Evangelicals today are enamored with culture. Visit any Christian blog or pick up a catalogue of recent Christian books, and you will likely find discussions of the cultural mandate, redeeming culture, forming culture, and creating culture. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that despite differences among various kinds of evangelicals such… Continue Reading
At the heart of our philosophy of the church’s responsibility toward culture is a proper understanding of how God rules sovereignly over all things, how he specifically rules his redeemed people—particularly now the NT church, and how his rule will culminate in the future. Another way of saying this is that central to a biblical… Continue Reading
Last week I discussed God’s universal rule over all things through human institutions that he ordained. This Universal Common Kingdom of God encompasses all people, believers and unbelievers alike, who exercise dominion over what he has made and attempt to maintain order and stability in the midst of a cursed world. But this is not… Continue Reading
Over the past two weeks I have laid out a biblical case for understanding the reality of two kingdoms: a universal kingdom, God’s sovereign superintendence over all things, including creation and human institutions, cultures, and societies, and a redemptive kingdom, God’s specific rule over his redeemed people. Because of Adam’s failure, these two kingdoms are at… Continue Reading
The nation of Israel was a union of the Universal and Redemptive rules of God on earth, but as we saw last week, the nation’s disobedience and indifference resulted in a termination of that union when God’s Shekinah glory departed from the Temple. This does not cancel God’s promise that one day the two kingdoms… Continue Reading
Over the past several weeks, I have shown how Scripture describes the rule of God in two ways, in terms of his sovereign universal rule over all things, and in terms of his redemptive rule over his chosen people. I’ve made the argument that the union of these two “kingdoms” will not take place until… Continue Reading
Last time, we considered the fact that Scripture describes Christians as exiles who are not of the world and must not love or be conformed to the world. Instead, we should consider ourselves distinct from the unbelieving peoples and cultures around us. Yet this is not the complete picture of the Christian situation. The presence… Continue Reading
There is a real sense in which Christians, analogous to Israel in exile, are dual citizens—resident aliens. Christians are first and foremost citizens of the redemptive kingdom, but they are also citizens of God’s Universal common Kingdom along with every other human being. And thus, Christians contribute to society, submit to and pray for governmental… Continue Reading
Last week I mentioned that the common evangelical view of kingdom theology has led to errant thinking about Christian work in society that either dismisses the validity of work other than “full time Christian service” or (more recently) validates work in society by insisting that it is “kingdom work.” A proper understanding of the two… Continue Reading
Thus far, I have attempted to establish a biblical basis for individual Christian cultural activity, but when Christians gather together as local churches, the picture narrows to a certain degree. This is due to the fact that not everything Scripture commands of Christians as individuals applies in the same way to local churches as institutions.… Continue Reading
Last week, I made the case that the church’s mission is narrow and unique; it is not cultural or societal transformation, but rather the exclusively redemptive goal of making disciples. Nevertheless, because members of churches may certainly be involved in various cultural endeavors as citizens of the common kingdom, the church does have a secondary… Continue Reading
The Bible does not give the church a social mandate, but as we saw last week, churches should equip their people with how to live Christianly in whatever cultural sphere God has called them. This does not mean churches will have no impact on the society at large. Churches may indeed have an effect upon… Continue Reading
Over the past several weeks, I have presented a brief sketch of a conservative Christian posture toward culture more faithful to Scripture than much of what constitutes the prevailing evangelical perspective. Despite caricatures by opponents, and extreme abuses by some, this philosophy provides a basis for a rather robust philosophy of cultural engagement, which could… Continue Reading