Cultural Renewal over Assimilation or Isolation

How does a Christian live in a city that is so filled with all kinds of people with differing values, beliefs, lifestyles, and worldviews? How do they respond in a way that reflects God’s heart and vision? This question gets at the heart of one’s view of culture. Every Christian has one and it can be avoid the culture altogether or let’s only use the culture to make our lives better, safe, and more comfortable. In other words, the city is there to benefit me and my family. Others just assimilated to the culture for social, political, economic reasons. Others confronted the culture telling it how bad it is. Yet others believe many of the aspects of culture ought to be redeemed and renewed despite how likely it would be because that reflected God’s vision and heart. Historically, there has been Christians who have adopted all of these approaches. The confusion and disagreements came over the usages of the word “world.” On one hand, the Bible warns against in 1 John 2:15 “do not love the world.” Yet on the other hand, God has created the world and deemed it at one time “good” (Genesis 1). And John 3:16 says, God loves the world. How do these two apparent conflicting ideas go together? Can they go together?

We believe at Sandy Ridge without any hesitation that they both of them reflect God’s heart. God doesn’t want His people to embrace thinking and ways of living that stand in opposition to the kingdom of God. Yet God also wants His One Church to be the hope of the world, to be the hope of a city. The church was created to be the people of God to join God in His redemptive mission in the world. The church was never intended to exist for itself. This leads to cultural renewal or as some in the Christian church say, “community transformation.”

One key place where we see God’s heart for His people to renew the city is in Jeremiah 29 where God tells His people to go into a wicked city in every aspect and seek the peace of the city. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom and means total well-being, total flourishment in every way. That would include relationally, physically, politically, economically, and spiritually. This is astounding, how can this be that God would want us to root for a wicked city filled with false teaching, ungodly systems and governments? The answer in God’s authoritative letter through the prophet Jeremiah calls His people to serve the city for the sake of seeing an alternate city of God growing and developing in the earthly city in which they live.

If that is a bit confusing or new then we need to understand God’s theology of the city which God contrasted through the Old Testament by two types of cities: the city of God and the city of man. In Isaiah 26 the city of God is called the strong city and the city of man is called the lofty city. Psalm 48 and 87 talks of the city of God like a holy mountain. Other times like in the Micah or Zechariah the city of God is referred to Zion and the city of man as Babylon. The city of man can be characterized by pride, power, trying to make a name for yourself and therefore a by-product of this city is exhaustion. People are so tired by striving for money, love, power, recognition so that they can feel good about themselves. Another way to describe the city man is: the city and others are there to benefit me and my family. The city, it’s structures, systems; people are just to be used to further your own agenda and desires. Yet the heavenly city, the city of God, operates on shalom not pride. God’s grace not human efforts. Joy not exhaustion. People in the city of God look to give not to get because you already know who you are in relationship to Your Creator. The city of God can be put this way: my life is to serve you and the city. Jesus affirms this when He tells His followers in Matthew 5 that they are the city of God on a hill. So Jesus is saying what God said to the Jews that the city of God isn’t future or a geographical place but that every city that His people dwell in it actually has 2 cities within it: the city of man and the city of God.

So if you are here and profess to know Jesus, then you are called to seek the shalom of the city in prayer as well as serve the city. And we can serve and pray for the city for many different motives like I want to feel good or better, I want to show my kids that serving is important; I want to serve so that more people will come to my church. But none of that ought to be our true motive but rather for the sake of the city of God being made more visible in the earthly city in which you reside. And don’t think as your pray and serve the city that you don’t need the prayers and accountability of others because there will always be that temptation to lose your distinction and be assimilated or just serve the city for your sake or the sake of your tribe.