See Nicholas Kristof’s post at his New York Times blog which spurred on these thoughts, John Stott and Christian Evangelicals.
Feedback? If what I’m saying is true, how would this impact how you do ministry in and through your church?
All Culture is God’s Culture
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6 responses to “All Culture is God’s Culture”
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Well said, Adam. I’ve been struggling with the one-eared Mickey in my church youth ministry…and I’ve been struggling with it with regards to the church and the greater culture. I feel frustrated that it seems the church is always drawing lines and boxes to keep our stuff separate.
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great stuff, adam
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As a child, I saw this cultural demarcation mostly as it pertained to music and movies. I grew up hearing that Christian music = good, and secular music = bad. Back then, nobody talked about how Paul used secular poetry to preach the Gospel, which meant that he was culturally savvy.
I’m glad to see less of this kind of cultural segregation going on than I used to, but we still have a long way to go. “The Earth is the Lord’s, and EVERYTHING in it.”
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The thing I’m still chewing on, which I think makes the “one eared mickey” of a church so easy to denounce? “Christian culture” is no more holy than “secular culture.” All of the same vices that hurt people outside of the church hurt people in the church. So ultimately, it’s a lie to “be saved from the world” because the simple reality is that both worlds are imperfect.
Yeah, still working the dough on this one.
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Absolutely fantastic post. I’ve always called the one-eared Mickey “church tumors.” They’re attached to the body and consuming its resources, but it’s life-draining, not life-giving.
Now everyone should go read Niebuhr’s “Christ and Culture” and Crouch’s “Culture Making.”
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Love it, man. Gonna share with our leaders over at Gateway NextGen. Too good not to!
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