Culture is Made
Learning Goal: Determine what culture change requires.
Creating: Imago Dei
A theological term, applied uniquely to humans, which denotes the symbolical relation between God and humanity. The term has its roots in Genesis 1:27, wherein "God created man in his own image. . ." This scriptural passage does not mean that God is in human form, but rather, that humans are in the image of God in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature.
The relationship between our image bearing and creation is obvious. God, the creator of all things, calls us to continue his creative process as we subdue the earth and fashion it into the coming heavenly city.
Creating: Culture
Culture is what human beings make of the world, but not everything that human beings make shapes culture.We have developed an understanding of how to evaluate the things created by people. The next step is to begin evaluating how culture is created and the patterns for how this impacts our lives. As the quote says, not everything we make makes an impact on culture. Categorically speaking, the Popsocket falls into category 1. It probably made someone a lot of cash. However, it does very little in the way of forming culture.
In a completely different way, the iPhone is in category 2. The iPhone is a transformative product that has truly changed the way people communicate and interact with each other. Beyond this, the iPhone has profoundly moved the way we think and our ability to focus. I would argue the impact of the iPhone on culture has been extremely negative while astronomically profitable.
On a totally different plane is the Embrace Infant Warmer. This product makes absolutely no money for the business but it saves countless lives in developing nations. This very simply blanket allows women to leave the hospital following child birth and continue to tend to their other children. Without the blanket, infants would die of hypothermia or their siblings would starve. You could call this category 3.
Category 4 is the intersection of making money and moving culture in a positive direction. Obviously, this should be the aspiration of every Christian seeking to positively engage culture. Tesla accomplishes this by creating a technologically driven car that removes the dependency on oil. It is safe to say that cars in heaven will resemble the electric vehicle more than those with an internal combustion engine.
- Category 1 - Makes some money but does nothing beyond that for culture.
- Category 2 - Makes some money and does a great deal of harm to culture.
- Category 3 - Does not make any money but helps promotes a better culture.
- Category 4 - Makes some money and promotes a better culture.
Culture and People
Culture Making requires People: a group who has been positively affected by a cultural good that their horizons of possibility and impossibility have been altered (or at least the collection of people as a whole.)
Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.Joshua 21:43
Culture making is people creating something of the world - it is never a solitary affair. This is the entire point behind God placing His people in the Holy land. By all accounts, the Promised Land of the Israelites was the intersection of the modern powers of the time. To the East of Israel was/is the vast Arabian Desert. If the Babylonians or Assyrians wanted to trade in Egypt, or fight another war, they had to travel through the land of Canaan.
God placed his people at the intersection of the major powers of this time for a reason. Just as Christians today are called to witness to the nations, Israel was called to the same mission. God went so far as to force the interaction of his people with other cultures.
Lesson Information
Presentation
Culture.pdf