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Nov 8, 2021Liked by Timothy Willard

1. I do find the discussions of culture to be vague. Culture can incorporate and/or exclude so much and it seems to be an easy way to complain broadly without identifying your issue. More and more, "culture" is used to broadly identify things we disagree with.

2. I tend to think of culture as how we view and interact with the world (and specifically the people) around us. Different cultures tend to have different foundational motives. Distinctions such as individualist vs. communal come to mind.

3. I think the Bible tries to teach us that any culture that does not incorporate the spiritual realm falls short. It seems to make the biggest deal about the fact that our physical reality has spiritual implications.

4. Communities of Jesus followers (my definition of "the Church") seem to take one of two extreme positions:

A. Blend into culture so the world will think what we have to say matters. This often leads to making light of theology and looking no different from the unredeemed.

B. Stand apart and "above" the secular influences so as not to fall in spiritual matters. This often leads to a religious pride that hinders our reach to the unredeemed.

I think we must walk a balance between these extremes so we don't forsake the holy, but we also don't ignore the hurting. Living in the world, but not of it I suppose.

5. Stand apart while dwelling within. Humanity was designed to be a kingdom of priests who represent God and Heaven on earth. If we avoid earthly things, we're missing the point. Culture is a natural and God intended consequence of being human. We should be set apart in important and distinct ways as Israel was, however, building an exclusive community seems to miss the point entirely.

There so many avenues of discussion we could take related to God's design, but I think my summarized conclusion is this. Culture is how we view and interact with the world (and specifically the people) around us. Our conception of culture must include the spiritual, therefore, it will often be more complex and whole than a secular conception. Incorporating these things together to build communities full of God's creatures is the end goal. Not exclusive communities that vet people before entry, but communities...and cultures that make much of God and His plan for us.

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Nov 9, 2021Liked by Timothy Willard

I love what Sam said in his answers to all the questions. I'd like to add to point one, when "culture" is mentioned I always wonder what two differences are being compared: two different time periods, folks from different countries; or local communities distinct from each other by their intrinsic values. "Vague" is so true of cultural discussions, often "other" or "us vs them" seems to be at play rather than desiring to compare and learn.

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I may not answer all your questions systematically, but I'll take a shot at a few that intrigue me and/or I may have something to say:

1. What frustrates me most about how Christians talk about culture is that I suspect most of the time both "Church/ Christianity" and "culture" are mis-defined or misunderstood. I'm thinking right now of the pressure to be "relevant" (worship, music, preaching, overall approach, sometimes explicit theological emphases or de-emphases). Perhaps a generation ago the drum beat would have been "scientific" or "modern." My simple reply is, How is the First Commandment relevant to "relevant"? That is, I suspect most of the people hissing, "Relevant! Relevant!" are actually talking about how the Church has to "get on with the times" or some such. My dad used to say, "The church that is entirely aligned with this generation will entirely die with this generation."

2. I like to think of culture as a sort of group think idealized personality, personality writ large. An individual personality is a suite of preferences and habits, some inborn, some haphazard, some experiential. some chosen. Personality is not only 'who i am' but also 'who I want to be.' So I think culture is a type of consensus of 'what right looks like,' the ideal man, the ideal woman, the ideal family, the good life in general. For example, 'the American dream.' Perhaps one of the most interesting diviners (and drivers) of culture are advertisers: they'll let you know at a glance, literally, who and what the ideal is, and they're pretty good, because billions are at stake.

3. I've heard it said that God deliberately chose several cultural things for his people. He took Abram from Mesopotamian culture and transplanted him to Egypt. His descendants were situated halfway between the two great cultural centers of the Middle East, constant influences (and military campaigns) from both. More to the point, the OT is largely a struggle between Israel becoming the influencer rather than passively influenced. As for the NT, Jesus was culturally Jewish--it's okay and probably inevitable to recognizably reflect a culture, within penultimate limits. Yet he also exposed him, and had him respond to, the wider Hellenistic and Roman cultures. Ditto the apostles and the wider Jewish diaspora. To attempt a simple answer to your question, some of the idealized meta-personality aspects of culture are more or less neutral, and some aspects definitely fall under the purview of Scripture. A good place to start is the Ten Commandments.

4. The Church fails, but somehow God uses even the Church's failure to move his agenda forward. Perhaps the classic is Niebuhr's *Christ and Culture*. I'm more or less a paradoxicalist, so I find the Christ against culture and Christ of culture options simplistic and unhelpful.

5. I sort of answered Dreher in the last paragraph. Jesus and Paul did take their retreats, lasting from several hours to several years, but they inevitably returned and engaged culture. Here's to you, Paul, expounding the "unknown God," the crucified and risen Christ, on Mars Hill!

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