Not too long ago there was a brief article by Liz Grimes which took only one thing for granted… This is a Christian culture?
I suppose that I could see how, on the surface, one might think so. What, with these Bible beaters throwing “Merry Christmas” down our throats at every turn. And true, the US probably does still rate one of the more modest television lineups when compared to the world at large. But puritanical values do not a Christian culture make.
The truth of the matter is that American culture is far from the values espoused in any sect of Christianity, and so many of the churches will tell you that off the cuff. As the social divisions become more and more apparent the truth behind our society rears its ugly head.
It seems that the lie begins sometime in the 1950’s when some people for the first time in their lives had disposable income, and the emerging TV media was there and waiting with a list of things that were needed in every American home. Somehow in that time purchases became synonymous with being a good, red-blooded, all-American W.A.S.P--the envy of every neighborhood. Mother and Dad and the kids dressed in fine things in the family Buick on the way to Sunday services. This is not Christian culture. Those are Christians living in American Culture.
Honestly I’m really not sure that the majority of people in the US could survive a Christian culture. Christ promises that life will be hard! And, that His followers will be ridiculed. By converse thinking, does that mean if you aren’t finding it difficult to fit into society then maybe you aren’t following closely enough? Being a Christian, a true follower of everything that Jesus stands for is one of the most difficult practices there is. I had a favorite Youth Leader of mine that used to quote, “Mmm. Bein’ a Christian. Ain’t for whimps!”
Unlike other religious beliefs, there is so much more to the faith than a simple doctrine of “reap what you sow.” Not a basic tenant, but it is truly only one facet of the belief. There are in fact two more basic, intrinsic and infinitely more difficult ultimate guidelines: Love God with all your heart and soul and mind (which is numbing in its possibilities—what things in this life or this earth do we truly love so deeply? What is our frame of reference for this deed?), and the other, Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Now, simply to discus in brief the last of these and, to ignore the idea of self loathing, how difficult is this simple phrase in practice?
I know from experience that it is tough to put even my spouse’s desires above my own. Though I love her more than any other person on earth, my first response is to defend myself in arguments, to place my needs above hers. It is a battle not to do so! And yet I do, and I know that she does the same. And yet, as difficult as that is, as hard as we work and talk and understand one another, here is a command from Christ to do that same work with EVERY one of my neighbors. And if you understand that the realm of neighbor could potentially reach out of your neighborhood and touch stores that we frequent, friends and relatives the list seems to spiral out of control—is it even possible?
This is a Christian Culture. One in which every single person puts ever other person ahead of their own desires. I know, much to my wife’s chagrin, that I fail to do that with her on a weekly basis, to say nothing of my actions to people outside my family.
The other point that is important to consider is that goodness will never equal a Christian heart. It actually saddens me that Christians and their habits are not more prevalent so that people are better able to identify Christian attitudes from ones that are simply “good.”
Christians are people who strive, each hour of each day (pray unceasingly!) to set aside their own wishes, to lay down their own selfish humanity and to take on the easy mantle of servant-hood, peace, and self sacrifice. Christians too should “live as gently as possible on the Earth,” if for no other reason than that God entrusted it to us as caretakers, it was given as a blessed gift for our sustenance. Any gardener knows you care for the garden or it gives you weeds you cant eat.
So, instead of reclaiming, seek to dis-claim. Instead of finding things that serve us, seek to serve. A Christian culture is something difficult, seemingly impossible without the miraculous affect of God’s presence. But it is surely not something that exists today except in the minds of those who simply do not have an understanding of what that would be like.
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