As a Covenant College student in the 1980s, we were all required to read H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture (1951). It was (and perhaps still is) the standard textbook to read when studying culture.

It was my first exposure to the issue of thinking Christianly about culture. I wrestled with the question, how exactly are we supposed to engage culture?

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What never occurred to me, however, was to take two steps back and view the church as a culture of its own. Where did this culture inside the church come from? What does it look like? What should it look like? Then, how should this church culture view its task to the broader culture in which it finds itself?

As I contemplate these questions in today's context, I come to two disturbing conclusions. One, on a large scale, the church culture does not look terribly different than the broader culture (in the West anyway) -- at least in how people lead their lives through out the week. Sadly, it is difficult to tell the non-Christians from the Christians judging by their lives, activities and priorities. Two, I don't see many churches which view the broader culture as a true mission field (there are some exceptions, of course). Perhaps that is because the churches are so wed to the culture, or because they have bought into the sacred/secular split and chosen the privatized faith route, or perhaps they just don't realize how marginalized the truth and the gospel has become in this culture, and are blissfully living in isolation out on the margins of our postmodern (and increasingly post-Christian) society. Friends, we are truly missionaries in our own backyard. We need to start thinking like missionaries. As Nancy Pearcy writes, "Christians need to learn how to be bilingual, translating the perspective of the gospel into language understood by our culture" (Total Truth, p.67). And, we need to live the gospel of the kingdom, not just speak the words. When we hold our words, our lives and our community of faith up to the light, it better line up. Do we just talk about having community in the church, or are we living it? Do we practice hospitality and generosity, or do we just say we do? Do we just speak about justice, or do we defend the defenseless and care for the helpless?

Think missionally. Live authentically.

To help me think missionally, I am pouring over the gospels and Acts to see how Christ interacted with his culture and how the early church lived out their faith in their culture. Secondarily, I am reading books written by missiologists like Bolger, Gibbs and Newbigin. These books are a tough read (lots of content), so it is taking some time to wade through their analysis and conclusions. Thirdly, I am reading blogs of some of the "reformed relevants" in the emerging church movement (think Keller, Piper, Driscoll and *not* McLaren) to see the conclusions they are reaching. I'll share some of their insights as I find time to blog (if I find time to blog :-) )

EDITORS NOTE:

This originally posted on Jeff's blog at http://www.mrdawntreader.com. Please take a few minutes and check it out. It is always thought provoking.

~Carl~

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