Christ and Culture - Living with the Culture

This is a post I noted from Justin Taylor's blog a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to post and comment on because it gets to the heart of some ideas that I have been wrestling with for years.
For the original thoughts go here and read it http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/05/willson-christ-and-culture-in-light-of.html

Culture in the post is defined as
"a social environment in which we define the meaning of life (including the meaning of truth, goodness, and beauty) through the means of worship, beliefs, values, traditions, language, social and political organization, art, technology, and social customs."

And so as we think about culture, we have to be aware of two extremes: assimilation and withdrawal. You see there is a culture out there, that we have to realize is heavily influenced by Satan and so as a Christian, we have to filter everything that comes in your eyes, ears, hands and mind through a Christian worldview. What can happen though is that some will not filter ideas and wind up looking no different than the world. Others will throw their hands up in defeat saying that there is no winning and withdrawl from culture completely.

But you know what, neither of these extremes display the power of Christ. Assimilating doesn't show anyone that Christ is different and worth following and doesn't display the power of a changed life to a dying world. Withdrawing in defeat does not rest in the power of the gospel, trusting that Jesus has overcome the world and so as we rest in that power to relate to the culture around us.

So what do we do? Well, as we live in culture, we aim to reflect Christ through the way we live. Where the Bible is clear (ie sex outside of marriage, drukenness, profanity, etc) we submit to God's Word to guide us in displaying the life of Christ. But inevitably, people in this discussion will point to the "gray areas", areas where the Bible does not give clear instructions when we ask questions like, "Is it OK just to fast-forward the sex scene and watch the rest of the movie? Should I smoke a cigar with my unbelieving father? How tight is too tight? Can a Christian play poker? Can I have a beer with dinner? And so, a second post, which again I highly recommend to you, will help in this area. http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001494.cfm

When we ask those sorts of questions and any other "gray" questions we have in mind, these ideas can guide us

Imitate God
Distrust Your Heart
Think Biblically
Involve Others
Decide to worship

To give you a practical example of how all this works, I got a few tattoos. As I was thinking and praying about whether or not to do it. I tried to do these things. First, I went to God's Word to see if there was anything clear forbidding tattoos (which there isn't). But I didn't want to stop there, as a sinner, I have to distrust my heart and so I wanted to make sure this wasn't just about impressing people and doing something to be "cool". Next, I involved other Christians that I trust and finally decided I was going to worship God and trust that through these lessons, I could trust that God was leading me through this decision.
There have been other times where I haven't done so well when it comes to those lessons, but I did want to provide you with a practical example of how this can work.
As we live in this culture as Christians we have to be aware that our actions reflect God to others and so we need to learn to ask serious questions when it comes to relating to the culture around us and how it affects the way we live.
Christ wants us to be in the world not of the world and so I pray these thoughts have given you more food for thought as to what that means.

Tomorrow I will follow up with some more key thoughts, especially as it relates to being a leader and remembering the weaker brother.

The Ducks just scored, that sucks!