The Bible and the Cultural Issues: An Introduction
In the evangelical circle, Christians verbally
acknowledge the Bible as God’s Word that it is the final authority for both
what they should believe and how to live. Yet in reality there is seen a clear
contrast between their public confession and personal conduct. We need to
understand that a true Christianity is not based on our external morality,
religiosity and Church traditionalism; but on the basis of our personal
love for Jesus Christ and a desire to obey HIM (John 14:15).
India is known as the birthplace for many religions
i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. We live in a pluralistic society
in which it has been a challenge to present the Gospel exclusively. There are people who born and brought up in
different environment of religion, but they are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ and has become the member of the body of Christ. They come with their
cultural and social customs and religious experience. It is very easy to
counsel them about the cultural and religious issues on which the Bible gives clear
instructions but the controversy emerges when there is no clear biblical
implication in the passage of the Scripture.
Therefore we need to have a sound and biblical
understanding on God of the Bible, the authority of the Bible, the fallible of
man and the culture in order to lay down the foundational guidelines for the
issues for which the Bible is silent or does not give a clear advice.
Understanding God of the Bible
Apostle Paul writes to Corinthians, “For although there may be so – called gods
in heaven or on earth – as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” – yet
for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom are
all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are
all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:5-6). We need to understand
that there is one God and one Lord; from him and through him and to him are all
things.
No religion refutes the existence of God. God is not
the copyright of any particular religion. Therefore Apostle Paul preached the
Gospel in the midst of the Areopagus beginning with the unknown god (Read Acts
17:22-34). He said to them that “… you
worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and
everything in it … does not live in temples (vs. 23, 24) … he himself gives to all mankind life and
breath … he made from one man every nation of mankind (vs. 25-26) … we ought not to think that the divine
being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and
imagination of man (vs. 29) … but now
he commands all people everywhere to repent …” (vs. 30). God has revealed
HIS invisible attributes especially HIS eternal power and divine nature in the
creation of the world (Rom. 1:20); which is called general revelation. God
created man; and man created the religion to describe ONE who created
everything. This is how the general revelation of God is misunderstood and took
a form of false religion. As a result, they exchanged the truth about God for a
lie and worshiped the creation rather than creator (Rom. 1:25).
Therefore Apostle Paul introduced the God of Bible to
the philosophers in Athens beginning with general revelation and concluded with
special revelation of God as the creator of universe, the source of life and
the Saviour of humanity. In other words, the God of the Bible is ONE who
created everything, gives life for sustenance and saves the nations from their
sin (1 Cor. 8:5-6 cf. Heb.1:1-3).
Understanding the Authority of the Bible
King David witnessed the authority of the Bible in
Psalm 19:7-9. It says, “The law of the
Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making
wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the
commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is
clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous
altogether.” These verses describe
the sufficiency and the authority of the Bible on our faith and living in concise
with clarity. The Bible is the law of God which is perfect and revives the
inner man. The Bible is the testimony of the Lord which is reliable and gives
wisdom to the simple. The Bible is the divine principles which guide us to find
true happiness. The Bible is commandment of God which is simple to understand
and to obey. The Bible conveys the awesome glory of God which draws us to
worship as our creator, the Lord and Saviour.
Therefore we should believe and accept the Bible as
the Word of God and the Word of God is truth (John 17:17); and the Bible
consists everything which we need to live in godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The Bible
is our authority for public confession and personal conduct; therefore to
sidestep or ignore the Bible not only brings the disaster in our spiritual
life, but it also dishonours our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now it is also
true that the Bible does not address every issue which is pertaining to our
society, religion and culture which is called as ‘gray area’. But we need to
understand that God has given certain principles and parameters in the Bible
for the gray areas and Apostle Paul writes in the epistle to Corinthians about
these principles in which we can find the clarity on particular issue.
First, does it profit me spiritually? Paul
writes, “All things are lawful for me, “but not all things are lawful for me,”
but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Cor. 6:12). We need to avoid all
those practices which lead us into spiritual bondage and have no spiritual
profit in our life. Second, does it lead me into holiness? Paul
writes, “... do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought
with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). We should avoid
all those things and practices which defiles our body and pollutes our mind.
Third, does it edify others in Christian faith? Paul writes, “Food will not commend us to God. We are no
worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this
right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1
Cor. 8:8-9). We need to be sensitive to others’ interests. In India, eating
beef and pork is considered a taboo among high caste Hindu communities.
Therefore we especially the missionaries who work among high caste Hindus need
to avoid such practices and food habits, which put a stumbling block to believe
in Christ. Fourth, does it edify me and others spiritually? Paul write, “All things are lawful, “but not all things are helpful. “All things
are lawful, “but not all things build up” (1 Cor.10:23). We should exercise
the things which enhance me and my fellow believers spiritually. We need to ask
ourselves that how the choices I make is going to benefit me and others
spiritually. Fifth, does it violate my conscience? Paul
instructs us in 1 Cor. 10:25-29 to abstain from certain practices for the sake
of conscience. We should never violate our conscience, we do it is sin (Rom.
14:23). Therefore don’t train yourself to violate your conscience. Sixth, does
it glorify God? Paul writes, “So, whether
you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). We are created to glorify God and worship HIM
forever. Glorifying and worshiping God does not mean to sing hymns and clap
within the walls, but it is about how we live and behave. We need to avoid such
habits and languages which profane the name of God and dishonour our Lord Jesus
Christ. Seventh, does it open the door to preach the gospel? “So, whether
you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no
offense to Jews or to Geeks or to the Church of God, just as I try to please
everyone I everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many,
that they may be saved” (1 Cor. 10:32-33). As Paul
had concerned how to win people for Christ, in same way we should think and act
in order to help people to come in the knowledge of salvation in and through Jesus
Christ. Our testimony should lead people to Christ.
Apostle Paul
gave these seven principles to the Church at Corinth in the 1st
century which had been facing lot of moral, religious, social and cultural
issues. Presently, these principles still help us to apply the authority of the
Bible in the gray areas to guide our new believers who have found the joy of salvation
in and through Jesus Christ, to act and to respond the issues biblically they
encounter every day.
Understanding the fallible of Man
In 16th century, both John Calvin and
Martin Luther rejected Nicolaus Copernicus as a heretic. Because Copernicus
advocated that the sun, not the earth, is at the centre of the solar system and
the earth and other planets revolve around the sun. His view was against the teaching
of the church that taught that earth is the centre of the universe. Even John
Calvin described as ‘possessed by the Devil’ to those who hold the view of
Copernicus. But today no theologian rejects this theory as a false teaching.
This classic example from the history reminds us that
human beings are fallible. We human beings have double unique dignity as
creatures made in God’s image and as sinners under HIS judgement. Therefore it
is always a possibility to commit the error while interpreting the infallible
Word of God.
When we encounter the issue which comes under the gray
area, we need to understand its social, religious, moral and cultural significance
in order to apply the biblical principles correctly. Although after discovering
all its aspect, there is possibility to misuse the principles and reach in a
wrong conclusion. So we should be such
person which receive the truth with eagerness and examine its validity in the
light of the Scripture (Acts 17:11) because a fallible preacher teaches the
infallible Word of God. The greatest ignorance is not this that we have not
studied in school or college or have obtained the Ph.D., but it is this:
although we don’t know, we think we know. But if we keep ourselves in prayer
and the study of the Bible having the spirit of humble, the Holy Spirit will
rightly inform and guide us to “walk as the children of light (Eph. 5:8) ... to
discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Eph. 5:10).
Understanding the Culture
Culture is not a religion, and every country has its
own culture. Culture is shared ideas, customs and social behaviours within a particular
people group which distinguishes them from another people group, while religion
is the belief in spiritual beings and two different people groups can share
same belief system, and even their culture is different. It is very true that many
practices within the culture are originated out of religious belief. So we need
to discern the difference between what is cultural practice or what is
religious one. In order to discern, we should know the religious, social,
cultural and other significance of a particular practice or custom; and we need
to understand that why people behave and practice certain thing in certain environment.
In this area, most of Christian ministers are failed to study and to understand.
As a result, our non-believer neighbours misunderstood the Gospel and they
began to defend their religion in the name of culture and language.
Nowhere in the New Testament has taught us to forbid the
culture; which has its social significance. Jesus himself respected and followed
Jewish culture. He attended the marriage ceremonies (John 2:1-11), he was
circumcised at the 8th day (Luke 2:21), he visited the temple along
with his parents at the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41-43), Jesus paid the
temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27), etc. Jesus never opposed any social and cultural
custom, although HE raised his voice against the evils prevailing in the
society i.e. commercialization of religion (Matthew 21:12-13, John 2:13-16), Hypocrisy
of religious leaders (Matthew 23:1-36), etc.
There are Christian ministers who
quote frequently 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 to teach new-believers to forbid the
culture. In these verses, Apostle Paul
writes, “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says
the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a
father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord
Almighty.” But they frequently forgot what Apostle Paul wrote in the
previous chapter. He writes, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with
sexually immortal people – not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this
world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since they you would need to
go out of the world” (2 Cor. 5:9-10). Paul advised us that we should keep
ourselves away from the sin, not from the society and its culture. I would be
fool, if I say that I will not buy the grocery, travel, go hospital for
treatment and attend classes, because there are unsaved shopkeepers, bus
drivers, medical doctors and teachers. Therefore we should not see culture as
religion, but need to discern and to purify the culture from its religious
significance.
Conclusion
God is the source of all truth. Therefore whenever we
encounter an issue, we need to draw our understanding toward God of the Bible
whose understanding is infinite (Ps. 147:5), whose character is unchanging (Ps.
102:26-27, Jam. 1:17) and whose plans stand forever (Ps. 33:11). So our guidance
on particular issue should draw the people to love HIM more and worship HIM in
the spirit and the truth. Our Christian thinking should be theo-centric (God
centeredness) rather than anthro-centric (man centeredness). God is the centre of our Christian theology and
the author of the Bible. “All scripture
is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is
sufficient, complete and authoritative to tackle all issues pertaining to
social, religious, cultural and ethics.
Other side, we need to caution about the fallible of
human nature. No education, skill or training can make man infallible. There is
always a possibility that an educated man can blunder the same way as an
illiterate. The culture should be seen as culture, not as religious practices. We
need to ask divine help, wisdom from above and need to interact with our people
group to know that how they have perceived the certain practice and custom
within their culture. No one is perfect, but only the Spirit of God can lead us
into the perfection through HIS Word.
The Bible describes of some people as “always learning and never able to arrive at
a knowledge of truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). It talks of people who intellectually
possess the knowledge, but never know how to put into practice and apply its
principles to define our stand against and for the issues we face in our
mission field.
Let’s pray together and surrender our life under HIS lordship, who leads us into the TRUTH.
(It has been my long time desire to write the biblical response on all
cultural issues we face in mission field. I don’t claim what I have written and
going to write is unmovable truth. In my journey of Christian faith, I have
found that most of Christian ministers jumped into the conclusion due to their
prejudice and church traditionalism; and they forced new believers to adopt the
practice which violated their conscience. As a result, the rate of backslidden
is increased; and our neighbours began to say that they love Christ and his
teachings, but they hate us as a destroyer of their culture. With humbleness I
appeal that if anyone who loves the Lord, has great concern for his neighbours
and having a sensitive heart toward their culture; speaks truth in love, and may
guides us toward better understanding of God of the Bible, the authority of
Bible, and culture; I will consider and appreciate your valuable suggestions on
these issues and I will be ready to edit these pages. In the next blog in this series, I will write on “The Bible and Our Conscience". I need
your prayer support for this work.)
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