For as long as I can remember—at both a professional and personal level—I’ve fretted about the matter of living a Christ-like life in the middle of a culture that’s perhaps not always righteous. I’m aware that both contexts—Christ and culture—can lay claim on my identity, my priorities, my values.
Just a few days ago, a perhaps-helpful metaphor came to mind: That my lifestyle and identity might be pictured as a log cabin that I inhabit. This home is comprised of both spiritual and secular components, both with characteristic strengths. I can think of my cabin as logs fitted together and made secure by filling in the chinks, cracks and holes with other materials. If there’s no structure, the home falls down. If there’s no filling, the home is incomplete, susceptible to inclement weather and vermin.
There could be two ways to think of the construction/maintenance process. In the first, the influences of the prevailing culture are the logs and the between-logs substances are spiritual. In the second frame of mind, spiritual truths are the logs, and the packing matter is comprised of culturally contextual matters.
Here’s the rub, though: If I think of the culture in which I live as the basic structure for my identity and a sense of place, then what’s spiritual merely fills the cracks here and there. The home holds together because I know and accept the strength of my cultural contexts, and matters of faith are secondary. On the other hand, if I consider spiritual truths, attitudes and behaviors as the key elements to my lifestyle home, I put cultural considerations in a subordinate place. “No man can serve two masters,” says Jesus. (Matthew 6:24). I may have to choose between accepting as paramount the lifestyle invitations of the culture or those of Jesus. One will be logs and the other filler material.
Right now, it feels as though our culture is heading for collapse, so it probably can’t serve very well as the guiding reality by which I build and maintain a fulfilling and lasting lifestyle. What’s always been there throughout the rise and fall of civilizations? The reality of God’s presence, God’s love and God’s invitation to live purposefully for God’s will.
Perhaps I can stop fretting?
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