The question of “what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem” or “what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens” has been a matter of great debate for millennia. Christians have biblical directives about what it means to be “in the world” but not “of it,” and must balance that with the struggle of living and promoting a faith that is relevant to the day in which it is expressed. This is no easy task, no matter what your opinions might whisper to you. James Davison Hunter, a scholar at the University of Virginia Institute for Advanced Cultural Studies, has identified three main ideological fronts which have emerged among American Christians. He calls them “paradigms for cultural engagement.” While they are not all-encompassing, they provide a framework that all of us can understand with regard to where we’ve been as a Christian body of believers, but more importantly, where we must go. Hunter describes the three major groups as the defensive against, relevant to, and purity from groups. Each of these groupings also aligns with particular political influences, so much so that many culturally active Christians have no separation between what they believe about how a pluralistic (some would even say, post-Christian) nation should function outside of what they believe about Christ, the church, and Christian living. They believe their Christian influence matters politically more than in almost any other arena, and they are bent on shaping culture through political means more than anything else.
Is this what Jesus meant to teach us when he paused at a well to talk to a woman with a reputation in the middle of the day? What about when he taught us to live in harmony with others, to know that those blessed among us are the poor in spirit, the meek, the pure in heart, those who mourn? Remember when he was scorned and beaten by the political leaders at the end of his earthly life, yet did not open his mouth? There’s much to be said about Jesus’ approach to living a public life with significant political overtones, yet keeping his mouth shut…or feeding people who were hungry…or tending to the needs of those who were sick and desperate…or helping a bridal party save face when they ran out of wine…or…the list goes on and on. Hunter ascribes this humility, this steadfastness, this concern, this way of living as a fourth, alternative way: faithful presence within. What might it mean for Christians to—you guessed it—be truly, purely Christlike in all the ways they approach the biggest cultural issues of the day, to recognize that people matter more than party, that status shrinks in light of humility, to be faithfully present as one who understands and incarnates a Christ who ACTUALLY showed us this way, who demonstrated path of leadership in both the day-to-day stuff of life and the most significant questions of our day?
I have a few thoughts about this (more to come soon) and am grateful to Hunter for his keen insight and call to something more than the sad cultural rut (my opinion) in which we seem to be stuck. Here at RHCC, we’re going to be having more and more of these discussions. I hope you’ll join us here on our blog as well as in person when we gather every 90 days or so. If you missed our first Faith and Culture Forum on 10/27/11 with Matthew Paul Turner, Guy Chmieleski, and Shelia Mullican, we’ll post a link to it here soon so you can catch up.
Posted in UncategorizedTags: faith culture | by Brent Hutchinson No Comments
