May
07
2009
Christianity And Culture
Over at the Christianity Today blog there is a discussion taking place regarding my book Unfashionable and a rather critical review of it by my friend Tim Challies. For anyone who wonders about my position on the cultural mandate, it appears I have become the poster child for it. You can read the discussion here. In the article there are links to Tim’s review and a recent Christianity Today profile on me.
For what it’s worth, here is the church’s mission statement which bascially comes right out of the pages of Unfashionable and it sets forth my understanding of the Bible’s teaching regarding the mission of Christ’s church:
The Bible teaches that God is on a mission to rescue and replenish a world lost and broken by sin thereby “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). To me, the most startling aspect of God’s mission is that he has presently enlisted his imperfect people (the church) to take part in carrying out his glorious work of revitalization. Christians have been rescued by God in Christ to become agents of renewal—missionaries.
This means that churches are designed by God to be instruments of renewal in the world, not only spiritually renewing individual lives but also tangibly renewing cultural forms and structures, helping to make all that is crooked in our world straight.
So, our mission includes an evangelistic mandate and a cultural mandate. God wants us to immerse ourselves in the rehabilitation of hearts and houses, souls and society. We’re to care about the renewal of both individuals and the culture at large. This requires word and deed, proclamation and demonstration. God is renewing human hearts and recreating all things through his church. This is our mission to the world.