Kingdom and Counter Culture

Recently, I have thinking a lot about culture. Culture is a big thing and also, culture is an assumed values and also habit that is somehow evident to everyone. Talking about culture is so vital for people will decide everything, most of the time through the influence of the culture. Yet, ironically, there is a tendency of Christian become the slave of the culture up to the point sacrificing their fundamental identity. Many cultures deviates from the very foundation of Christian faith. As the world becoming so multi-cultural there are a lot of options for people to choose, to adapt and to remove a particular culture that they hold on dearly. Honestly, we cannot deny there is a lot of tension between Christianity and Culture. The easiest way is to go outside and run away from this tension.

However, our Sacred Scripture is clear. Luke 17:26 mentioned how Jesus pray so that Father keep us in this world but be filled with the Holy Spirit and be transformed as the result. Romans 12:2 also mentioned on how we are not conformed to the pattern of this world but at the same time, we are not run away from it and be transformed in the renewing of our mind. In fact, we are never be out from the world unless we are taking the spaceship to the other planet. 

The key to counter culture is to stay faithful to YWH. If the culture surround us is a culture that bring us away from the values of Christianity, hence, we need to counter it or to use a better term, "redeem" it, to reconcile all things to Christ (Col 1:20). Redeeming place, products, practices, domains, to give a critique and change of cultural forms and content in the light of the Gospel. 

Interestingly, In the gospels we know how Christ Himself creating a culture that was in contrast to the surrounding culture, we call this as "Kingdom-culture". Not just it stand in contrast it also defines the true culture. What Jesus Preach in the Sermon of the Mount were the greatest example on counter-culture, whereby Christ present a higher values, a higher Way that is really against the common values of that time. Of course, the counter-culture movement of Christ was not done for the sake of countering all values per se but its is about God, who leading the culture back to its purest form, a culture that is subjected under the Kingship of Christ.

Having said that thing above, it does not mean that Christianity is the killer of culture. Rather, It is a proclamation and declaration of God's typology of Culture that we, as the people of God need to also learn, adopt and apply. One writer says,

"Kingdom culture is about God's Will completely defining a person to the point of utter dependence on God."

In other words, when Christ present His culture, all culture need to be adjusted to that pattern of the Kingdom of God. For indeed, only leader can change the culture. And as God and Lord of everything, Jesus Christ is the greatest leader of all, indisputably. Christian leader follow the pattern of the greatest leader that is Christ Jesus. 

That is why, always accepting and appreciating new trend and culture is a terrible advice. The old maxim echoes, "only death fish follow the stream." To think that "new" or "novelty" mean "more-valuable or more complete in truth", is really a false way of thinking. One of the question before we dealing with culture is ask to ourselves first, do we want to retreat or take the risk? Engaging the culture is always a risk. Nobody like their own culture to be challenged. However, if we believe that the Kingdom culture is the greatest of all, and by promoting it will save others, why we need to hesitate to cultivate the kingdom. Countering culture is not easy, yet, the most difficult part is from within. The temptation to retreat or to be converted to the voice of culture is real at the end, as David Platt says,

 "Either we retreat from Christ or from the culture, or we risk following Christ by countering the culture". 

If the world is in darkness, the Gospel as light by itself already comfort the culture surround. Hence, if the Gospel is not shining and swallowing the darkness, I afraid, we are the one who cover the light that comes out from Gospel, with the fabric of fear, our ignorance and our frightens. Kingdom culture need to be embraced once again, lived out by those who want to disciple the world. Eventually, all we need to hold is this, as one writer has written, "Not only is man's cultural office reflective of Christ's office, but also is an object of Christ's redeeming work."