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.

I think this is the most common way people experience Christ and Culture. Some want to avoid the corrupting influence of the culture in order to protect the Gospel (Christ Against Culture) and others want to engage it and make it a better place (Christ Transforming Culture).

How do you approach the relationship between Christ and Culture?

Take the Christ and Culture Survey and find out.

What was great about this movie was seeing God work in a church that wasn’t like my church. This church was part of a culture that was different than mine. Nevertheless they experience the same conflict between perspectives on Christ and Culture that mine does.

I enjoyed watching the Gospel (albeit a watered-down, Hollywood understanding of the Gospel) transform the crooks lives and the lives of the people they were connected with.

Is your church struggling with the relationship between Christ and Culture, like this one was?

Buy a copy of the Christ and Culture Bible Study and discuss how you engage the world as followers of Christ.