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.

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.

Blog Action Day: Christ and the Environment

Lately in the Christian world there has been an increasing debate over environmentalism. Some would like to include environmentalism among the other political issues Christians feel are important. Others reject environmentalism as an unnecessary distraction- for various and sundry reasons.

As with most opinions on controversial topics the complexity of reasons can only be surpassed by the diversity of opinions. In order to better understand the reasons behind various Christian perspectives towards the environment I would like to filter the opinions through the eyes of H. Richard Niebuhr.

Niebuhr was an American theologian who is perhaps best known for his typology describing the various ways Christians engage their culture. In his seminal book on this subject, Christ and Culture, Niebuhr divides Christianity into five different perspectives based upon how they might approach their culture.

Back to the topic of the day: how would a proponent of one of Niebuhr’s particular categories approach then environment as an issue?

Thy Kingdom Come

I’ve been preaching a series on the Lord’s Prayer lately (with the help of the Simpsons) and was wondering how people from different perspectives on Christ and Culture would mean “thy kingdom come” when they pray this in the Lord’s Prayer.

Frame, Christianity and Culture: What is Culture?

John Frame is one of my favorite living theologians. I was excited to find out that he had lectured on Christ and Culture at the Pensacola Theological Institute, and that the lecture’s manuscript has been published on the internet. For those of you who don’t know, the Pensacola Theological Institute is an annual conference that highlights an important speaker on a theological topic of current interest. Although I have never personaly attended, I have noticed their speakers are always great and topics always interesting.

In his first lecture, Frame addresses an important, foundational question: what is culture? I was glad to see him start here because that is one of the things I have had the hardest time doing. “Culture” is one of those things that we know what it is, but when we have to define it, we have a hard time.

What do Tila Tequila and D. A. Carson have in common?

A friend and I were talking Bible commentaries the other day. Books are one of my favorite topics even before I was the assistant manager at my seminary’s bookstore. I suggested he check out D. A. Carson’s book, New Testament Commentary Survey, as a starting point to know what he should invest in. It is a rarity for anyone to ever take my suggestion, but in this case he did search the internet for the book only to find it available on MTV.com! HUH?!

As if that wasn’t wierd enough, the top suggestion off MTV’s site for people interested in Carson’s book was the “complete unsensored” version of Ms. Tequila’s show- “A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila.” Now we all know how silly these alogrithms can be but this made me ask what Carson and Tila Tequila have in common that MTV would make this connection.

Who is on the Lord’s side?

Sometimes when people describe the interaction between Christ and Culture they use phrases like, “culture wars.” This invokes images of Christians valiantly fighting off the influence of the world or reminds people of Fundamentalists who have belligerently forced their beliefs on other people- depending on which side of the war you find yourself on.

Eulogy for Tim Russert

Over a week ago it was announced that NBC News Reporter Tim Russert passed away. In last week’s issue of Newsweek there was an article talking about how Russert’s faith affected him and made him the man he was. The article gives me even more respect for a member of the press I already admired, but I was surprised to find that he was so devout of a Christian. Perhaps this is because Russert tended toward Christ and Culture in Paradox- keeping his work world separate from his faith world. You can see this in the way he handled Christopher Hitchens’s appearance on his show- Russert felt he had to moderate the debate rather than voice his own personal disagreement with the guest.

Danielle Steel Transforming Culture

I was surprised to read in last week’s Newsweek about Danielle Steel‘s faith and how it made her want to help the homeless. When I think of Steel I think of smutty, unrealistic romance novels (and the Beatles song, Paperback Writer)- I had no idea she was a believer.

According to the Newsweek article, she is not only a believer, but her faith has legs that are working to help the homeless.

John McCain and Christ in Paradox

Even though I have been supporting John McCain (since 2000) I have always done so despite the fact that he doesn’t speak about his faith very often. It was tempting to write off such politicians during the days of George W. Bush and the heyday of the Religious Right but I stuck to my man even if I wasn’t sure about what he believed. Even today, with the influence of Evangelicals in office is waning, when I watched McCain at the Saddleback Forum I noticed what an unsatisfactory answer he gave when asked what Jesus meant to him. In fact, when he picked a self-avowed Evangelical for his running mate, this confirmed in my mind his shaky credentials as a fellow Believer.

That is what I though until I read last week’s Newsweek.