The hymn "For All The Saints" is traditionally sung on All Saints Day, coming soon on the calendar. I have an additional verse that I wrote and privately use in devotions in memory of loved ones now gone. I'd like to share that verse here:
For all the loved ones lost throughout the years
The struggling saints, their mem'ries washed with tears
Your steadfast mercy banishes our fears
Alleluia! Alleluia!
This year's "loved ones, lost" includes fellow blogger Joseph Hinman.
I plan on material of a more spiritual nature next week. These thoughts on the intersection of faith and culture are possibly specific to modern Western culture -- which is where I live, so no apologies there, but not as timeless as I'd rather.
Whatever the changing cultural understanding may be, it is by definition not timeless truth.
Each person is part of surrounding culture. We will each be immersed in it, possibly have the culture's definitions of right enmeshed with the Biblical view. Yet it is not our Biblical calling to promote a specific culture, justify it, or entrust our judgment to it, much less award it the same standing as the word of God. We are to be in the world but not of the world: ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven.
Becoming apologists for the culture surrenders our ability to transform that culture, to be "salt and light". Christians cannot lose our awareness that we live in a fallen world in need of guidance and grace, and that our own culture is no different in that need for redemption. It has always been so, and will be until our Lord's return. Those most devoted to a particular culture are those most at risk of mistaking their culture's values for those of God's kingdom.
The "cultural understanding" method of accommodating our fallen world carries the temptation to have the world's approval, or to validate ourselves with the approval of those we are called to serve and to guide -- and to challenge, when necessary. One example is in discussions of the beginning of human life, where Christians on both sides have failed to address why there are so many unwanted pregnancies in the first place. This includes our failure as people of God to uphold sustainable lifelong relationships. The culture of hookups is part of the culture of not only self-centeredness but also a culture of loneliness, where relationships are not meaningful or lasting, and "catching feelings" can be an awkward disruption in a shallow existence. The people of God cannot be true to our calling and at the same time enable a stream of tragedies by providing justification. Those at abortion clinics, like those at drug rehab centers and those at homeless shelters, are refugees from a cultural disaster. That cultural disaster, played out in millions of single-life tragedies, was caused largely by Christianity vacating its place in standing opposed to our fallen natures, which always seek to justify ourselves. As people of God, we are not called see our moral imperatives in justifying this state of decay, or to see the ruin as other than tragic and fallen. Our power to transform comes precisely from standing outside the broken system.
There is a lot of anxiety in the air about the future. In some ways this is expected because we live in troubled times. Here are some anchors that can help us either see the future or shape the future:
Trustworthy promises
Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart: I have overcome the world." This is among many promises he gave us. He promised that he would be with us always to the end of the age, and that his life was given as a ransom for the multitudes and as a new covenant for the forgiveness of sins. He promised that he would return after a troublingly long absence to judge the world.
Planting seeds that grow
The Bible often compares the word of God to a seed that grows and bears fruit, reproducing and multiplying itself as it goes. It is the same for human words too. If we speak the truth with love, there is more truth and love in the world. If we mostly comment on the faults of those we look down on, then by propagating meanness and arrogance we will see an increase of meanness and arrogance. It is not idly that Jesus reminds us that we will give an account for our words, and that we will be judged by the things we ourselves have spoken. There is a proverb that praises someone who speaks kind instruction. If all of Christ's followers join together in this, the change in our culture would be profound. One of the most profound effects we have on the future is the words we speak, along with the spirit in which they are spoken.
Building what lasts
Another way in which we shape the future is by what we build. This is not limited to buildings. It includes friendships, families, and ties of fellowship. It extends to art, literature, and songs. Some of the songs we sing in our churches have lyrics that have endured for thousands of years. There is art which outlasts nations.
Whenever the uneasiness of the world casts a shadow that we live in a time that is fading, let me lay up treasures in heaven that last.
