Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Christ and Culture

Newsweek had an article last week about Rick Warren, who will be giving the the Invocation at Barack Obama’s Inauguration. The article compares Rick Warren and Billy Graham. Although both men are influential Christian leaders their mission and goal are both very different.

For one, Billy Graham has always been an evangelist primarily- hoping to spread the Gospel to the world. Although he has been an “advisor” for many Presidents, his advice has been spiritual than about policy. This makes Graham an example of Christ and Culture in Paradox.

Christ and James Madison

The Creed or Chaos blog had a post the other day, James Madison on the Two Kingdoms which described Madison as an example of Christ and Culture in Paradox. It is worth a read.

Vladimir Putin and Culture

I was listening to Charlotte Talks the other day. They interviewed an expert on Vladimir Putin. Apparently Putin was secretly brought up to be a Christian- baptized in secret. This story was told to show how Putin and Bush could be so close- the story of Putin’s faith being very interesting to an Evangelical like Bush.

There are a couple other hints about Putin’s secret faith. One story, told on Charlotte Talks and on Larry King Live, tells about a cross Putin’s mother gave him that was a treasured possession.The reason Putin keeps his faith secret, compared to Bush as an example, is because it is not

Delilah and Culture

The other day NPR had a story about the famous radio personality, Delilah. She is known for her nightly syndicated radio show where she talks about love and romance, using popular soft-rock songs to illustrate the stories of her callers.

The segment briefly talks about her commitment to Christ.

She’s a devout Christian, though the show isn’t- necessarily. It’s non-denominationally inspirational.

This description would place her in the Christ and Culture in Paradox perspective.

McCain’s View on the Separation of Church and State

Last week John McCain was on The View. Whoppie Goldberg asked a great question of McCain about how he views the separation of church and state.
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This is an example of the Christ and Culture in Paradox view. With the rise of the Religious Right in the last few years, many non-Christians (or even non-Evangelical-Christians) start to feel uncomfortable when candidates start discussing their faith. This is because politicians have been using Christ to promote their agenda (Christ of Culture).

User-Friendly Niebuhr?

http://journeyinghome.org…olitics-part-1/

According to Steve at Journeying Home:

Gerry Breshears, Professor of Theology at Western Seminary, translated Niebuhr into more user-friendly English. Breshears suggests the following windows for viewing the relationship between Christ and culture:

I’d like to comment on this summary in a hope to better explain Niebuhr’s categories. I think that Breshears (even if he is a Prof and I am mere pastor) shows some common misunderstandings of the categories.

Christ at work

The Christianity Today magazine blog had an article on Christians at work the other day. The article seems to promote the Christ Above Culture perspective because it seems to endorse a Christianization of the workplace. It talks about all Christian things you can do while you are at church- such as when and where you can have Bible Studies and share the Gospel.

It notes that people don’t want to “compartmentalize” their faith- leaving their soul like they leave their car in the parking lot while they work. That would be Christ and Culture in Paradox where some works at a job that makes no connection with their faith- dividing their life in to a work sphere and a faith sphere.

Denzel Washington and Culture

It’s always difficult to find an example of an artist who might be characterized as Christ and Culture in Paradox. This is because eventhough they believe their faith does not directly influence their art. They live in two worlds at the same time- the world of their faith and the world of their art. They are a Christian artist only insofar as they are an artist who happens to be a Chrisitan.

Do Christians Spy?

Thursday night, on the Celebrity Apprentice, we saw a clear interaction between Christ and culture. In fact, of all the Apprentice episodes I’ve seen never has Christ been mentioned more without being a pejorative.

Stephen Baldwin, put in the difficult position of representing Christians, found himself in an ethical quandary succinctly stated by Trump himself: “Do Christians Spy?” You see, depending upon your perspective, Baldwin was involved in either a controversial strategic move or a joke gone bad when one of his teammates was sent to “rat” on the opposition.

My Struggle with Christ and Culture

Recently I’ve found myself in an existential struggle between Christ and culture. It’s always safe to discuss the interaction between Christ and culture in an academic way. It is easy to analyze the way other people try to balance Christ and culture. Now that I find myself in the middle of a Christ and culture type issue, it is much more difficult.