The relationship between Christianity and culture has been presented in various ways over the centuries. An individual’s philosophy concerning this relationship impacts major aspects of their faith. These aspects include, but are not limited to, evangelism, discipleship, participation in the arts and sciences, the role of education, and the style of worship in church, etc. Also, how a Christian fulfills the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 will be impacted by one’s philosophy of cultural engagement. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus says to “Go.” The other accounts of this command, such as the one in Acts 1:8, echo a similar message. Christians take these passages and understand that there is a relationship the church should have with the culture. But the major question that arises concerns the nature of this relationship. What kind of relationship is it? Also, how does one’s theology (how a Christian views God and his attributes) impact this relationship?

 

Before looking at the various proposed models of Christianity’s relationship to culture it is necessary to define the following terms/phrases: world, culture, and spirit of the age. These terms/phrases are used in a variety of ways and, consequently, require explanation for their usage in this article. “World” is often used in two different ways. This term can refer to the world at large, that is to say, a broad general reference to all people of the globe. This is the meaning in John 3:16 when Jesus declares “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” An alternative way to use this word is to refer to a system of evil or Satan’s system of sin that opposes God. This is how the word is used throughout the entire New Testament book of 1 John. The former of these explanations (the world at large) is more proper for this discussion since the phrase “spirit of the age” is also used. The spirit of the age is utilized here to refer to the general consensus about what the people of the world consider truth to be and the result of living out those beliefs. The word culture has been defined in numerous ways by people from various worldviews. A general way to define it is as the environment that humankind builds upon the creation of God. This is comprised of human language, art, music, customs, values, beliefs, and ideas. Genesis 1:28 states “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Many Christian scholars take the phrase “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” as a command to go and make culture. Adam and Eve were not to just to build upon the creation and subdue it but were also to formulate civilization to the glory of God.

 

But since sin has come into the world and brought corruption, what is Christianity’s relationship to the world supposed to look like? J. Gresham Machen proposes three options: (1) Christianity is subordinate to culture; (2) Christianity seeks to destroy culture; and (3) Christianity is to consecrate culture. The first option is incompatible with biblical Christianity because it does away with objective norms. If Christianity becomes a social construct, then its truth claims will vary depending upon what culture it is a part of. This quickly devolves into theological relativism and strips the Bible of its authority. The special revelation of God in the Scriptures cannot be objective truth if the meaning of Christian truth is determined by cultural norms. The church becomes driven by the spirit of the age instead of the objective truth of God’s revelation. This position also strips objective meaning from aspects of creation and the human person. Christianity is unable to provide objective meaning to the human person, gender, sexuality, moral concepts, ethics, etc. when Scripture’s authority is disregarded. This position is very similar to the modern-day United Methodists who emphasize a type of “social gospel.” They do well in carrying out gospel ethics by helping the sick and feeding the poor, but they fail to emphasize the need for personal salvation from sin. More contemporary groups such as Jesus Culture, Elevation Church, Hillsong Church, and Bethel Church also have a similar view. These churches fail to understand that the gospel is not just about loving others and serving them, but about leading people into a personal faith in Jesus Christ so they can be miraculously transformed through the redemptive power of Christ. Most theologians who hold to such beliefs today are often considered liberal in their theological claims.

 

Machen’s second option is one where Christianity seeks to destroy culture. This is often the view that became known in the second half of the twentieth century as Fundamentalism. The culture is considered evil and so unredeemable that it should be completely avoided by Christianity. In a sense, Christianity has its own culture that has nothing to do with the cultures of the world. Machen illustrates that this position believes Christians should have nothing to do with high culture, such as the arts and sciences. This position is the extreme opposite of the first one. The consequences of such a position severely limit the church’s ability to evangelize or make disciples. As Albert M. Wolters asserts in Creation Regained the only thing considered sacred by these Christians is the church itself. The weakness of this position is that it fails to address the Cultural Mandate, resulting in the absence of truth in the various cultural sectors. This will naturally lead to the furthering of sin’s corruption of the culture and a more wicked spirit of the age. The advocates of this position may claim that a withdrawal of the church from the world’s culture results in a more sanctified church. But this argument fails due to the fact that the church is not only disobeying the Cultural Mandate in Genesis 1:28 but is also crippling its ability to fulfill the Great Commission. Many Christians who fell into this way of thinking tend to believe that being a Christian is about living a life of radical separation, not just from cultural trends, but from anything in the world as well. Many of the Christians have demonized things like going to the movies, women wearing pants, women wearing jewelry, Christians wanting to be artists, scientists, etc. These Christians have been taught to think that the only sacred vocations in life are pastors or missionaries. But this is a non-biblical way of thinking. These Christians fail to realize that following Christ is impossible when one withdraws from the culture. Jesus said to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. But this makes absolutely no sense if it is not within the context of going and engaging the whole world and the various cultures around us.

 

The final position Machen offers is for Christianity to consecrate culture. “Consecrate” means to sanctify or redeem. Machen champions the third option as being the most biblical, and he is correct. Christianity should not be subjected to cultural trends and norms, nor should it seek to destroy the arts and sciences. Instead, Machen avers that Christianity should seek to cultivate culture and consecrate the different cultural sectors to the service of God. Wolters agrees with this position by using the language of “structure” and “direction.” He states that although sin has “misdirected” or twisted the original “structure” of creation, Christianity should seek to engage creation and culture and “untwist” or “redirect” them to the glory and service of God. Paul echoes this sentiment in 1 Corinthians 10:31 when he asserts that “whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all for the glory of God.” In a sense Christianity should seek to reclaim culture from the misdirection and corruption of sin. Reclaiming culture is not done by destroying it, but by influencing it with the truth.

 

Some strengths of this position appear obvious. The church is able to fulfill the Great Commission and evangelize when it is engaging people. Christians are able to fulfill the Cultural Mandate when they are engaging every sector of culture. This position allows Christianity to both create culture and influence culture with biblically grounded principles. The result of this leads to human flourishing because people’s lives are being influence by truth.

 

But theology plays an imperative role in this as well. A.W. Tozer once stated in The Knowledge of the Holy that “what comes to your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” Tozer’s point is that how a person views God influences their entire worldview. Machen champions that Christians should consecrate culture, but this can only be done when Christians have a proper view of God. This begins with understanding his nature and attributes. God’s attributes are often characterized in two ways: communicable and incommunicable. The former refers to those attributes which human beings can experience and attain, at least in a finite way: love, wisdom, knowledge, etc. Incommunicable attributes refer to those attributes which God alone can have: eternality, infinity, sovereignty, omniscience, omnipotent, omnipresence, etc. These attributes are also connected to one another (i.e., God’s love is infinite and eternal). These are aspects of his nature. Christians can consecrate culture by loving their neighbor and also by producing art that emphasizes beauty. Christians can participate in sciences by operating from a worldview of truth that views nature as the creation of the omnipotent and omniscient God. A Christian can be a psychologist who is able not just to love people with the love of God who are dealing with depression, but also treat them with the sense of value that being made in God’s image affords them. This is possible because the Christian operates from God’s knowledge and wisdom. Educators are capable of making disciples not just by teaching the truth of the gospel, but by teaching every subject area from a biblical worldview. Educators who passionately teach and interact with their students within a biblical worldview framework are sowing the seeds of truth that will contribute to human flourishing in the next generation. This indicates why discipleship is imperative and why it is essential that the church not allow its convictions to be determined by the spirit of the age, but instead by the Word of God.