1. Christ
in opposition to culture.
2. The
Christ of culture.
3. Christ above culture.
4. Christ and culture in paradox.
5. Christ as the transformer of culture.
At
the time he wrote his book, there was little to suggest that an ideological sea
change was in the process of occurring. For lack of a perfect term, one might
consider naming it secular post-modernism. Nor did Niebuhr imply that his five
approaches were the only ones possible. On the other hand, Tex Sample, for
example, proposed that in suggesting “Christ as the transformer of culture,”
Niebuhr should have included that Christ is transforming culture because He is
in it.
Most
of the five interactions between Christ and culture were responses to
philosophical changes in the culture of their day. Considered, in this light,
it seems appropriate that, in a secular/postmodern world, an additional connection
would be likely to emerge.
In
John, chapter one, we are told that Christ is in culture, in history, in
nature, and in the cosmos. It is Christ in whom and through whom all things
were made. Nevertheless, John writes realistically about how evil, bondage, and
death exist concurrently. In Jesus, Himself, a new kind of life entered into
the world. Through the incarnation, Christ is not separate from the world but
enfleshed in us, and by extension, in the Church. Jesus affirmed much of the
traditional patterns of his own culture, but was critical of the hypocritical
lifestyles, and legalism that suffocated the spirit of the Law.
Christ, the
Alternative to Culture
The Church, by its
very nature, is a different culture. Its values differ from those of the
dominant culture. One might even say that in many instances they run counter to
that culture—a stealth insurgency, if you will. Those who truly live out
Kingdom values will demonstrate a community life that contrasts with and shows
the inadequacy of the dominant culture. This new interaction underscores the winsome
benefits of kingdom values: love, mercy, forgiveness, goodness, etc. It also unmasks
the unsatisfying hallmarks of the dominant culture: selfishness, cruelty,
revenge, evil, etc., as being unsatisfying. Christ offers Himself, through the
Kingdom community, as an alternative to the dominant culture. The relationship
is similar to Niebuhr’s “Christ against culture,” whose tendency was to retreat
from culture, which was characterized by the rise of Monasticism. This new
relationship could be called, “Christ, the Alternative to Culture.”
Instead of an
island, this alternative could best be described as a peninsula: outreach, influence,
welcome and sanctuary. The culture seems to have moved so far away from Christ
that Christ’s only resort left is to appeal to culture as an alternative to it.
In addition, people become aware of the inadequacy of the culture to the point
of being dissatisfied with the culture. I would remind you of the companion
verse to John 3:16, verse 17 (NIV): “For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Rather
than escape, or to transform, even to condemn culture, Christ offers Himself as
an appealing alternative.
The Church is being
challenged to live with absolute integrity. In an alternative to culture,
people really need to see a difference—a winsome and attractive difference in
the way Christians live. Absent that difference, there is no alternative. So,
in this relationship, Christian disciples are committed to live in society, and
be equipped to model an attractive lifestyle to those burned out by the
dominant culture.
What is your
thinking on this topic?
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