Reflections From Sunday Evening

People of faith may live and thrive in an alien culture. That is the thesis I propose being found in the Book of Esther. (This is our Defining Moments series this month - Defining Moment in the book and life of Esther.) The dispersed Jews found themselves in a very alien culture. Read the book of Esher and you will see what I mean. As Christians we find ourselves living in an alien culture. If you read Matthew 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount) not looking for laws or rules but for a picture of what life is like when lived in relationship with Jesus, you get an idea of what a "Christian culture" might be. When we compare this culture - blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn (we prefer happiness), blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, with the culture we live in today we see a huge difference. Kingdom of God culture also loves our enemies, prays for those who persecute us, avoids lust, adultery and even divorce. The Kingdom of God culture is truly counter-culture. This is not a law but a grand vision for life as it is meant to be. Our culture is actully made of several sub-cultures. We have the culture of the rich and famous, the culture of violence and so on. A troubling point is that many of us tend to feel the kingdom of God culture is odder than this one we are living in today. The good news is that people of faith - Christ followers - Christians may live and thrive in an alien culture. I see our task not one of cultural accomodation. Neither is our call to escape this present age. I go with the old theologican Richard Niebuhr who says Christ seeks to trnasform culture. We are called to be agents of change. We are called to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and serve Christ as transformers of culture. People of faith may live and thrive in an alien culture. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve