality they are being compelled by the dominant culture or subculture they are a part of. To be aware of this dynamic is helpful across the church spectrum of views. Conservatives need to be wary that they are not “making holy” the nonessential features of their belief and practice in an effort to protect themselves from the dominant culture. Liberals should be wary of “dispensing with the holy” in an attempt to maximally accommodate the dominant culture.
Culture: Examples
Because the Seventh-day Adventist Church is spread around the globe, cultural influences on the church will be numerous and variegated. Families in the worldwide church will need to take stock of their own cultural environment and ask themselves how they can best resist, or take advantage of, their culture for the furthering of the kingdom of God. The lesson cites some examples of how culture influenced families in the Bible. Though the examples are all negative, it is instructive to consider how God accomplished His will, despite the cultural obstacles.
Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. The story is well known of how Abram and Sarai, desperate to have a natural-born heir, used Hagar the servant girl as a solution to Sarai’s infertility (Gen. 16:2). Though replicating their exact “solution” in today’s world would be shunned in most instances, surrogacy is a well-known option for would-be parents today. The cultural practice of surrogacy has remained, though the method has changed through medical intervention. The cultural continuity, though, helps us identify better with the story and Sarai’s predicament.
God’s promise to Abram was that he would have a natural-born heir (as opposed to Eliezer [Gen. 15:4]). A wife offering another woman to bear children in her behalf was culturally accepted in the ancient Near East and therefore was an ever-present option. This combination led Abram and Sarai to attempt a cultural shortcut to bring about God’s promise. Instead, this practice, though culturally accepted, interfered with God’s plan and provided unnecessary suffering and hardship for all involved. God eventually accomplished His will (despite Abram and Sarai’s blunder) with the birth of Isaac, and, in addition, took care of the ousted Hagar and Ishmael. It appears from the narrative that neither Sarai nor Abram sought counsel from God concerning their plan to bring about His promise; and they paid for it for years (maybe a lifetime) afterward.
A principle can be derived from this story: when attempting to cooperate with God’s plans, utilizing practices just because they are culturally permissible may do more harm than good. Prayerful consideration and a dose of realism could have averted the entire fiasco. (Peaceful polygamous marriages in Scripture are rare. This point is telling if one believes that the Scriptures accurately reflect the history and culture of the times.)
Centuries later, Israel’s obstinate insistence on having a king to rule over it would serve as an example of cultural accommodation with disastrous consequences for the destiny of the entire nation. And the people said, “ ‘Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations’ ” (1 Sam. 8:5, ESV). God knew this choice was an outright rejection of Himself as their king (1 Sam. 8:7), with no better reason offered than to be “like everyone else.” This desire for a king is cultural accommodation at its worst. Anyone who has read the account of Israel’s and Judah’s kings knows that for the most part, their desire for a king resulted in disaster. But there are two important points worth noting: (1) God allowed them to make this cultural accommodation, even choosing their first king for them; (2) God worked within the framework of Israel’s sinful decision, even to the point of rooting Messianic prophecies into the monarchy. What a God! Setting a human king over Israel was not God’s perfect will. The entire history of God’s people might have been vastly different if they would have chosen to remain, possibly, the single nation on the planet without a visible human leader. But God is able to initiate plan B or C or Q, regardless of our choices. He does not easily give up on His people.
When the church or its families make sinful cultural accommodations, even ones that have long-lasting effects, it seems God is big enough to work around, and through, our misguided decisions. Nor does He hold us under a state of continual rejection or wrath. The natural consequences of our wrongheaded decisions can sometimes be punishment enough, as with Israel’s monarchy (i.e., the king will take your land, livestock, crops, and children [1 Sam. 8:9–19]). It would be detrimental to use this angle of God’s mercy as liberty simply to go with the cultural flow. God’s kindness and patience in these things is meant to “lead . . . to repentance,” not further sin (Rom. 2:4, 5, ESV). God’s people often trip over themselves in navigating how to live out their faith in their respective cultures. Yet, God knows exactly how to intersect His kingdom perfectly into every cultural context. As we cooperate with Him, He not only guides us through His Word and Spirit but can make up for our mistakes, as well.
Culture: A Threat
Choosing which cultural trends to mention that are antagonistic to the gospel is difficult because of the varied cultural audience these lessons are reaching. Choosing one trend will neglect ten. However, Western secularization is a phenomenon that is spreading its influence beyond its borders. The following quote by J. Gresham Machen was given at the opening of the 101st session of Princeton Theological Seminary. It addresses a cultural secularization that would demote the Christian message to that of a fairy tale. It is broad enough in its scope, though, to apply to any cultural milieu toxic to Christianity. It was spoken in 1912:
“False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Under such circumstances, what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root.”—“Christianity and Culture,” The Princeton Theological Review, vol. 11, no. 1 (1913), p. 7.
Part III: Life Application
Here are some exercises and thought experiments that can get the Sabbath School class reflecting on culture, Christianity, and families.
“Culture relativism” is a helpful model in learning to understand different cultures from within their own perspectives. However, it becomes problematic if all cultural practices are considered immune from moral judgments. How could someone respond that a moral judgment on a cultural practice has some objective validity?
What are the cultural trends right now in your community that are working against the gospel? Are there any working for it? If so, what are they?
Think of Jesus’ parables describing the “kingdom of God” and use them as a benchmark for the ideal culture. How would you recast your own culture to look more like the heavenly one?
Ask the class about practices among our own church members that concern them or challenge their faith. Write these practices on a white/chalkboard. Now ask whether there are clear biblical injunctions against anything on the list. If there are not, float the idea that these practices may be cultural rather than biblical.
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Culture can be friend or foe as it engages the Christian faith. Families that want to stay true to the radical path of Christian discipleship will often be faced with cultural pressure to compromise standards of holiness. However, needless rejection of one’s current cultural norms in the name of religion is a sign, not of sanctification, but of misguided zeal that can bring reproach on our Christian witness. Carefully discerning between which cultural norms are compatible with Christianity and which are not can be a source of intense disagreement among believers (e.g., the buildup to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15). A listening ear, a humble attitude, and sensitivity to the Spirit’s direction are all needed to stay biblically faithful and culturally sensitive.
As Christian families navigate the level of cultural accommodation that they believe is appropriate, they can be sure there is no room within authentic Christianity for devaluing any human, for all have been made in His image (Gen. 1:26, 27; 9:6). If a culture disparages any group based on these criteria—gender, ethnicity, social class, mental or physical impairments, age, etc.—then there is a justifiable and grand opportunity to make a clean break with that culture and to reveal by one’s actions a God who shows “no partiality” (Rom. 2:11, ESV; Acts 10:34, ESV; Gal. 2:6, ESV).
The families in the Bible provide a bevy of mistakes for us to learn from and to avoid. These families were inspired, at least partially, by the cultures in which they lived. From the Abram/Hagar blunder (Genesis 16) to the presence of idols in Jacob’s household (Genesis 35), culture has always exerted its pressure on God’s people. As you teach this week’s Sabbath School lesson, convey the point that those unaware of the cultural influences in their lives may be unreflectively conforming to them.
Part II: Commentary
Culture: It’s Everywhere
The problem with culture is that it is a driving force in our lives that escapes rigorous reflection. In the West, when a friend asks, “Do you want to get a cup of coffee before work?” few will express surprise when asked, because in the West coffee is a cultural beverage. Try instead asking a coworker, “Hey, would you like to grab some kiwis and applesauce after work?” and watch them smile suspiciously and ask, “Are you serious?” Why the surprise, though? Kiwis and applesauce are just as arbitrary as coffee. But even though a much healthier choice, kiwis and applesauce have not taken their place among the food folkways of broader Western culture, so one will appear as an oddball for suggesting it.
The above is a relatively benign example. Bring up at the next board meeting whether churches should use older hymns or more contemporary praise songs, and brace yourself for a cultural clash. Things get even more complicated when music from other cultures migrates into vastly different areas, creating cross-cultural tensions. All this mixing and blending goes to show that culture is exerting a ubiquitous influence. Sometimes people will think they are being theologically astute in criticizing or affirming a church practice when in reality they are being compelled by the dominant culture or subculture they are a part of. To be aware of this dynamic is helpful across the church spectrum of views. Conservatives need to be wary that they are not “making holy” the nonessential features of their belief and practice in an effort to protect themselves from the dominant culture. Liberals should be wary of “dispensing with the holy” in an attempt to maximally accommodate the dominant culture.
Culture: Examples
Because the Seventh-day Adventist Church is spread around the globe, cultural influences on the church will be numerous and variegated. Families in the worldwide church will need to take stock of their own cultural environment and ask themselves how they can best resist, or take advantage of, their culture for the furthering of the kingdom of God. The lesson cites some examples of how culture influenced families in the Bible. Though the examples are all negative, it is instructive to consider how God accomplished His will, despite the cultural obstacles.
Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. The story is well known of how Abram and Sarai, desperate to have a natural-born heir, used Hagar the servant girl as a solution to Sarai’s infertility (Gen. 16:2). Though replicating their exact “solution” in today’s world would be shunned in most instances, surrogacy is a well-known option for would-be parents today. The cultural practice of surrogacy has remained, though the method has changed through medical intervention. The cultural continuity, though, helps us identify better with the story and Sarai’s predicament.
God’s promise to Abram was that he would have a natural-born heir (as opposed to Eliezer [Gen. 15:4]). A wife offering another woman to bear children in her behalf was culturally accepted in the ancient Near East and therefore was an ever-present option. This combination led Abram and Sarai to attempt a cultural shortcut to bring about God’s promise. Instead, this practice, though culturally accepted, interfered with God’s plan and provided unnecessary suffering and hardship for all involved. God eventually accomplished His will (despite Abram and Sarai’s blunder) with the birth of Isaac, and, in addition, took care of the ousted Hagar and Ishmael. It appears from the narrative that neither Sarai nor Abram sought counsel from God concerning their plan to bring about His promise; and they paid for it for years (maybe a lifetime) afterward.
A principle can be derived from this story: when attempting to cooperate with God’s plans, utilizing practices just because they are culturally permissible may do more harm than good. Prayerful consideration and a dose of realism could have averted the entire fiasco. (Peaceful polygamous marriages in Scripture are rare. This point is telling if one believes that the Scriptures accurately reflect the history and culture of the times.)
Centuries later, Israel’s obstinate insistence on having a king to rule over it would serve as an example of cultural accommodation with disastrous consequences for the destiny of the entire nation. And the people said, “ ‘Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations’ ” (1 Sam. 8:5, ESV). God knew this choice was an outright rejection of Himself as their king (1 Sam. 8:7), with no better reason offered than to be “like everyone else.” This desire for a king is cultural accommodation at its worst. Anyone who has read the account of Israel’s and Judah’s kings knows that for the most part, their desire for a king resulted in disaster. But there are two important points worth noting: (1) God allowed them to make this cultural accommodation, even choosing their first king for them; (2) God worked within the framework of Israel’s sinful decision, even to the point of rooting Messianic prophecies into the monarchy. What a God! Setting a human king over Israel was not God’s perfect will. The entire history of God’s people might have been vastly different if they would have chosen to remain, possibly, the single nation on the planet without a visible human leader. But God is able to initiate plan B or C or Q, regardless of our choices. He does not easily give up on His people.
When the church or its families make sinful cultural accommodations, even ones that have long-lasting effects, it seems God is big enough to work around, and through, our misguided decisions. Nor does He hold us under a state of continual rejection or wrath. The natural consequences of our wrongheaded decisions can sometimes be punishment enough, as with Israel’s monarchy (i.e., the king will take your land, livestock, crops, and children [1 Sam. 8:9–19]). It would be detrimental to use this angle of God’s mercy as liberty simply to go with the cultural flow. God’s kindness and patience in these things is meant to “lead . . . to repentance,” not further sin (Rom. 2:4, 5, ESV). God’s people often trip over themselves in navigating how to live out their faith in their respective cultures. Yet, God knows exactly how to intersect His kingdom perfectly into every cultural context. As we cooperate with Him, He not only guides us through His Word and Spirit but can make up for our mistakes, as well.
Culture: A Threat
Choosing which cultural trends to mention that are antagonistic to the gospel is difficult because of the varied cultural audience these lessons are reaching. Choosing one trend will neglect ten. However, Western secularization is a phenomenon that is spreading its influence beyond its borders. The following quote by J. Gresham Machen was given at the opening of the 101st session of Princeton Theological Seminary. It addresses a cultural secularization that would demote the Christian message to that of a fairy tale. It is broad enough in its scope, though, to apply to any cultural milieu toxic to Christianity. It was spoken in 1912:
“False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Under such circumstances, what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root.”—“Christianity and Culture,” The Princeton Theological Review, vol. 11, no. 1 (1913), p. 7.
Part III: Life Application
Here are some exercises and thought experiments that can get the Sabbath School class reflecting on culture, Christianity, and families.