It's a good challenge to meditate on Hunter's thoughts on what makes up culture. One thing that comes to mind is the huge difference between creating and warring - I have the image of a fragile piece of ceramic art or stained glass, dashed to pieces in a melée or shattered by a bomb. Art and war do not easily coexist. When a community holds "changing the world" as a core value--can we call a method a value? I don't know if that is correct, but it seems that method becomes a central part of fundamentalism: we believe this, this, and this and in this way of doing things - please read as though "this" is emphasized by italics--I say again, when a community holds "changing the world" (specifically by debate/argument, force, etc) as a core value, their core values central to everyone else's thinking, the "culture" that flows out of that is a culture of war itself. In war, there is no curiosity. Soldiers don't ask questions - aren't allowed to ask questions - they take commands. There is no winsome approach to discern what might be called "good" by the Creator in every human culture on this earth (after all, Genesis 1:28, right?). Thank you for the way you are spooling out this excellent meditation, Tabitha. I'm a big fan.
Such good reflections, Kelsey. In his book Hunter talks about the use of the word “impact” in the language of this version of evangelicalism, as in, “we need to impact the world for Christ.” He points out how it’s an inherently violent word. His observation has stuck with me and I’ve made conscious effort to avoid using it in the context of evangelism or social action.
I enjoy seeing the connections you make and find that you give me plenty to ponder. To answer your question, I have engaged with culture in various ways and think that the framing and motivation are hugely impactful to that experience. If I am trying to wear the cape or fix everything, it is exhausting. But fruitfulness is possible.
Yes, fruitfulness is absolutely possible, and I’ve found exhaustion is the only fruit that comes from trying to use the world’s means to achieve kingdom ends.
It's a good challenge to meditate on Hunter's thoughts on what makes up culture. One thing that comes to mind is the huge difference between creating and warring - I have the image of a fragile piece of ceramic art or stained glass, dashed to pieces in a melée or shattered by a bomb. Art and war do not easily coexist. When a community holds "changing the world" as a core value--can we call a method a value? I don't know if that is correct, but it seems that method becomes a central part of fundamentalism: we believe this, this, and this and in this way of doing things - please read as though "this" is emphasized by italics--I say again, when a community holds "changing the world" (specifically by debate/argument, force, etc) as a core value, their core values central to everyone else's thinking, the "culture" that flows out of that is a culture of war itself. In war, there is no curiosity. Soldiers don't ask questions - aren't allowed to ask questions - they take commands. There is no winsome approach to discern what might be called "good" by the Creator in every human culture on this earth (after all, Genesis 1:28, right?). Thank you for the way you are spooling out this excellent meditation, Tabitha. I'm a big fan.
Such good reflections, Kelsey. In his book Hunter talks about the use of the word “impact” in the language of this version of evangelicalism, as in, “we need to impact the world for Christ.” He points out how it’s an inherently violent word. His observation has stuck with me and I’ve made conscious effort to avoid using it in the context of evangelism or social action.
I enjoy seeing the connections you make and find that you give me plenty to ponder. To answer your question, I have engaged with culture in various ways and think that the framing and motivation are hugely impactful to that experience. If I am trying to wear the cape or fix everything, it is exhausting. But fruitfulness is possible.
Yes, fruitfulness is absolutely possible, and I’ve found exhaustion is the only fruit that comes from trying to use the world’s means to achieve kingdom ends.