WHEN
CULTURE DOESN'T COUNT
1995 Annual Council Keynote
Address
By: Robert S. Folkenberg
Someone once asked the great leader of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi, "What do you think of western civilization?"
"I think," he responded, "that it would be a good idea."
Considering his background, life, and the cause he fought for, Gandhi didn't have much reason to like western civilization. And, as his reply showed, our own cultures affect our views of other cultures. Our backgrounds affect how we think and act.
Culture even affects our concept of logic, the way we think. Dr. Bill Shea, of the General Conference's Biblical Research Institute, explains why, for instance, the order of the Daniel 7, 8, and 9 seems to be inverted. Daniel 7 has a emphasis on the ultimate establishment of God's kingdom, Daniel 8 on Christ's high priestly ministry, and Daniel 9 on the death of Christ.
Today, we moderns might reverse the order and talk about the death of Christ, His High Priestly Ministry, and the establishment of God's kingdom, the order in which these things occurred. Yet, according to Shea, the ancient Hebrew mind worked from effect to cause. Most of us from western cultures like to think just the opposite -- from cause to effect.
I've been told that a tribal group in a remote area of South America that has a peculiar view of time. If they were talking about the future, they would point behind them. If they were talking about the past, they would point ahead. Of course, we think it's more logical to think of the future as being in front of us, and the past behind. But from the tribal point of view, the past should be in front because it can be seen, because we know what was there, while the future is behind because we don't know what's coming. It's still out of sight. On second thought, perhaps that way of thinking makes good sense.
My point is simply this: we are impacted, to one degree or another, by our culture, by our environment. There's no such thing as absolute cultural objectivity, at least from a human standpoint. I think we're fooling ourselves if we think otherwise.
But the real question, the one we will address at this Annual Council, is how much does culture and society impact upon our religion, on our world view? I think we all must admit that it does.
Consider, for example, the way we worship on Sabbath morning. Any member who has traveled extensively within the world church knows that congregations worship differently -- to a greater or lesser extent -- in different parts of the world. The rhythm of worship and the music differs as you travel from Australia to Zimbabwe, from Russia to Papua New Guinea. In fact the order of service differs, however slightly, from congregation to congregation.
But my concern isn't so much worship style as it is about how secular society impacts our basic values. Too many Seventh-day Adventists subconsciously test truth by the standard of conventional wisdom and politically-correct ideology rather than test societal values and our opinions by the eternal truths of God's Word.
We are tempted to quickly, quietly, and automatically almost subconsciously decide what IS right simply on the basis of what SEEMS right without evaluating how we arrived at our conclusion! The idea of moral absolutes, right and wrong, and the eternal values established by Almighty God, Creator of the Universe, flies in the face of this so-called rationalism. How can God's still small voice be heard through the blaring noise that society inflicts on us? How can He get our attention to listen to His truth, His message, His perspective and His values?
We are so accustomed to directing our lives without Biblical or Divine influence that as we approach God's Word, even when it is absolutely clear and unambiguous, we even dare to use the phrase, "I think," as if our opinions were normative and defining of truth, when in God's sight our opinions may well be irrelevant. Our worship of our own opinions, when they conflict with a clear "Thus saith the Lord," might well be the best example of modern idolatry.
The 1970s and 1980s ushered in what I will call the age of excuses, an age of exoneration in which society provides a sociological excuse for immoral or illegal behavior. Do you remember reading about the lawyer who used the "Twinkie Defense" to defend an accused murderer, arguing that the sugar in Twinkies, a sugar-laden cupcake, turned his client into a killer?
And then we heard about a series of impulse disorders and deviant-personality syndromes that supposedly have made all of us victims who should not be held accountable for our harmful behavior.
The latest binge is a wave of biological determinism. As gene-mapping proceeds and physiological correlates of behavior are discovered, we hear more and more about irresistible forces! The logical result may be that our only responsibility for our actions is to explain them away.
Let me share a personal example. Imagine my relief when, a few months ago, I saw a news report indicating that there is a direct link between chromosomes and weight! Scientists altered the genes of one group of mice and then fed two groups of otherwise identical mice the same diet. The group of mice with the altered genes became obese while the others remained slender and svelte. What comfort, I thought with a smile! My seemingly endless battle with the bathroom scale wasn't my fault after all!. My chromosomes "made me do it!" Society offers me an excuse, in effect saying, "Don't worry. Relax. Don't feel guilty. It's not your fault."
Society conveys the same message to the alcoholic, to the homosexual, to the abusive parent or spouse. "Don't worry. Relax. It's not your fault. You are a victim of genetic predisposition so you can't be held responsible." We might coin a new term "genetic justification!" What a relief! What an unbiblical relief: We are not responsible for our sins -- our chromosomes are!
But the Bible teaches otherwise. While our biological genes exert profound influences in our lives, God promises and provides power to cope, to overcome our sinful tendencies. By no means are we helpless pawns adrift in a sea of circumstances where, driven by some Darwinian force, we play out our lives beyond lines of personal responsibility.
The Scriptures are explicit, urging us again and again to let the mind of Christ control us--to fight the fight of faith, to struggle against natural dispositions and passions, to not let evil reign over our lives.
As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).
Ellen White penned this good news: "As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power for good. Ever learning of the divine Teacher, daily partaking of His nature, we cooperate with God in overcoming Satan's temptations. God works, and man works, that man may be one with Christ as Christ is one with God. Then we sit together with Christ in heavenly places. The mind rests with peace and assurance in Jesus." (SDABC, Vol 7, p 943.2)
Again, she wrote: "All must come under the training of Jesus. When they fall upon Christ, their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies are taken away as hindrances to their being partakers of the divine nature. When self dies, Christ lives in the human agent; the man abides in Christ, and Christ lives in him." (Gospel Herald 4/23/02.7)
That's fantastic news! We can have victory over our hereditary and cultivated tendencies -- through surrender to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Can you say Amen to that?
Society's world view, which worships the creature rather than the creator, is most often in conflict with God's Great Controversy perspective. We must be aware of the issues where they are in conflict and choose to be led by God's eternal values rather than conventional wisdom and politically correct dogma.
We must not let cultural differences and biases undermine the eternal truths that God is trying to communicate to His children. He wants us to look at truth from His perspective, not ours. We live life here in arm's length. God wants us to look at it from His perspective where He sees the beginning and the end. The perspective of the Great Controversy. Now not all things in culture are bad, we should not discard them all. There are many things in culture that are in harmony with the principles of God's Word and we should accept those. But then we must identify the things in culture that are in conflict with God's Word, and both reject them and try to influence and transform the world around us. We need to be God's activists in changing the values of society.
Our values must not be tested by conventional wisdom and politically correct values but rather societal values must be tested by the Word of God. These are the truths that have given us our mission, our message, our identity, our eternal perspective -- our World View.
Indeed, I am filled with optimism as I review the kinds of blessings thatGod has showered on our labors for Him. Hundreds of thousands are finding the hope of salvation in Jesus every year, accepting Him as their substitute and their example for living.
The great commission sends us to make new believers and to teach them all things that Christ has given us. This means opening the door to the church. This means growth. It means baptisms. It means new congregations. But, it also means making disciples! It means preparing believers for the Kingdom in every nation and culture.
Yet I have another concern about culture's effect on our church. In some of the more sophisticated areas of the world, I sense that an increasingly secular value system is impacting negatively on many of our members. I sense a growing uncertainty about why we exist as a church and what our mission is all about.
Some all but say it makes little difference what we believe as long as we have an experience with Christ. With such thinking, focus turns inward, truth becomes one's private treasure, cut away from the revealed will of God in God's Word.
This, I suggest, is an example of culture having a negative impact upon us as a people. And I think it's reflective of the modern, prevailing social view that there is no real, objective truth. In so much of modern culture, there are no universals, particularly in the area of morals.
The historian and natural rights philosopher Leo Strauss, in his book Natural Right and History, summed up this unbiblical way of thinking with these words: "No view of the whole, and in particular no view of human life, can claim to be final or universally valid. Every doctrine, however seemingly final, will be superseded sooner or later by another doctrine."
In others words, don't be dogmatic about what you believe, because sooner or later someone will come along and prove you wrong. We Seventh-day Adventists, of course, must soundly reject such philosophy.
Whatever our heritage, we cannot allow anything to destroy our belief in the eternal truths found in God's Word. These beliefs, revealed by God's Word, are not created by our decisions to accept them nor are they altered by our rejection. They are immutable and stand forever, regardless of our opinions. Many of these truths contribute to our identity as God's remnant people. However, our religion must be more than belief.
We must not be content with a cerebral, theoretical faith, with its corollary premise that intellectual commitment to a series of statements is enough. We must have something more. We must have what Ellen White repeatedly calls practical religion, a "living experience with Christ," no matter in which culture we find ourselves.
Why are contemporary value systems impacting upon our world view as a church? I see several possible answers.
One may be our growing membership and the natural centrifugal force that plagues communities that no longer in intimate interchange with one another.
That's a sociological answer. It is true that the larger a fellowship we become the greater will be the tendency to separate into smaller groups. It has been the experience of other church groups, and we should anticipate that temptation.
But the character and eternal perspective of the Seventh-day Adventist message has provided, and must continue to prove, a powerful agent for unity, whatever the culture.
Another influence that tends to divide is clearly the spirit of our times. Our age is increasingly secular and materialistic, particularly in the western world; we live in larger communities highly individualistic and distrustful of leaders. The secular world is replete with examples of this and the church is by no means immune to influences from society in general. This, coupled with continued delay in Christ's return, has taken the edge from the enthusiasm that once fired some of our believers.
Another reason is the declining time we spend with the Scriptures. Whether we live in New York, Singapore, Havana, New Delhi, or Abidjan, we will suffer spiritually if we don't spend time in the Word. Our pastors must help us focus on the Scriptures, the source of knowledge on the gospel message of Righteousness by Faith, and on those truths that identify us as a special people.
The Bible isn't a source of themes to be debated. It's a feast of revealed truths to be shared among ourselves and with the world around us. The power of God's Word transcends societal values, conventional wisdom, and all cultures. The conflict of the ages, the death and resurrection of Christ, the perpetuity of the law of God--these are above and beyond borders, traditions, and history. On these truths, there is no cultural difference. Culture doesn't count.
I think every Seventh-day Adventist must ask, Can we be faithful to our Lord and allow culture to continue making negative inroads into the church? As leaders chosen by God's people, can we allow the drift to continue? The answer is simple: No.
One of Ellen White's recurring themes directs us to the study of Isaiah, chapter 58. As she makes clear, this is a prophetic message given not only to ancient Israel, but rich in significance today for the people of God who live at the close of earth's history. The promises are grand. Just listen to a few words: "And you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in" (Isa 58:ll-l2).
The context describes a revived people of God, deeply concerned for those around them and fully committed in their inmost souls. These are a people God can use in an outpouring of His power.
God promises to restore that which once flourished. The final proclamation of truth is a restoration, a binding up of wounds, an invitation to those who will come with us into the kingdom of Christ. It means a revival of practical godliness. This is what we--whether in the Australian outback or in northern Norway--need as a people. We need to revisit the springs of living water. Until we do, there will be an ever-growing tendency to be satisfied with things as they are.
When I refer to the springs of living water, I have in mind those mighty efforts of God that resulted in the raising up of the Adventist movement, replete with both its spirit and the unique truths for our time--not mere nostalgia, a gilding of the past, an effort to reproduce today all the details of life a century ago. Such has never been the intent of God.
I refer rather to that solid core of truth, hewn out by early believers, firmly crafted from the word of God, which remains the core of our message today, wherever we live, however we express ourselves in worship. And the adhesive that holds all of truth in one unit is the presence of Christ, who is indeed the desire of all the ages and of all cultures as well.
I firmly believe we stand at the door to the greatest time in all history for the growth of the church and the extension of the gospel. Would it not be appropriate for us to come as did Jesus in special communion with His Father as the shadow of Calvary loomed in His future? Shall we not come and drink at the source, listen to the Spirit of God, then rise to face the final challenge?
Ours is that last saving message for a world gone awry. As the Revelator penned the message of the first angelic triad "...Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come:" (Rev. 14:7). Yes, Jesus is coming soon!
What I am saying is not idle speculation. Our modern minds have so accustomed themselves to focusing on the fine details of life that we are in danger of losing the overall, the broad, biblical perspective. Of all Christians, Seventh-day Adventists have the greatest opportunity to measure God's deeds by the grandest of scales.
With our understanding of the great controversy, we have a cosmic vision of all that ultimately matters. Rather than trying to piece together meaning out of life's jumbled pile of ideas and events, we can go to the source of all wisdom, where God spreads before us the full panorama of His intent.
We Seventh-day Adventists are famous for our multitude of activities and outreaches, for our zeal in pressing forward the gospel into remote ends of the world. We love to do battle for our Lord. From the beginning of time, God's church has been a church of action. But focused action can do what never can be accomplished by activities that scatter and dissipate our collective energy into a mere cloud of swirling dust. At our fingertips lies the biblical, cosmic truth that integrates all human understanding.
While some of us think of the Adventist movement as a people who believe in a collection of individual truths, such as the Sabbath, the law of God, justification by faith, and the second coming, in fact we bear before the world a broad unified package of meaning, of which these are components. All our doctrines, and this is what makes us unique, fit together into a beautiful mosaic of truth, which when seen as a whole reveals the glorious God of all and His eternal purpose.
It is this magnificent overview that I am anxious to see us grasp, for in it is understanding, inspiration, and direction. It is truly a message for all people in all lands, for we all -- whatever the color of our skin or hair, the features of our face, the language we speak, the food we eat -- we are all created by the same God. He has made us all of "one blood," has invested us with a grand overriding likeness -- and all the cultural differences in the world will never change that great truth.
To ally ourselves firmly with the God of all and to participate in His purposes is the highest destiny we can have.
This kind of orientation is that of the people of God described in Revelation l3. They are a people with every thought focused to the tumultuous end of the Great Controversy between Christ and His archenemy. They possess a truth that transcends all cultural divides.
All is subsumed in the crisis of the ages, when at peril of life itself the remnant boldly announce their loyalty to Christ Jesus and His Sabbath sign, knowing full well that there will follow a firestorm of condemnation, rejection, and violence, wherever they live.
What holds such people in absolute loyalty? They have taken a stand for God, for truth, for an ideal that isn't changed by culture, heritage, or tradition, for a God who transcends all these. They are out of step with popular society, with culture, with tradition -- politically incorrect to the maximum -- scorned, rejected, and hated. But above all, theirs is the all-possessing vision that they are Christ's people -- nothing more is left. Culture doesn't count.
To take advantage of these possibilities we have dared to think new thoughts in connection with this and the subsequent Annual Councils of this quinquennium. Although there is much important business to be done, we have consciously and deliberately set our attention on spiritual matters, putting them first on the agenda. The issues we will address each year are of such import that we are urging leaders and members, who cannot be present in person, to participate interactively with us via satellite. As a result, I pray that every one of us will enter into an even deeper experience with God.
In the hollow of His hand hangs all the universe without the slightest diminishing of His personal care for each one of us. Not only does He guide the galaxies through reaches of space unimaginable, He also knows the hairs of our head and is moved with compassion when He sees a sparrow fall.
And with this wonderful assurance, we encounter a new dimension of unity, for all is ultimately in Christ, of Christ, with Christ, yes, beside Christ before the throne of God. We need a spiritual reformation of mind, heart, soul, the full person we always have talked about.
We want to see the church the body of Christ, scattered through the miscellany of human cultures and ethnic groups, but with a common cosmic, heaven-oriented vision. From and above all these things that divide we gather as the host of the Lord, first at the foot of the cross, then on the sea of glass before the throne.
No longer drifters along the highway of life, aliens, outcasts, but the assembly of the firstborn, adopted, transformed into citizens of the kingdom by the utter grace of one who Himself paid the price for our salvation. Now He presents the fruits of His timeless sacrifice before the throne.
And the joy of all is, we are there. The cosmic plan of the ages is complete. And the best news is, we -- from all backgrounds, traditions, and cultures -- are there with Him in heaven, where culture doesn't count.
Copyright © 1995 by R S Folkenberg