Christ and Culture thoughts

So I think I've come to a nice pause in my thinking on culture. This is partially because I've exhausted the books on the subject that I planned to read, but probably mostly because thinking can only take a person so far--at some point he just has to live it.

The big question I've been wrestling with (as you have read about since pretty much the inception of this blog) is along the lines of "is affecting culture a means to reach people or can it be an end in itself? Are we doing good works just to change lives?" These sound like simple questions, but I think the answers can make a significant difference in how we approach our involvement with the world. In more concrete terms, is it ok for church groups to hand out food to the homeless without first making them sit through a sermon? Should Christians be involved in protecting the environment even if we somehow knew that nobody would be spiritually affected by that good work?

The fact that I struggle with these questions indicates my strong Evangelical bent. It's not a bad thing, but I see that it's there. That is a strong "Christ above Culture" stance (see below).

I have become more comfortable with a "Christ Transforming Culture" position as I think this through. In my readings, I've come across quite a few "Christ Transforming Culture" arguments that have been quite dissatisfying (See here. Also, in "Plowing for Hope," the author makes a very attenuated argument that the Bible begins with a garden and ends in a city, so that means we should be affecting culture--what!?). I think in order to appreciate a Christian call to change things of this world as an end in itself, you have to accept two propositions: 1) that Christ is in dominion over all things, and relatedly, 2) that we can't divide our life into a spiritual part and a secular/worldly part. In that way, interacting with the world and changing culture 1) can be a participation in what God is doing and 2) can be a spiritual act of worship just on its own.

I am sure this is quite elementary to some people, but for me that wasn't immediately obvious. I've enjoyed thinking about these issues and I do think it is practically important, particularly for someone who will be entering the workforce soon. From the "Christ above Culture" perspective, work is useful only to the extent that it puts you in touch with people you can share the gospel with, or puts you in a position to get people thinking about God. From the "Christ Transforming Culture" perspective work itself can be a spiritual act of worship. Our work itself glorifies God.