the church and culture/the church and mission

As Paul wrote to the Philippians, the relationship between the church and its social/cultural setting was never far from his mind, as he thought about what this young church needed to hear. Being fairly confident that this community of faith would likely come under the same persecution from Rome that he was experiencing personally (you recall that he wrote this letter from prison where he was jailed because of his faith) he is at great pains to remind the Philippians of their place as God's people in God's world. They are not to retreat into a cocoon. Instead they are to think carefully and discerningly about their relationship and interactions with the culture and society into which they were born and in which they are now born anew. Let's review a few of these instances:

1. Earlier, in 2:15, Paul characterized the mission of the Philippian church as those who shine like bright lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. The calling of God's people to reflect his gospel in word and deed is often characterized as being a light to the world (e.g. Matthew 5:14) and in Philippians Paul's intent in invoking this metaphor seems to be one of positive challenge. Suffering and persecution will come but he is hopeful that the Christians at Philippi will not yield to the temptation to succumb to despair and cynicism, but instead will continue to shine forth as bright lights to those who have not yet come to know God's love through faith in Christ. (For a more detailed discussion of this see the Homily Recap from (Tuesday, September 8, 2009)

2. In 1:27-29 we have another example of Paul encouraging the Philippians to stay on mission in the face of suffering. 1:27 could be translated this way: “Let your civic conduct (politeuesthe) be marked by your commitment to the gospel of Christ” (translation from Jeph Holloway, Cross and Community: Philippians as Pauline Political Discourse, Christian Ethics Today, Issue 42). Moreover, the Philippians, in the face of suffering, are to in no way "be intimidated" or diverted from their mission, as they are encouraged (v29) to view the story of their lives as belonging to the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Jesus lived to bring the love of God to others and did not allow suffering to divert him from the mission of God; the Philippians Christians belong to that story, hence they are not only those who believe in Jesus but suffer with him. Fred Craddock's words are helpful: "They cannot assume that outside opposition in and of itself will create internal unity. Even if it did it would be a unity defined by the opposition. Therefore the church must struggle together for the 'faith of the gospel'. If they cease to act and simply react, then it is no longer the gospel but the culture that gives the church its identity (From Philippians Commentary, Interpretation Series)". (For a more detailed discussion see the Homily Recap from Monday, July 6, 2009.)

Finally, in the remarks before us this week (4:8-9) we have yet another example of Paul's concern that God's people not imagine that their loyalty to Jesus should be construed as a call to escape from a dynamic involvement in their social/cultural setting. Our first clue that Paul has this in mind comes from the list of virtues he mentions. The list, what it covers, the way it is written, its grammar and its formatting all point to the fact that he is borrowing his language and categories from the Graeco-Roman world of ethical discourse, teachings on the good life. It was common in the great philosophers of Greek and Rome to talk about what is honorable, just, pure, etc. So, Paul is saying, understand your identity as a Christian not as a call to escape from the world but as a way to engage constructively the honorable, the just, the commendable wherever one finds it. As Christians, we should be eager to partner with those outside of the church to make contributions to the common good in the arenas of social justice, works of mercy, the arts, etc. It is unattractive when Christians make it seem that they believe that only the Christians are making important contributions to the world.

With regard to the relationship between church and culture, I have found N.T. Wright's remarks to be helpful:
'From the beginning no serious Christian has been able to say ‘this is my culture, so I must adapt the gospel to fit within it’, just as no serious Christian has been able to say ‘this is my surrounding culture, so I must oppose it tooth and nail’. Christians are neither chameleons, changing colour to suit their surroundings, nor rhinoceroses, ready to charge at anything in sight. There is no straightforward transference between any item of ordinary culture and the gospel, since all has been distorted by evil; but likewise there is nothing so twisted that it cannot be redeemed, and nothing evil in itself. The Christian is thus committed, precisely as a careful reader of scripture, to a nuanced reading of culture and a nuanced understanding of the response of the gospel to different elements of culture. You can see this in Philippians, where Paul is clear that as a Christian you must live your public life in a manner worthy of the gospel, and that whatever is pure, lovely and of good report must be celebrated – but also that Jesus is Lord while Caesar isn’t, and that we are commanded to shine like lights in a dark world. There are no short cuts here, no easy answers. Prayer, scripture and complex negotiation are the order of the day."N.T. Wright

Questions for discussion:

1. When are you tempted to be a chameleon (see above)? What makes you susceptible to this temptation? How can you guard against it?

2. When are you tempted to be a rhinoceros (see above)? What make sou susceptible to this temptation? How can you guard against this?

3. Can you give a good example of what it looks like to constructively engage the culture as a Christian or as the church?