Previously

In part 1 we located several metaphors to better see what God has called us to in this world: witnesses, salt, light, ambassadors, and divine image-bearers. Part 2 drew out how these relate not just to preaching a narrow Gospel, but to drawing us back to Jesus' life—his ethics, culture and love; death—his sacrifice, atonement and forgiveness; and resurrection—his overcoming power and gift-giving Spirit. Part 4 examined the extent of this witness, in the 'now but not yet', avoiding the 'not yet' and the 'all now' extremes.

This article looks at how this has played out in history through the popular 'Christ & Culture' lens of Richard Niebuhr. We will create a positive cultural focus to help guide our endeavour, drawing from this rich experience and Scripture.

Finding coherence…

…through reflection on historical engagement “in the world”

Richard Niebuhr and many others have found that Christ engages with the world in different ways, and Christians throughout the ages have adopted various stances.

Christ against culture (“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers…” 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 1 John 2:15-17)
Some Christians are against the evils of the world so much that they withdraw, like the Mennonites and Amish. This ultimately leads to hiding your light and a failed witness, even while creating a strong internal culture that resists the wiles of the world.

Christ of culture (“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s…” Mark 12:17; “The authorities that exist have been instituted by God” Romans 13:1; “To the Jews I became like a Jew” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
At the other extreme, some seek to find only the good of the culture, and encourage that, like the liberals and social justice groups. This ultimately fails to witness to Christ since his distinctiveness is lost, and his message to come out of the world is not preached.

Christ above culture (“In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; …all nations will stream to it…” Isaiah 2:1-5; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Romans 9:33)
In the middle of these extremes, this position recognises that Christ is superior to the world’s cultures, but there is some good and some bad, such that it can be synthesised to something better. They seek to draw people winsomely to a better way of life. In practice, this doesn’t tend to lead culture up to Christ, but the Christian culture is led down to the world, and so it too fails to witness to Christ.

Christ and culture in paradox (Don’t associate with sexually immoral believers—not the ungodly, “since then you would need to go out of the world” 1 Corinthians 5:9-11; John 17:14-15)
This group realise we are in the world but not of it, and embrace their participation in the world even while knowing it is corrupt. This is the Lutheran and ‘Two Cities’ approach that affirms citizenship in both the earthly city and the heavenly one. It tends towards a dualistic schizophrenia that separates the church and state to such a degree that one does not try to apply God’s Word to work and life—it’s simply for inner piety and right standing before God. This too is a failed witness.

Christ the transformer of culture (“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Romans 12:2; “You’ve heard that it was said…but I say to you” Matthew 5-7)
This group attempts to renew culture to be more like Christ. Carson’s critique (‘Christ and Culture Revisited’) focuses on a purest form of this—triumphalism, that is, transforming the entire culture—to rightly conclude there is no such Scriptural backing, but appears to miss that this view recognises there is some truth in all the other positions. It's a conclusion Carson will later heartily agree on: they are probably “components of a bigger pattern”.Carson, Christ & Culture Revisited, Eerdmans Publishing, 2008, 200.

Holding the components together in tension to transform the culture

Therefore, the way forward is to hold these components together in balance, bringing them back from their extremes.

Rather than being totally against the world (‘Christ against culture’), we can seek to empathise with the lost to find what they’re truly looking for and then redirect them towards Christ. This will require pioneering and innovating work. For example, while the lost seek connection through social media, Christians can recognise that what they really need is the connection that comes from Christ’s friendship and the fellowship of His Body, the Church. However, being in the world means we may need to engage with and in those platforms, modelling and teaching a different way.

Similarly, rather than naively entering the worldly culture around us to uphold the good (‘Christ of culture’), we need a transformative approach that recognises the evil and places a strong boundary around us as we enter into it. We may recognise the value of trade unions but do them in a way that is hostile to corruption and power seekers. We may see the value of public schools, but perhaps put children with dominant personalities in there that have strong biblical teaching behind them—and keep non-dominant children out who are likely to be heavily influenced by their worldly peers. Alternatively, we could introduce a free Christ-infused after-school program that addresses a lack. Carson similarly rescues this ‘Christ of culture’ position this way: “in his mercy, God leaves traces of himself and his ways in every culture”, and again, “Created by God, this world cannot ever lose all the glory that God has built into it (Psalm 8), and God himself continues to do good and to bestow good gifts.”Carson, Christ & Culture Revisited, Eerdmans Publishing, 2008, 61, 63.

The centre position (‘Christ above culture’) recognises the truth in both sides, but it often lacks its own strong culture with which to draw people towards. By creating a strong Christian culture in the midst of others, it can be a light that draws others towards it, because it is so good—full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is not separatist since it builds itself amongst unbelievers and invites them in, having made space for them.

Lastly, rather than dualistic sacred/secular or church/state divides (‘Christ and culture in paradox’), we need to recognise that when Christ came to live inside of us, all our lives are now set apart (holy) for God. Jesus also expressly asks us to pray that the kingdom come to earth just as it is in heaven. This is our witness, and it is transformative because it shows people something of Christ to follow. Nevertheless, the vision of God’s will in heaven is clearly different from what happens in this world, and so the distinction is not lost like it is with triumphalists.

In summary:

In a (very long) sentence we might say:

We witness to Christ by submitting every area of our lives and society to his ethics and principles; redirecting laws and people towards the righteousness of Christ; reinvigorating people through meeting people where they are at, modelling and inviting them to something better; recognising the good in the world but redeeming it; building a strong alternative culture that has room for outsiders; and infusing all aspects of Christ into our daily lives.

This is a specific look at culture, and is not our entire mission. But it is a helpful way of thinking about our stance to the world.

Next

Part 6 examines some more tangible expressions, this time through the lens of political environments: does it work in an anti-Christian environment? A post-Christian one? A Christian one?