Breaking Free of Culture

There are a lot of obstacles to growing in the Christian faith. Many of them are within us, patterns and routines we follow, things that we hold as essential truths. These are things that we learn as we grow, some from family, some from formal education, and most from the culture. I blogged a couple weeks back about one of those patterns that we are taught by the educational culture, namely that summer is a time to disengage. Today, I’d like to blog about another.

Being an American means that you value freedom. Especially in this area of the country, the birthplace of the American Revolution, we learn that freedom is a HUGE issue. And, in case you needed a little more help learning that, look around town, at the end of your block, or maybe in your own backyard, and see the ancient grave markers, constant reminders that freedom is worth fighting for, even worth dying for. However, what was fought for and achieved a couple hundred years ago was something radically different than what we call “freedom” today. We have enculturated “individualism,” and in the extreme “libertinism,” as our highest values. The values of our Forefathers have been corrupted, and we no longer have a place for “We the people” and “the common good.”

These definitions of “freedom” are decidedly foreign to the Bible and pure Christian faith. We certainly make personal confessions of faith, but we are expected to live out the implications of our commitment in community. At its core, the Christian life is one modeled after Christ, and His life was characterized as one that gave up personal freedoms and poured out life for the sake of others. This is something that you gradually learn how to do when you commit to living intimately in Christian community. You learn how to live and love like Christ.