bury your big stick
April 11, 2006
Sorry for the belated entry; my computer has been on the fritz. Of course, something like this happens during my first week of blogging…
In my last post, I outlined the vision ‘umbrella’ for relevintage: to be a voice for the cultural redemptive inside [acutely aware of needs of believers and non-believers within the context of the local church] and outside [missional-minded within the context of culture] the church. Today we will be looking at the first core value that relevintage will be built upon: the Bible as the source for cultural redemption.
Why start here? If we are talking about impacting culture, isn’t starting with a value that most of the culture rejects foolish?
There is no doubt a tension that exists between what the world and the Christian sees as the basis for ‘redemption’. I guess the best way to approach this would be to say that though culture at large is non-Christian, it doesn’t mean it is lacking the need for a Christian stimulus. In other words, just because a pluralistic society snubs a single source for the meaning of life doesn’t mean there isn’t a solitary foundation that exists.
So how do we effectively use our filter [the Bible] to influence AND honor culture? Again, we as Christians do not question the infallibility and authority of the Bible. We know it tells the story of God’s plan to redeem our world. We know the Gospel has the power to change the heart of man. But when it and we intersect with society, how does this play out?
I believe it happens when the Christian develops and lives out what is called a Biblical worldview.
But first, what is a worldview?
David Noebel, author of Understanding the Times and president of Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado, says a worldview is “the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. It is any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world and man.”
Why is a worldview important? Because it shapes how we think and act every moment. Our worldview tells us what is real, what is important, what is right, and what is wrong. Whether conscious or subconscious, every person has some type of worldview. In fact, I believe the reason for the multiplicity of religions and belief systems in the world is an undercurrent of the human need for a higher truth.
So what is a Biblical worldview? A Biblical worldview sees the world through the lens of the Word of God. It is evident of a believer who is learning, applying and trusting God’s truths in every area of their lives. And the more we embrace a biblical worldview, the more we will experience what the Bible calls eternal life: the rich life of the future, beginning now.
But here is an alarming problem. According to the Barna Research Group, data from telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of 2033 adults, conducted during September through November 2003, showed that only 9% of born again Christians have such a perspective on life. Pretty staggering. If we want to have a bearing on society, doesn’t this percentage seem anemic?
So what should make up our Biblical worldview? During the aforementioned Barna study, a Biblical worldview was defined as believing that:
…absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views: Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.
So back to the issue of cultural convergence. What happens when a Biblical worldview and a non-Biblical worldview collide?
The gospel is offensive. The story of the cross as a substitute for our sin begs the reality that we are a sinful race. We don’t like that term even though it is Biblical.
But we have to remember that culture is not working from the same place we are. Just because we believe we have the authority to speak from a Biblical point of view, it does not give us the authority to be brazen in our presentation. Yes, the heart of the gospel may potentially be confrontational [I have seen the gospel be liberating to some when they realize their sinfulness and their freedom from it], but our sharing of it does not have to be.
In his blog series, “Developing a Biblical Worldview,” Mark D. Roberts, author and pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church says this:
… my belief in absolute truth doesn’t imply that I perceive truth in an absolutely true manner. I am a limited and sinful being, one who sees “through a glass, darkly” (1 Cor 13:12, KJV)… Thus one who embraces and commends a biblical worldview must do it with humility … we must ‘speak gently and bury our big stick,’ even as we speak boldly of what we believe to be absolutely true.
So how will relevintage manage the juncture of the Biblical worldview meeting with culture? Here are just a few ideas I have:
- First and foremost, a Biblical worldview will serve as a general filter on all blog content
- In-depth study in single entry or series format on timely passages of Scripture
- Devotionals that encourage the believer to persevere
- Reprinting of impacting, opportune Biblical commentary/devotionals from pastors/theologians/thinkers
- Text/audio/video of personal teaching
So why start here with the first value for relevintage? I believe that what culture really seeks is the God who is already seeking them. As we venture together engaging with culture, we must be ready to show them Who they are seeking. This starts with a commitment to a Biblical worldview.
Oh, and one more thing. Don’t forget to take a shovel, go to the backyard, dig a big hole and bury your ‘big stick.’
Posted in relevintage, vision
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April 11th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
I can still speak softly, right? All kidding aside, I think you are begining to thread the needle very well. It is very hard to be able to engage this culture and still hold on to core values.
April 11th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Hey Brad. I’m just an old guy having a hard time getting my mind around some of the lingo you are using. Take the term, “cultural redemption”. Does this mean that under the best of circumstances the entire culture might possibly be redeemed? If so, then I’m not quite sure where this whole cultural redemption thing fits in when Matthew 7:13-14 tells us that only a few are going to find the way to eternal life. Should we let our light shine (Matthew 5:16) so that the world knows? Of course we should! The Gospel is by nature a “big stick”. Simply by it’s being proclaimed, some people will find it offensive and some will demand that you apologize for accusing them of being sinners. In a nutshell, yes we should engage people, but never in a manner that waters down the gospel just to make it more appealing, or seem more palatable. When we take the hard truths out of the message, then the message ceases to be relevant. I don’t believe it is possible to present the gospel in an honest way and not offend some people. I hope I haven’t missed the point here of the whole cultural redemption thing here, but I would rather be accused of carrying my “big stick” around and offend some people than bury it, and misrepresent the message of the gospel.
April 12th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Randy-Good questions.
The aim of relevintage is to help the believer engage with a lost culture [or you could use the word society, mankind, humanity]. It is just another way of saying we need to be evangelistic-minded individuals. [For further detail, see Charles Colson's book, How Now Shall We Live? Particularly part five entitled: Restoration: How Now Shall We Live?]
But a cultural redemptive goes a step further than just preaching at people. It, as I said before, engages with them. The best way we can share the gospel with people is in the context of relationship. And relationship assumes there is a personal connection.
Of course entire culture will not be redeemed. The road is narrow. But that doesn’t negate the command to share the full gospel.
What is the full gospel? It is a gospel that insists on recognizing our sins and repenting, receiving by faith One that we have never seen through grace, abandoning our self-reliance, denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him (Matthew 16:24). I don’t know how that could be construed as a watered- down or a misinterpreted version of the gospel.
I never said the full gospel won’t offend some. In fact, I said it can be offensive. But emphasis on the word ’some.’ Like I said, some, if not many, will be liberated by the truth of the gospel.
Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC says it this way: Without the knowledge of our extreme sin, the payment of the cross seems trivial and does not transform. But without the knowledge of Christ satisfying life and death, the knowledge of sin would crush us or move us to repress it or deny it. Take away either the knowledge of sin or the knowledge of grace and people’s lives will not be changed.
The gospel is Good news. The English word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “godspell” (good story). The classical Greek word euangelion means a reward for bringing of good news or the good news itself. The gospel is a gospel of forgiveness, hope, freedom, eternal life.
When I refer to the ‘big stick,’ I am referring to the West African proverb “speak softly and carry a big stick” that the then governor of NY, Teddy Roosevelt, used to describe how to deal with people. I think we should bury our ‘big stick’ approach, not the ‘big stick’ of the full gospel.
April 13th, 2006 at 11:53 am
“When asked which is the “greatest” of God’s commandments, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). The longer I live the more I’m convinced and convicted that Christians in our society forming relationships with lost people and showing them love by just being their friend and being an example is the greatest form of evangelism. Recently in my church, one of the members of our youth group died suddenly. My pastor talked of the visitation and how people this kid had waited at a restaurant came to pay respects just out of how he lived his life and treated them. In education there is a common trite expression used “people don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care”. I think the same holds true in our culture of corruption and Godly people walking away from their faith. People are desperate to be around radical, wide awake Christianity. Souls are tied to our obedience. Christians must perservere in the faith and be a light in a dark world as opposed to living in a bubble of Christian friends and influence.