Even though I've been attending "Evangelical" churches for the past 28 years, there are still times when I almost feel like I'm walking in a foreign country. I think this tends to happen more when I'm with a group of people who have grown up in the evangelical church and very likely their parents grew up in the evangelical/protestant church and so on. So there's a "church culture" there that these people have been raised in that's tied very closely with their understanding of Christianity (whether or not it actually is a part of Christianity as described by the Bible). I was raised as a Catholic through a long line of Catholics (both Roman and Byzantine) and I suppose that's why these things sometimes come as a culture shock. Despite having been immersed in the Evangelical culture on and off for 28 years, my roots are different enough, and my study of the Bible has been compared to an alternate set of cultural understandings, that it's a bit jarring when I run into something from another culture that's called "Christian" but that's rather different than my own understanding of what the Bible says.
It feels like running into a wall. When I try to point out the difference between the Biblical statements regarding the topic and the cultural ones, that pretty much feels like backing up and running into the wall again and again. That's when it finally dawns on me that we're not talking about the Bible or what God has said, we're talking about the way people were raised and what they were told to believe growing up. It may very well have next to nothing to do with what the Bible says, but because it's a part of what they've always thought of as Christianity, it therefore is in their minds intimately related to Christianity. It's not really up for debate.
My head hurts.
That's just how I feel when I talk to anyone who just knows they are right. I didn't inherit my value system, I picked it.
ReplyDeleteyes, it can get dismissed with suspicion when you mention 'cultural factors' [such as the hair, veil covering, women leading etc] to some evangelicals...as they can't get their heads round that even though the Epistles have general application to all Christians, some parts are specific to the culture that were being written to.
ReplyDeletethe good news is that I used to be one of them, till about '96 when I slowly began to look at women in leadership again...and began to look again at what the bible said, with attention to detail, context, and [very important in this], comparing scripture with scripture to do with women and the new covenant bigger picture [i.e. of the priesthood of all].
Many have changed, and hopefully will change...
I never got involved in the 'Christian culture' of Christian contemporary music... although was very into 'worship music' and still love some of the 80's stuff and some since
but I realise that all this can make it like a ghetto...a retreat..
and I don't believe in that any more..as nice as it can be for feelings of security
I don't believe the Kingdom comes that way
I think a few traditions can have this ghetto type thinking [even Roman Catholicism, about itself being the one True Church]
...was watching a British channel 4 series about some Amish teenagers visiting British teenagers [great prog] - beautiful young people [both lots], and being challenged by one another - both ways
ghetto ideas of 'retaining purity' [not being polluted by the world, as they see it] are all well and good, [and a luxury as I see it now], but they are self-focused, and can't stay like that forever if people want to 'grow up into Him' and be like Jesus.
oh, I know the feeling, absolutely - there is so much stuff people absorb without questioning, stuff that they get from their families/church leaders/Christian friends as part of a package deal which so many people don't stop and question. of course Christians don't do XYZ and of course this is how we do this or that... if they've always mixed with the same kind of people, they'll look at you like you've come from Mars if you dare to ask for the biblical grounds for the stuff they take for granted. and the idea that there are actually some real live Christians out there who do things differently or have a different interpretation of what the Bible says - that's just beyond some people's comprehension. I've heard these types referred to as "the sheeple"...
ReplyDeleteWe talked quite a bit last week in the DMin class about culture's influence on Christianity. The biggest discussion centered around "Christians"' expectations of church and their leaders. You can't get around it. We're all influenced by macro and micro cultures. What was also intriguing is that some things considered "Christian" by Uzbeks or Ugandans or Southerners or Midwesterners were the same. Other things were quite different. It's VERY hard to get around those influences and impulses. Nevertheless, we Christians should all strive hard to discovering what Scripture says and live accordingly. But, that's easier said than done.
ReplyDeleteOh...Paul has the answer about cultural differences and convictions in 1 Cor. 11-14, Romans 14, etc. He says the stronger believer should not hold contempt for the weaker, nor do anything that might contribute toward the weaker stumbling in her/his walk, and for the weaker - s/he should grow up.
ReplyDeletei was thinking a bit later about the situation i was in and what if i had been on the opposite side of the discussion. i think that even if i had balked at the suggestion that what i believed to be true wasn't entirely accurate, i would still need time to go home and confirm that. i think that's where, after banging your head against the wall a bit and realizing what's going on, it's important to back up and drop the topic and give people time to think on it and study it a bit more.
ReplyDeletein this specific case, i thought it was particularly interesting that the conversation came up as it did because the statements that were being made were in contradiction to some statements in the book that we were discussing. i think that made it clear how strong these cultural beliefs can be. even when we read something that states the opposite of what we believe, we're reading through such thick glasses of cultural understanding that it's possible to still see what we expect to see and not what the author has actually written on the page.
i suppose the moral of the story is: when you find yourself banging your head on the wall, stop and give the other folks some room to explore the idea on their own or at their own pace and if you're on the opposite side of the conversation, take that time to go and do your homework and make sure that you've confirmed your belief as either being in agreement with what you say you believe or as something you've simply been culturally steeped in though it's not appropriate considering positions you've since taken in life.
what i find most fascinating of all is that regarding the particular issue, i've never once heard a pastor or elder teach to be true the cultural take on the issue. ever. on the contrary, i've heard at least one sermon that explored the Biblical view pretty thoroughly and dispelled the cultural view. and yet it still holds on so tightly. i suppose that just speaks to how deeply immersed we can be in beliefs that we've never examined and just not realize the extent of it.
I think that's really wise, Meg, to take a step back in these situations and leave people to work things out for themselves, at their own pace - we each have different journeys, different stuff that God challenges us about at certain points along the way, and sometimes we're just not ready to hear something. I remember well an occasion years ago when someone in church mentioned something in a conversation which he didn't know would be seriously challenging for me, because he didn't know my situation. I went home and prayed like crazy. I opened the Bible and somehow found a verse that I could hang onto as an okay to carry on the way I was living. I just wasn't ready to hear God's challenge on this particular issue.
ReplyDeletewhen I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall with fellow Christians who just don't seem to get it - whatever "it" might be in the particular context - I try to remind myself that, hey, actually, I wasn't born knowing this stuff! (and also that, hey, I might actually be wrong about it - last time I looked in the mirror I was still human.)
so I agree it's important to recognise the point at which we should bow out of a discussion and leave people to work things out at their own pace; and also to go away and think/pray through stuff ourselves, in case it's actually us who have got the wrong end of the stick.