Recently I was on my way to meet with a prayer group and stopped at the hardware store to pick up some items. Yes, there are always projects at home. On my way out I noticed the addition of new speed bumps in the parking lot. Which led me to thinking about project management and scope creep (the way things are gradually added to a project beyond the original scope). This led me to coin in my head the term Culture Creep. Yes, my mind works in mysterious ways!
The speed bump for me was an indicator of the increasing measures we see put in place to create safety in our culture. More and more are being put in place in our city, more and more obstructions to traffic flow and reduced residential speed limits, to create safety. I don’t know whether they are creating safety, from listening to others I know the various measures are compounding a sense of frustration about an inability to easily navigate the city.
Now you may be wondering what on earth this has to do with the church. I see it in the culture increasingly creeping into the church because we live in it. As our culture focuses on more and more safety measures, we have gone from physical safety to seeking to create emotional safety, which is where the law of unintended consequences comes in.
We are creating in our world in general, and also in the church, a culture that can’t handle or tolerate challenges. We are losing the ability to navigate difficulty, which is bad for both our culture and the church. An example I have shared with a few people is a Facebook group where I am one of the administrators. It is set up as a debate group where Christians and atheists may challenge one another’s viewpoints. We have strong guidelines around respectful dialogue that we adhere to. On one occasion a young man joined the group and raised a point. I disagreed with his point and explained why I disagreed, his response was, “I am going to report you to Facebook for bullying.” I pointed out to him that he had in fact joined a debate group and people were at times going to disagree with him. He promptly left the group. The sad part about the exchange was in his worldview disagreement was not only bad and dangerous, it was bullying behaviour. This has become part of our culture along with a few other undesirable characteristics.
Yet, because our modern western church has become so enculturated this type of thinking also crops up in the church. A well known Christian made a post about an increasingly popular view of the atonement. I commented that I still held to the Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) view as I saw it rooted in scripture. One fellow challenged me, said the view was wrong and quoted a couple of comments from Jesus. I said I agreed with Jesus’ comments but the passages he referenced had nothing to do with atonement. I then provided scriptural comments from Jesus that supported and reinforced PSA. He immediately responded by no longer responding!
This type of behaviour is a pattern I see, an avoidance of addressing issues. Yet that is precisely how Scripture says that we grow. Here are some examples.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6 (NKJV)
17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17 (NKJV)
In fact, in one of the key passages in the New Testament on spiritual growth Paul wrote the following.
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:14–16 (NKJV)
We are called to speak the truth in love.
Now, back to culture. I am not advocating the current behaviour of keyboard warriors who attack others from the place of anonymity or the sad cultural practice of ‘cancelling’ others we disagree with or not tolerating dissent. Just the opposite, I believe we need to engage in respectful dialogue, speak the truth to others because we love and care about them, and seek to hear truth about and for ourselves. Over the years I many times referenced Proverbs 27:6 to friends and told them that if they really cared about me, they would care enough to tell me the truth. I want to know.
I believe when we do this, we grow. I am not advocating conflict, I am advocating that we as His body model something different than what the world embraces, a commitment to truth, compassion and respectfully challenging of one another so that we grow. When I coached sports, I spent a lot more time encouraging and supporting players than challenging them. We need both but we need to challenge because we care and, in the process, strengthen those around us.
Are you up to the challenge of shifting our culture?
