Praise the Lord and Pass the Gun Scope

I heard an interesting story on NPR the other day about a company that supplies gun scopes to the US military. What’s peculiar about these scopes is that they engrave a Bible verse on the scope, next to the serial number.

Christians in America often mix patriotism and Christianity. This example of Christ Above Culture is particularly troublesome when these scopes are used in the war against Islamic terrorism. It almost implies that the battle is between Muslims and Christians. Although some Muslims have phrased the battle in this way, most American soldiers do are not fighting because they are Christian.

Salvation Mountain! Imagery Rising From The Desert Plateau Photo Gallery by Dan Chusid at pbase.com

A couple weeks ago on PSB I heard about this: “Salvation Mountain! Imagery Rising From The Desert Plateau Photo Gallery by Dan Chusid at pbase.com“.

It is a neat example of Christ Above Culture

Chic-fil-a, Christ and culture

I’ve written about Chic-fil-a in my blog before, regarding its view of Christ and culture. As I sit here today I noticed their music: not just Christian contemporary but also a little country. Interesting. Do they equate country music as part of Christian culture?

Churches Struggling with Christ and Culture

The other evening I was a little bored and found myself watching a move with Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan. It wasn’t a movie I typically watch or ever thought I would be interested in, it was just on as I did some other things.

This move, called First Sunday, was about a couple guys who have execute a half-baked plan to rob a church. As the story unfolded it became clear that this church was very typically in the middle of a controversy about involvement in its community. Some wanted to move into a safer community where they could be protected from the corrupting culture around them. Others wanted to stay in the neighborhood and reach out to it.

Don Miller Blog » The Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives

The other day I came across this example of Christ and Culture: Don Miller Blog » The Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

Christ and Culture Primer

One of the major focuses of this blog is the typology developed by H. Richard Niebuhr in his book, Christ and Culture. I think Niebuhr’s paradigm offers us a common vocabulary as we discuss how we as Christians should engage the world around us. I also hope that this will help people outside the Christian perspective to better understand the different ways Christians engage the world around them (like any group, there is a wide diversity of opinion).

This article is designed to not only introduce you to Christ and Culture, but to show you to how this blog uniquely contributes to this discussion, and as a resource for the Christ and Culture Bible study worksheet.

Men’s Bible Study about Christ and Culture

Many times things that are marketed as a men’s Bible study frustrate me. They usually talk more about someone’s concept of machisimo than drawing me closer to Christ. It’s like they use Jesus as an excuse to promote their adjenda of what it means to be a man. Many of these are examples of Christ of Culture for mixing culture’s idea of what it means to be a man, with Christ.

Women’s Bible Study about Christ and Culture

I am always glad to see women gather for a women’s Bible study, but always disappointed in the options available. It seems that many women’s Bible study books and curriculum focus more on what someone thinks it means to be feminine than Christ. A Bible study like this is an example of Christ of Culture because it uses Christ as an excuse to promote one’s particular cultural beliefs.

I always find it funny to see another women’s Bible study cover Esther- or one of the other supposedly “women’s” books of the bible, like Ruth. It’s almost as if because the lead character is a woman, there’s nothing a man could get out of it.

Adult Bible Study on Christ and Culture

Bible study is an important part of discipleship in the church, especially for adults. Sometimes when you look for a new bible study in the bookstore, they all seem the same. Are you looking for an adult bible study that is a little bit different but still interesting and challenging?

This is why I have made an adult bible study available about Christ and Culture as a printable Bible study worksheet. This is a perfect topic for a dynamic adult bible study. It has depth and room for opinion while still having practical implications in every day life- everything you would look for in an adult bible study.

Printable Bible Study on Christ and Culture

For a few years now I have posted the Christ and Culture survey on the web. I know a couple classes have used it but what was missing was a printable version- for you to use in a Bible study, for instance.

The printable Bible study is now finally available as a Bible study worksheet designed to help you as you are teaching a Bible study.

This printable Bible study include the survey, a chart to help graph you within Niebuhr’s five perspectives, some basic descriptions of the categories, a teachers guide with lesson plans, and a few discussion questions for the Bible study. It is in a PDF format, in order to be printable.