“So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:15 NIV).
What is culture and how did it get crooked?
While there are many ways to define the word “culture,” the definition that we will be using is as follows:
“Culture is the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another” (Dictionary.com).
With this meaning in mind, we may say, “I love Greek culture.” Or, “I am a Southerner.”
Both of the statements above refer to a certain way of life developed by people living in that particular time and/or geographic area. When we speak of culture in this sense, we must include the following aspects (List borrowed from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute):
- Language: the most sophisticated medium of expression.
- Arts and Sciences: the most advanced and refined forms of human expression.
- Thought: the ways in which people perceive, interpret, and understand the world around them.
- Spirituality: the value system transmitted through generations for the inner well-being of human beings, expressed through language and actions.
- Social activity: the shared pursuits within a cultural community, demonstrated in a variety of festivities, feasts and life celebrating events.
- Interaction: the social aspects of human contact, including the give-and-take of socialization, negotiation, protocol and conventions.
So, culture is a man-made reality. It’s how we accent our language and how we spice our food. It’s the music we play and the entertainment we enjoy. It’s the lens through which we view reality– it’s our worldview.
But the Bible warns that the culture of this world is “crooked.” There’s something not quite right in the world and our inner compass can sense it. There’s a thorn on the rose, a worm in the apple. The family portrait over the mantle is hanging a little… crooked. Sure there’s beauty and good in the world, but it’s mixed in with a morass of ugliness and evil. Human culture is crooked.
How did it get that way?
Sin.
That’s the human twist that bent the culture crooked. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the world that God had declared “good” was affected/infected too. God’s grace and goodness still glistens through, but humanity and this world have been crooked ever since. There are weeds in the garden.
How do we respond?
We shine. But more on that later…