Christ and Culture - In the World, Not of It
(Originally written for the Youth Ministry Exchange)
It seems to be an ever present question in the minds of youth and parents. What activities / music / movies / television shows should we watch? Should we only do things that are explicitly Christian? Is it OK for us to sample things that are not sold at a Christian bookstore? Where do we draw the line? How do we support youth who are trying to live in the faith, but can't seem to leave the culture behind?
Today's Christian world is dominated by a subculture which finds a Christian substitute for something that is secular. Have we gained anything by doing this? Can art and music, inspired by God, be held on its own merits without cheapening it by calling it a "Christian" version of a secular thing? We divorce ourselves from society by having Christian television, Christian radio, Christian movies, Christian books, and Christian clothing. By perpetuating this we tell those who are non-believers around us that what they have is no good, that we must have something different. Also, do we step over the line and mock the very faith we seek to demonstrate by having to copy a secular idea to get our message out?
We as Christians have a tendency to "drop out" of society into our own monastic way of living. We homeschool or send our children to private schools because we are afraid of the influence of public schools. We only associate with those people we go to church with. We expect our youth to not have piercings and tattoos, and when they show up with them, we treat them differently because of how they look on the outside. We don't give them a chance because we have already passed judgment on their attitude and heart by their appearance. How is that modeling Jesus' love to the world?
The hardest part of living a Christian life is trying to exist in the world, but not be joined to it. This can be especially hard for young people who haven't yet developed the critical thinking skills to separate the two. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" That's a pretty straight-forward exhortation by Paul to not be associated with non-Christians. However, how do we square that with what Jesus did in Luke 19 by going to the house of Zacchaeus? Even then, people said "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'" (Luke 19:7).
Jesus was willing to mingle and talk to 'sinners'. He went out of his way to talk to the tax collectors and the prostitutes, knowing that they would be more willing to listen than the priests would be. Why? Because the priests already thought they knew the answer to the God-shaped hole in all of our hearts. Their hearts had been hardened to what Jesus was teaching. The prostitutes and tax collectors were using something else to fill that hole, but it did not fulfill them. If Jesus had been afraid of being near them because they were sinners, then who would have saved them. In His perfect love, he looked past the activities and the job the person had, and saw straight into their soul.
When Paul says that we are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, he is speaking of a deeper relationship than what Jesus entered into with those considered to be sinners. By no means are we to choose non-Christian people as our confidants or partners. However, we should be welcoming to those people and show them how to pass from the darkness into the light of Jesus Christ. The youth that come through our doors have to know that we love them regardless of clothing or hairstyle. They have to believe that we care about them, even though they may look like a porcupine that got mauled by a paint crew on the way home from a death metal concert.
How can we be aware of where the world is coming from if we are not in the world? I'm not advocating that we become prostitutes and tax collectors (though I'm sure that there are some really great IRS agents), but we can't remove ourselves completely from those around us. We can't learn how the world works without being a part of it. How best can we understand our kids' love for all things Harry Potter without reading the books ourselves? How can we understand the culture without being in it? Removing ourselves from non-believers will only weaken us, and make us less effective in reaching a hurting world. This doesn't mean that we immerse ourselves in the things of earth, but we should have knowledge of what goes on around us. There is a reason that kids watch a particular show or listen to a certain band. If we intend on reaching them, we have to uncover that reason.
Not long ago, I had plans to take our youth to a concert by the band Delirious?. I had played a few of their songs for the youth and they all seemed to warm up to them. Some even commented about how much they liked Martin Smith's hair. I thought I had them. Most of these youth had never heard a Christian band before and they seemed to be legitimately interested. So, I brought up the concert. The unfortunate thing was that it was a two hour drive to get there, but the youth said they wanted to go. As we got closer to the day however, fewer said they could. When the week finally came, only three had committed to it. On the day of the concert, right before we were to leave, all three bailed out on me. I didn't realize it at the time, but I had made a fatal mistake.
Two weeks later, three of the girls in our youth group skipped out because they won tickets to see their favorite band, My Chemical Romance. It was then that I realized what I had done wrong. Instead of trying to relate to them and understand why they liked the bands that they did, I thought that I could throw a Christian band at them that played modern music and they would fall in line. Instead of forcing myself to learn about their life, I tried to force them to learn about how I lived mine. I didn't reach out to them so much as I threw them a bone, hoping they'd take it and gnaw for a while.
Christian youth face the same struggles today that we faced at that age. They are trying to walk the line between honoring their faith, yet not be mocked by their peers. Junior high and high school are hard. We can't put pressure on youth to be perfect. There will be movies that they watch, music that they listen to, and books that they read which are not edifying to their spirit. I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't experienced that. What we as youth workers have to do is give them an outlet to express their likes and dislikes. We have to discover what drives them and what things the world offers that tempts them. Not everything that is not explicitly Christian is bad for them. However, they need to be taught how to discern for themselves what will help their spirit grow and what will cause it to crumble. When these kids grow up, they will have to decide for themselves the path they choose, whether it be in the world or of the world.
We must always remember who we serve. Matthew 6:24 states that no man can serve two masters. We can't be worldly and Christian. We have to keep our eyes on God and keep our hearts and those of our youth guarded against evil. The key is being in the world, but not bonded to the world. We must be able to function within this fallen world, and maneuver through the minefields that lie in it, while still keeping our hearts tuned to God. We should have wisdom on why the world works the way it does, but not intimate knowledge of it. Most of all, we should have faith in God and let Him direct our steps.