Culture is the sum total of rules and regulation that govern a society in its internal and external interactions. It tells us what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, right and wrong.
So, when we speak of a "Christian culture" we are speaking of something that "tells us what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly. right and wrong." But we have to hesitate when we encounter some issues that are a matter of our own personal taste. For example: "Is limburger cheese good or bad?" or "Is your neighbor beautiful/handsome or ugly?" or "Is it right to paint you house neon pink?"
All three of these questions probably would provoke violent debates between "Christians." From these three we would begin to eliminate some things that being a "Christians" has no say over. But even if all American "Christians" could agree on what makes a "Christian Culture" undoubtedly there would not be agreement with African "Christians" on what makes a "Christian Culture." Why? Because the standard by which an item-action-idea is judged as good/bad, beautiful/ugly or right/wrong cannot be exactly agreed upon.
Some "Christians" might say the standard is: "The Bible-The Word of God" or "The Bible + Tradition of the Church", some say "The Bible + Science", there are even those who say "The King James Version of the Bible." Where is truth found? How are the cultures of the world to be judged equitably? It has even been suggested that each culture is the its own judge. For “Trekkies” this is also known as “The Star-Trek Prime Directive.”
My position is that God has revealed His estimation of what is morally right/wrong, good/bad and beautiful/ugly. His baseline of morality is bound up in those things delivered by His messengers in the Old and New Testament.
At this point it might be well to state that every culture has both Good/Right/Beautiful parts and each and every one has Bad/Wrong/Ugly aspects. And, that each culture has a third “None of the Above” category that does not fall into either of those other two niches. Said in another way, “All cultures have aspects that the Bible commends, aspects that it condemns and aspects that are neither commendable nor condemnatory.”
To throw in one more curve ball, “Our understanding of what the Bible is telling us about our culture is understood through the filter of our culture.”
The Bible is supposed to speak to my culture, while at the same time my culture influences how I understand what the Bible is saying.
How do we unravel this difficult knot that seems to have no end.
The purpose of the Bible is to communicate God’s thoughts to mankind. God is the perfect communicator because He knows which words and phrases will accurately convey His thoughts to those men who originally read or heard His words. What about us? We live in a different time, in a different culture and speak a different language. How can we expect to understand God’s communication to the past, today?
Let us look at an example to see how this might have an influence on our understanding of God’s message to us. Following are three translations of a well-known portion of Paul the Apostle’s letter to the Ephesians:
\
Ephesians 6:12
because we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places;(YLT)
This translation in the Young’s Literal Translation gives the correct word order of what God communicated to Paul to write in Greek—blood and flesh.
\
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.(NASB)
The New American Standard Bible translation illustrates the common understanding of what God was communicating to His church. From this, the most common understanding in Evangelical circles emphasizes the struggle that Believers are engaged in is with “spiritual beings” as contrasting to a conflict with “earthly” rulers. It is assumed that Paul goofed-up and what he intended to write was flesh and blood, so the translator “corrected” the word order from blood and flesh to flesh and blood.
\
Ephesians 6:12
So that, it is not for us the battling in reference to bloodlines even tearing the body, on the other hand with a view to the empires, with a view to the magistrates, with a view to the emperors in ignorance of this One (with a view to the inflated things of the wickedness in high favor).(JWET)
In this translation, Joe attempts to keep the word order along with the cultural understanding of the terms through which God was communicating to the 1st century in a way that carries His meaning so that it imparts the same thing to us. But as can quickly be seen, it turns what is universally understood on its head.
Finally, how do we know which to take as the communication that God intends? The simplest way is to examine the context of the entire letter. It is very evident that God wants His people to understand that they are “one People.” There is no difference in His body between the Jewish and the Gentile believer! Therefore, any contention over the supremacy of “bloodline” which leads to the “tearing apart with sharp teeth” hopelessly distracts us from the real battle. The Battle is against those in positions of power, those trying to suppress the teaching of God and His Christ. Truly the conflict is directed at us from the “political” powers of this world.
“Yes Virginia there is a Satan.” But be aware that it was human organizations that took it upon themselves to forbid public expressions of “Christianity.” It was a woman who fought to remove prayer from public schools. It is politics that shuns any consideration of God’s laws in making rules that govern this world!
Is it time to recognize the forces that we are really struggling with?
No comments:
Post a Comment