圣经研究3——他赐给我们圣经: 解释圣经的基础 HGB——第十课 圣经文化和现今应用
目录
一、介绍
二、圣经基础
文化的重要性
对立的文化理想
文化多样性
三、圣经发展
文化的重要性
对立的文化理想
文化多样性
四、发展
文化的重要性
对立的文化理想
文化多样性
五、结论
一、介绍
教导《圣经》的人时不时都会听到有人提问，「难道这部分的《圣经》不过只是文化方面的吗？」他们通常的意思就是，《圣经》的一些部分，是如扎根在《圣经》时代古代的文化当中，结果是没有可能应用在今天我们身上。所以基督徒经常花大量时间尝试区分「只是文化」的《圣经》经文，和那些可应用在现今生活中的经文。
我们在这一课要提出一个不同看法，与其把《圣经》的一些部分看作是文化的或可应用的，我们要看《圣经》的每一部份都是文化的和可应用的，整本《圣经》反映出古代的文化背景，但仍是上帝的话语，要以一种或另外一种的方式，应用在每一个人身上，不管我们是谁，我们生活在何时何地。
这是《他赐给我们圣经：释经的基础》这系列的第十课，我们给它定的标题是「圣经文化和现今应用」。我们在这一课要看《圣经》的文化层面应当如何影响我们把《圣经》应用到现今世界当中。
正如我们在之前课程里讲过的一样，每次我们把《圣经》经文应用在我们今天，我们都必须考虑《圣经》起初受众和现今受众之间在时代、文化和个人方面的差距。虽然这三方面不能完全把两者分隔开来，但我们要特别关注文化的问题，当我们从《圣经》原本含义去到现今应用时，那要发挥作用的文化问题。
要给文化下定义，我们可以有很多方法。但在现今社会学和人类学中典型出现的是以下观点，我们要把文化定义为：
标志着一群人的观念、行为和情感交互模式。正如这定义表明的那样，文化涉及一个范围的交互模式，例如，语言、艺术、敬拜、技术、人际关系和社会权威。这些交互模式就是人所共享的观念、行为和情感我们相信什么，做些什么，感觉什么。所以我们讲到文化时，我们想的就是标志着一群人的这些特征不管这群人是一个家庭、一个民族群体、一种社会组织，宗教团体，一个国家，或者甚至全人类。
这一课要关注《圣经》文化和现今应用的三个层面：首先我们要查看《圣经》一开始章节中文化的《圣经》基础，第二，我们要追溯一些在旧约和新约中发生的文化的《圣经》发展，第三，我们要看《圣经》的这些文化方面应当如何影响我们对《圣经》的现今应用。
让我们首先来看一看文化的《圣经》基础。
我们来看文化的《圣经》基础时，要从探索创世记1到11章开始。首先，我们要看这些章节如何确定文化的重要性。第二，我们要关注它们如何引入两种的对立文化理想。第三，我们要留意《圣经》开篇几章，是怎样为在上帝忠心仆人当中文化的多样性铺设了舞台。让我们首先从文化的重要性开始。
创世记的前十一章涵盖了从创造到亚伯拉罕时候的整个世界历史，它们对于我们的学习特别重要，因为它们呈现了上帝为世界和人类文化设立的理想模式。这样它们就要指引我们的读经，不仅对创世记余下部分，也是对《圣经》其余部分的阅读。
文化基础首先出现在创世记1章28节，这一段经常被称作是「文化使命」或文化御令。在当中上帝对人类说：
要生养众多，遍满地面，治理这地；也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各样行动的活物。（创世记1章28节）要认识和应用文化使命的重要意义，我们需要记住在前几课学过的内容。上帝为历史制定的最终目标，总是要用他可见的荣光充满这世界，让每一个受造物都永远敬拜他。在上帝确立创造起初的秩序后，文化使命就表明，人类的责任就是进一步发展受造界，预备最终彰显出上帝的荣耀。
上帝用最简单的话赋予人类文化使命，好让世界，这受造的世界可以被他的荣耀充满。我们看创造的画面，就像建造一幢房屋，就像一种古代的神庙，当神庙建造的时候，下令建造的假神就住在里面。同样《圣经》对创造的观点就是，全地都要成为上帝的居所，成为一座圣所。但是上帝不是把代表上帝的雕像雕刻成一只鸟、一头狮子或其他东西的雕像放在那殿里面，而是把具有他形像样式的男女放在这圣殿里。上帝颁布文化使命，实际上就是说，「去，加增我的形象，遍满地面，然后管理这地，就像祭司一样，对这地行使权柄。」所以，文化使命就是具有上帝形象样式的人，可以在这被创造的世界上行使上帝的主权，让它成为造这世界的上帝的居所，就像他在天上宝座的所在。我们在好像以赛亚书6章的地方，稍微可以看一眼这殿，将来在这地也要像天上的圣所一样。所以这并不是一件新事，例如旧约《圣经》告诉我们，这地要充满耶和华的荣光，就像水充满洋海一样，因为这就是上帝原本为这地制定的计划。麦克尔葛罗道牧师在《圣经》一开始的地方，在创世记第1章，在人类堕落之前，上帝就向亚当和夏娃颁布了一项非常重要的命令，或一套教训；实际上，我们几乎可以说这是一种世界观，就是把伊甸园的美好、秩序、卓越遍布扩展到全世界。《圣经》的故事，在很大部分讲的就是人类堕落，失败不能做成这件事，然后通过末后的亚当，耶稣基督和他的新妇，就是教会，重新开始执行这使命。所以文化使命，这创造的使命，从创世记1章那原本的命令，实际上就是《圣经》信息的核心，我要说，实际上就是救赎要成就的工作。一位学者把救赎称为对创造的恢复，我认为这是一幅非常美好的画面，这是对《圣经》内容非常美好全面的认识。我常常把《圣经》的信息说成是上帝从天到地，从创造到新创造，恢复他的统治，或他的国度。而这是在这两个标杆、两个轴心之间运行着上帝把天上的现实带来，使之成为完全、完全成就的地上现实，这同时也使人感受时间走向，认识到上帝的作为从创造一直延伸到新创造那最终的目标。这当中的核心，就是上帝正在扩展他的美好、他的卓越；或者使用更符合《圣经》的语言，就是把他的荣耀遍布全世界，这就是上帝对人类中的每一个人，和教会中被救赎群体的呼召使命。约拿单潘宁顿博士我们可以在创世记1章26节看到这一点，在那里上帝说：「我们要照着我们的形象造人。」在古代世界，国家的君王被称作是神的形像，部分原因在于他们作为王的任务，就是确定他们神灵的旨意，然后替天行道建造他们的文化。有了这认识，创世记前几章就清楚表明，所有人类被造是要完成这种君王的文化服事，在地上进一步行出上帝的旨意。
除此以外，创世记第2章还解释了每一种按照上帝旨意的文化发展，都是一种对上帝的神圣、祭司一样的服事。我们在15节看到，上帝把亚当和夏娃放在他神圣的园子里，让他们「修理看守。」这说法是把两个希伯来文动词，异乎寻常地结合在一起，עָבַד（/ʕbd/）通常翻译为「工作」，「劳动」；שָׁמַר (/ş̌mar/)，通常翻译为「看顾」，「保护」。摩西只有在另外一处地方把这两个说法合在一起使用，就是在民数记3章8节，描写利未人祭司在会幕上帝荣耀的同在面前服事。
所以实际上，创世记开篇前几章就确立了基础性的《圣经》观点，就是文化不是我们生命一种较小的层面，而是我们身为君王和祭司对上帝的服事。上帝已经命定我们要充满、发展、美化这地，使之井井有条，使之成为圣洁，为他可见荣耀的最终展现做准备。
我想要知道上帝为什么赐人文化使命，很重要的就是要记住，人是独一无二按照上帝自己的形像样式被造，所以对于上帝的形像样式，有一种结构的成分，我们就是上帝的形像样式。但还有一种功能的成分，就是我们以特别的方式，表明彰显上帝的荣耀，就是按照我们做人的方式，通过我们所做的工作，行出和反射出他的荣耀。所以当我们思想文化使命的时候，我们有一种工作要做，要充满全地，治理这地，使这世界像伊甸园，像乐园一样，等等，但也要充满它，用人口遍满这地。所以这种观念就是我们要行出文化使命，为了上帝自己荣耀的缘故，把独一无二彰显在他在人身上形像样式的荣耀，扩展直到地极。布鲁斯鲍格斯博士现在我们已经看了文化重要性的《圣经》基础，就要来看第二个问题：人类贯穿历史追求的两种对立文化理想的《圣经》基础。
每当我们去到世界不同地方的时候，我们都要特别提醒自己，应该有很大的空间让人们以不同的方式来做事的，我们不需要都在马路同一侧开车，讲同样的语言，或者穿同样的衣服。虽然如此，创世记开篇几章讲得非常清楚，文化从来就不是在道德上中立的。相反，每一种文化的每一种发展，都以这样或那样的方式，不是不讨上帝喜悦，就是讨上帝喜悦，因为它是反映出两种对立的文化理想的其中一种。
《圣经》的作者非常清楚，人类用许多方式发展文化，但从他们的观点来看，所有的文化都属于两种基本范畴的其中一种：服事上帝的文化模式和反对上帝的文化模式。
正如我们后面要看到的，当我们今天应用《圣经》，这些文化方面的差别就变得非常重要。但现在让我们来思想，这一种差别是怎么一开始在《圣经》最早几章中就确立起来的。
在创世记3章，亚当和夏娃因着吃了分别善恶树上的果子，没有通过他们是否对上帝忠心的考验。在这之后上帝启示说，他们的堕落犯罪要导致人类跟从两种不同的文化道路。请听上帝怎样在创世记3章15节对那条蛇说话时，描写这两种文化追求：
我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇；你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。（创世记3章15节）简单来讲，这里提到的「女人」就是夏娃，上帝创造的第一个女人，这蛇就是撒但。
这一段确立了贯穿历史成为人类文化特征的这种分别。女人的后裔努力要忠心服事上帝。蛇的后裔努力反对他。这种分别要继续下去，成为人类文化的标志，直到夏娃那位伟大的后裔基督，再来完全最终战胜撒但。
这两条道路，马上就在创世记第4章该隐和亚伯的故事里清楚显明出来。到了第4章快将结束的时候，我们看到该隐和他的后裔，是怎样作为那蛇的后裔生活。他们形成高度细致的文化，但目的是抵挡上帝的旨意，把他们肉身的祖先换成那恶者，以他作他们属灵的父。
但是，在创世记5章，我们看到记载了赛特的后裔，作为女人的后裔发展文化，他们形成家族和部落，他们发展出信仰的做法和语言。他们并不是完美的人，但他们尽力建立服事上帝、荣耀上帝的文化模式，从这一点开始，《圣经》就继续把对这两种互相对立的文化理想作出分别。
在这里我们要小心。要解释和应用《圣经》，我们也要看到人类文化的这两种道路之间存在许多类似地方。创世记4到5章表明，该隐和亚伯都想征服自然。他们都发展出社会和宗教的习惯做法，正如赛特和该隐的家谱表明的那样，这两条谱线上的人都结婚生儿育女。
追求这如此不同文化理想的人，怎么可能发展出如此类似的文化表达？从《圣经》其余部分我们得知，这些类似之处的出现是有两个原因的。
一方面上帝的普遍恩典，他那种对人类的怜悯，不是使人得救的怜悯，约束着撒但，以及那些跟从他的人有罪的倾向，结果就是就连最属撒但的文化，也彰显出在一种程度上符合上帝的旨意；另一方面，罪继续败坏那些追求上帝道路的人，所以就连世界上最圣洁的文化，也不能完全遵行上帝的旨意。
从该隐和亚伯那时候开始，直到我们今天，上帝忠心的仆人和那些悖逆上帝的人，双方的文化努力之间总有不同之处和相似之处。当我们努力要把《圣经》任何经文在今天应用出来的时候，很重要的就是要记住这些文化的区别。
在探索了文化重要性的《圣经》基础，以及确立两种对立文化理想之后，我们现在来看第三个因素：上帝在《圣经》开篇几章里认可文化的多样性。
创世记前面几章主要叙述的是少数几个个体的人。所以在《圣经》的这部分，没有例子表明反映出文化多样性群体的例子。即使如此，上帝仍然通过他在人类历史初期向个人启示他旨意的方式，在创世记前几章就为文化的多样性铺垫了舞台。
人可以用很多方法来描述文化多样性的基础，但为了节约时间，我们要来看文化多样性是怎样通过「特殊启示」，以及我们通常称为的「普遍启示」发展起来的。
「特殊启示」是一种说法，神学家传统上用来表明上帝向拣选的一些人，通过异梦、异象、先知，《圣经》和其他类似方法启示他自己和他的旨意。例如在创世记前几章，上帝通过说话向亚当和夏娃，该隐和亚伯，以及挪亚显明他自己。
另一方面，「普遍启示」指的是上帝在所有创造中，在人身上人的个性，身体和属灵能力和其他特质以及在环境中在外在可观察的世界上彰显他自己和他的旨意。我们在比如诗篇19篇和罗马书1章18到20节的经文里看到这一点。
上帝使用特殊启示和普遍启示帮助我们明白，他是怎样在他的百姓当中为文化的多样性铺设舞台。
我们在上帝忠心的百姓会以不同方式来遵行同样的特殊启示这件事上看到这一点，即便是同样时段，因为他们是不同的人，面对着不同的处境。比如说，亚当和夏娃在创世记1章28节领受了文化使命这特殊启示。但是亚当和夏娃有不同的才能、个性、身体能力和其他事情，他们也要面对不同的个人处境。亚当和夏娃之间的这些多样性无论到什么程度，他们都要把文化使命这特殊启示，以不同方式在同一时间里，应用到他们的人生当中。
另外，人经常在时间过程之内，以不同方式应用同样的特殊启示，这是因为牵涉的人和环境有不断的发展变化。只举一个例子，当上帝一开始赐下文化使命的时候，罪还没有进入世界。但是在亚当和夏娃悖逆上帝之后，他们和他们的处境就发生了改变，结果就是，他们遵行文化使命的方式也发生了改变。事实上，创世记3章的特殊启示表明，随着时间和人类向前发展，痛苦和虚空要让实现文化使命变得复杂起来。
我们可以看到，随着上帝在时间之内，在特殊启示方面一点又加上一点，同样的多样性一次又一次出现。在某种程度上，每一点新的特殊启示都修正了之前特殊启示提出的要求。所以每次上帝赐下新的特殊启示，他忠心的百姓就要改变他们那时和在一段时间之内服事他的方式。
从一开始，普遍启示和特殊启示就让始祖以各种多样的方式服事上帝。正如我们在这一课后面要看到的那样，这一开始的多样性为贯穿《圣经》历史，甚至直到今天，向上帝忠心的群体中的文化多样性打下了基础。
创世记中的文化使命要求我们生养众多，遍满全地，管理这地，这就要产生出文化方面的多样性。人可能会问，这真是上帝计划的一部分吗？上帝真的打算要在不同的文化之间存在着多样性吗？我想说《圣经》的教导是，是的，绝对是这样的。这是上帝要求我们开始去做工的一种表现。他在一种环境中创造了我们，这种环境充满了他愿意有多样性的愿望。这世界上不仅有旱地，也有海洋，不仅有日头，还有其他各种各样的星星，不仅仅有飞鸟，还有各种各样的动物，不仅仅有一种人，人还分男女。所以如果我们把上帝按这种方式创造的形象，扩展到他所造的一切时，肯定我们也应当反映出这种多样性，这就要在不同的文化习惯和事情上表现出来。我们要说的还有，上帝呼召我们用他的荣耀遍满全地，我们这样做的时候，就要遇见比如不同的气候，不同的地理这样的事情。你不大可能在赤道地方建一座冰屋，草棚在阿拉斯加也不能发挥作用，所以当我们遍满全地，管理全地时，很自然就会有这种多样性，我们看到启示录也反映出这种多样性，启示录说，在被救赎的群体当中，有来自各民各族各方的人。这并没有偏离上帝一开始的计划，实际上是应验了上帝在创世记第1章就颁布的命令。吉米阿甘博士我认为上帝在这世界上动工，其中部分的美妙之处，就是他不仅在一种文化，而且也在许多文化当中，通过许多文化动工。福音的宣告是对万民传讲的，就是说，是对所有民族的人，世界上所有的群体传讲。当你看到启示录结束的部分，《圣经》讲到地上的君王要把他们的荣耀带进上帝的国度，所有这些不同文化的宝藏，以及我们看到在世上不同文化表现出来的独特力量和恩赐，这些都是上帝以救赎的方式使用的事，都是他为人类订制的计划的一部份。我想这就是其中一个原因，很重要的是我们要在基督的身体里有跨文化的关系，好使我们能受益于上帝通过世上不同文化动工而带来的完全丰富。菲利普莱肯博士要探索《圣经》文化和现今应用之间的关系，我们就不仅需要记住文化的《圣经》基础，也要知道贯穿旧约《圣经》和新约《圣经》文化的《圣经》发展。
我们可以用很多方法归纳《圣经》中文化的《圣经》发展，但为了我们的目的，我们要通过用检查文化根基的同样角度来看这些文化发展。我们首先要看，随着《圣经》历史的发展，文化的重要性，然后我们要看，两种对立文化理想在《圣经》里是如何发展的。最后我们要来查看，文化多样性是怎样在《圣经》里发展起来的。让我们从文化的重要性开始。
在旧约《圣经》和新约《圣经》，文化都很重要，但旧约《圣经》里文化的重要性，最清楚展现在从一开始，《圣经》赋予作为一国的以色列的关注。
创世记描写了在以色列成为一国之前文化的发展，但是整体的摩西五经，《圣经》的前五卷书，是在摩西律法之约期间，在以色列离开埃及、在西乃山作为一国被聚集起来的时候写成，出于这个原因，这几卷书大量关注上帝为以色列的国民生活颁布的命令和教训。
旧约《圣经》其余部分，从约书亚记到玛拉基书，是在大卫君王之约期间写成，当时以色列已经成为一个完全发展的国家，这些书卷讲的是上帝启示的范围，在以色列兴起达到帝国荣耀期间，国度分裂的起伏时期，被掳时期，以及在旧约《圣经》结束时复国的短暂时期，来指引以色列的文化。
虽然旧约《圣经》描写了在以色列发生的许多文化发展，但是，《圣经》中最大的文化发展，是发生在从旧约时代到在基督里新约时代的过渡期。新约《圣经》关注的，并不是以色列的国民文化，而是让人关注基督教教会的文化模式发展。
要理解这种剧烈性的转变是如何发生，我们就需要记住，在第一世纪巴勒斯坦大多数的犹太人，都盼望新约时代的降临。正如我们在前一课学到的那样，在两约期间，犹太人的拉比把弥赛亚降临之前所有的历史，说成是「现今世代」，他们教导说，当弥赛亚出现时，他要带进那「将来世代」。他们相信在将来世代，弥赛亚要显现，带领他的百姓与世上邪恶的国民争战，在他充满荣耀世界范围的国度里，迅速建立起他的百姓，剧烈和决定性地改变以色列的文化。
但是耶稣和他的使徒清楚表明，他的统治要分三个阶段展现出来：在他第一次降临时，他的国度开启；贯穿教会历史，他的国度延续；在他第二次再来时，他的国度成全。对这三个阶段的看见，导致人对上帝期望他子民的文化在新约时期的发展有了一种全新认识。
除非我们记住像启示录11章15节所描述的基督国度最终的目标，否则我们就非常容易会看不到新约《圣经》里文化的重要性：
世上的国成了我主和主基督的国。他要作王，直到永永远远。（启示录11章15节）在这一处经文我们看到，基督有一天要摧毁这世上的国，以及这国许多悖逆上帝的文化，但他不是简单摧毁这些邪恶文化，他也要把这个世界转变成为一种世界范围的文化。我们可以把这文化描述为我主和主基督的国，在当中他要作王，直到永永远远。
所以在新约《圣经》，文化不是一种边缘化的元素，而是如此重要，以致这部份《圣经》的每一部分，都以某种方式讲到基督如何成就他为人类文化制定的旨意。
一些经文关注的，是耶稣怎样通过他的生、死、复活、升天和圣灵浇灌，发动文化使命的最后阶段。新约《圣经》的其他部份关注的是，教会在基督国度延续期间，通过福音帮助改变世界时如何引导教会。还有其他的经文让人注意到那成全，在那时基督再来，成就上帝为人类制订的旨意，建立起一种文化，在当中上帝的旨意成就在地上，如同成就在天上。
我们已经看了在《圣经》历史发展期间的文化重要性，以此探索了文化的《圣经》发展，我们就能转过来看贯穿整本《圣经》两种对立文化理想的发展。
在创世记3章，两种文化理想的建立，这让旧约《圣经》作者把蛇的后裔与外邦人国家联系在一起，把夏娃的后裔与以色列联系在一起。
外邦人国家发展他们的文化，服事假神，反对以色列的上帝。他们为这些假神设立神庙和神殿，有时甚至把自己的儿女作为祭物献上。上帝讲得非常清楚，他的百姓绝不可沾染任何这些做法。
另一方面，以色列接受了上帝通过摩西颁布的公义律法，努力按照荣耀那位唯一真神的方式生活，他们守安息日，避免偶像崇拜，依靠上帝的指引和保护，而不是依靠人的智慧和力量。
当然这并不意味着外邦人不能通过向上帝表达效忠，而被接纳进入以色列国，或者以色列人不会变得如此败坏，以致成为上帝的仇敌。而是按照他们各自追随他们传统理想的程度，以色列人发展出服事上帝的文化，外邦人国家发展出服事假神的文化。
与此同时，旧约《圣经》和考古学也表明，以色列和外邦人文化在许多方面有相似之处。这些相似之处，其中一些是因为以色列人走他们邻国有罪道路的结果，但是其他相似之处，是普遍恩典限制外邦人犯罪倾向的结果，让他们的文化在某些方面，至少从外表符合上帝的旨意。这些文化差异贯穿在旧约《圣经》的发展中。
我们来看新约《圣经》时，这两种对立的文化理想再次出现，但有不同的联系。
从旧约《圣经》开始，以色列长久对上帝不忠心，结果到了基督道成肉身的时候，只有余留下来一小部分忠心的犹太人。在新约《圣经》里，外邦人现在可以和这群余民一道，领受完全的儿子名份，作上帝的子民。所以新约《圣经》作者不再区分犹太人和外邦人国家，而是把跟从基督的人与女人的后裔联系在一起，把不信的人与蛇的后裔联系在一起，不管他们是犹太人还是外邦人。
这就是耶稣在约翰福音8章44节把撒但说成是法利赛人之父的原因，这也可以解释，为什么在罗马书16章20节，保罗指向创世记3章15节，向在罗马的基督徒保证，上帝要把撒但践踏在他们的脚下。
以色列和外邦人国家的关系，这是一个很有意思的问题。如果你看创世记18章和其他地方，上帝已经向亚伯拉罕应许，他要祝福亚伯拉罕，祝福他的后裔。如果我们把《圣经》看作是一场多幕话剧，你就看到第一幕，上帝向亚伯拉罕作出应许。他要保守以色列国不受周围各国败坏的影响。他们失败了，但上帝管教他们，他保护这国，直到弥赛亚降临。弥赛亚来，向以色列人宣告救恩。耶稣在马太福音15章说，「我奉差遣不过是到以色列家迷失的羊那里去。」这位迦南妇人正在恳求耶稣拯救她的女儿，有时候这令人感到非常困扰，人会说，为什么他不马上医治她的女儿。耶稣在某方面是在说，「这才是第二幕。」是不是？「我来向以色列家迷失的羊宣告救恩。」但是当你看到这卷福音书结束的地方，马太福音28章，我们就看到了第三幕的开始，在当中福音出去传到万民，传给犹太人，也传给外邦人。罗马书1章很有意思，就算在第三幕里，保罗也坚持这种分别，他讲到先是犹太人，后是外邦人，他觉得对他的国民同胞，对那些有亚伯拉罕应许的人有责任：我有责任首先向他们宣告。所以他去到犹太人会堂里，宣告赐给我们列祖的应许是真实的。但是当他被赶出会堂，或者当他们不再听他讲的时候，他马上就去到外邦人那里，因为就像他在以弗所书2章形容的一样，通过基督在十字架上的死，犹太人和外邦人之间分隔的墙已经被拆毁了。我们一起成为有上帝儿女名份的人。罗伯德普拉莫博士新约《圣经》经常警告信徒不要效法这个世界，因为教会和世界在追求两种对立的理想。但与此同时，新约《圣经》的作者承认，教会和世界之间的界限并不是绝对的，随着《圣经》中文化的发展，早期基督徒经常认同不信的人的习惯和追随的哲理方面的观点。正如我们之前看到的那样，这些相似之处，其中一些是因着罪对跟从基督的人带来的影响，其他相似之处是出于在这世界上普遍恩典的积极影响。
在我们关注《圣经》文化发展的时候，我们已经看了在旧约和新约《圣经》里文化的重要性，对立文化理想是怎样贯穿《圣经》历史发展起来的。现在让我们来看我们第三个话题，《圣经》中文化多样性的发展。
我们探索旧约《圣经》的时候，很明显看到旧约《圣经》包含许多律法和教训，为的是坚固以色列的国民文化。但这并不意味着上帝期望所有以色列的文化都是一模一样。事实上，以色列内部不同的群体，他们忠心应用上帝的特殊启示和普遍启示时，就有不同的文化模式出现。
这些差异有很多是同时发生的。利未人的祭司，在他们的群体中按照某种方式应用上帝的律法；与此同时，君王和其他政治领袖，用不同的方式应用上帝的律法。一个家庭按照适合家庭成员的方式应用上帝的律法，而其他家庭，按照适合他们自己成员的方式应用上帝的律法。
除此以外，随着上帝把越来越多特殊启示赐给以色列人，贯穿时间发展，更多的差异就发生了。上帝为他经过旷野的百姓命定某种文化模式，为在征服迦南期间的百姓命定不同模式。上帝在以色列建立王权时命定改变，命令所罗门在耶路撒冷建造圣殿时也命定改变。在以色列文化中发生的其他改变，是在被掳期间和被掳之后发生的。
贯穿以色列的历史，以色列文化生活的一些方面没有发生太大变化，他们从一开始到最后都是一种父权文化。丈夫是家庭的主要人物，当然不是唯一人物，我想起箴言，箴言说，你要多多孝敬父亲，不可咒诅母亲。虽然如此，这文化从一开始到最后，主要都是父权式的。但在另一方面，他们的国家文化发生了相当剧烈的改变，从松散的家族改变成为更紧密组织的支派结构，最后成为国家地位，然后这国家被摧毁，然后只是一个更大世界帝国里的一种文化，他们尝试要明白，作为上帝的子民，他们是谁？就这样，随着那时期的发展，他们的政治处境发生了相当剧烈的变化。约翰奥斯沃特博士当我们来看新约《圣经》，我们又再次看到多样性。旧约《圣经》的文化模式依然适用，但这些模式要按照这事实的光照来看，就是上帝的百姓不再是单一的国民，上帝的百姓现在是教会，是一群被召要在许多不同国民文化中生活的人。所以你可以预料到，在新约时代，上帝带领他忠心的百姓，发展出甚至更大的文化多样性。
人和处境的不同，导致基督徒群体在应用《圣经》教导方面彼此之间有不同的应用方法，例如，犹太人和外邦人信徒遵守不同的文化做法，这些做法是建立在他们自己的处境上的。在不同地区的基督教教会，当他们应用《圣经》时，要考虑他们自己的人和处境。不同的家庭群体，是以多种方式忠心遵从上帝的话语。
但很重要的就是要记住，新约《圣经》特殊启示不是马上就发生的。有将近一个世纪的时间，上帝通过基督，通过基督的使徒和先知，启示他为教会所立的旨意。所以新约《圣经》中教会的文化，也随着时间产生差异。例如割礼的习惯，使徒行传15章使徒和长老在耶路撒冷开会时，就发生了强烈改变。每一次一卷新约《圣经》书卷写成，被教会接纳，不同的基督教教会就经历改变。出于这些和许多其他原因，在新约《圣经》时期，基督教群体当中存在着大量文化多样性。
我们已经探讨了文化的《圣经》基础，以及《圣经》发展如何影响《圣经》中的文化，以此看了《圣经》文化和现今应用的问题，现在就让我们转过来看第三个主要话题，所有这些考虑，对于我们现今应用《圣经》有什么样的意义？
在我们今天，很多福音派人士认为信仰主要是一种私人的个人的事情。肯定的是，《圣经》对于我们个人与上帝的关系有大量教导，但是我们当中很多人强调《圣经》这方面到了一个地步，以致让我们不关心《圣经》对现今文化的意义。但正如我们要看到的那样，《圣经》非常强调我们信仰的文化层面，以致我们必须让我们自己坚持把《圣经》应用在今天的文化当中。
我们要按照我们看文化在《圣经》中的基础和发展一样的方式，来思想把《圣经》关于文化的教导在现今应用出来的问题。首先我们要来看，应用《圣经》时文化的重要性，接着我们要看两种对立文化理想应该怎样影响今天对《圣经》的应用。最后我们要看，现今应用如何必须考虑上帝为我们时代命定的文化多样性。让我们首先来看在现今应用当中文化的重要性。
《圣经》的很多部分帮助我们明白，为什么把《圣经》应用到现今文化当中，这很重要。其中最容易明白这一点的方法，就是思想基督如何呼吁跟从他的人，通过把凡基督所吩咐他们的，都教训人遵守，以此影响世界上每一种文化。
请听耶稣是怎样在马太福音28章19和20节讲这个问题的。这是基督徒熟悉的经文，经常把它称为大使命，或「福音使命」。在这段经文中，耶稣对他的门徒说：
所以，你们要去使万民作我的门徒，奉父子圣灵的名，给他们施洗。凡我所吩咐你们的，都教训他们遵守。（马太福音28章19-20节）这一段经文总结了在基督在荣耀中再来之前，跟从他的人的使命。但是要领会它与我们现今文化工作的关系，来看这福音使命是怎样回应了在创世记开始上帝赋予人类的文化使命，这对我们就会有帮助。
上帝在创世记1章28节的文化使命中，告诉人类「要生养众多」，类似在马太福音28章19节，基督呼吁跟从他的人要在人数上加增，他说「你们要去使万民作我的门徒，奉父子圣灵的名，给他们施洗。」就像上帝呼召亚当和夏娃用带着上帝形象样式的人充满世界一样，基督徒也要加增上帝所救赎的形像样式。我们一方面是通过带领人信靠基督得救做成这一点。
但是，耶稣的福音使命并不仅仅停留在加增忠心上帝、服事他的人的数目上。根据马太福音28章20节，我们的使命也包括「凡我所吩咐你们的，都教训他们遵守。」正如亚当和夏娃得到上帝呼召，要遍满全地、治理这地，以此顺服上帝，基督徒也要教导万民，遵循上帝的命令顺服上帝，这包括了对文化几乎每个方面的教导。
我们可以这样看，亚当和夏娃通过治理这地来顺服上帝，建立文化。我们要通过使万民作门徒，以此顺服上帝，建立文化。
我们从马太福音28章可以清楚看到，耶稣期望跟从他的人，给相信的人施洗，把他的命令教导万民，以此给每一种文化都带来一种冲击。他的教导讲到非常公共的文化问题，比如贫穷、金钱、健康、婚姻、公义、民族性、政治，甚至交税。这就是我们发现新约《圣经》书卷触及范围广阔文化问题的原因。
基督按照同样思路，在马太福音5章13和14节，勇敢地把他的门徒描写为：
「世上的盐世上的光。」（马太福音5章13-14节）正如历史一次又一次显明的一样，当跟从耶稣的人忠心把自己委身于向万民教导基督所命令的一切，我们就有可能积极影响全世界每一种文化的每一方面。出于这原因，我们在现今应用《圣经》，必须要面对人类文化的全部范围。
耶稣在马太福音第5章告诉他的门徒，他们要作世上的盐，世上的光。对于一个现今受众来说，这一句话有神秘的色彩。你想一想，对于古代受众来说，这说法传递了什么特别扎根在《圣经》文化当中的信息？盐防止食物腐败，所以人把盐加在肉或鱼上，不让它变腐败，保存它，盐也是加增味道。你想一想基督徒，他们在世界上的影响，就是在上帝的使用之下，在许多方面作为公义的代表存在，用上帝的真理保守文化，或者给文化加增味道。光也描绘出这一点。贯穿整本《圣经》，光被看作是启示的一种形象画面，起启发作用。基督徒要在世界上显明上帝是谁，广而告知，用上帝是谁这个事实和上帝的公义光照一个黑暗世界。罗伯德普拉莫博士在我们学习现今应用和《圣经》文化这个问题时，我们已经看了，今天对于跟从基督的人来说文化的重要性。现在让我们来看一看我们的第二个话题。存在两种对立的文化理想，这如何冲击我们现今对《圣经》的应用？
基督到地上来的时候，他开启了他大胜撒但的最后阶段，但是这胜利只有在基督在荣耀中再来，在万物完满的时候才得以全面完成。与此同时，在他国度延续的时候，人类要继续分成两种：蛇的后裔那不相信的世人，追求悖逆上帝的文化理想的世人；夏娃的后裔那些跟从基督，追求服事上帝的文化理想的人。
但是就像当时在《圣经》的年代，上帝的百姓和世人之间的分界线，并不是绝对的。在基督再来之前，他在地上的百姓要继续与罪残存的影响争战。我们已经脱离了罪的辖制，但没有脱离罪的影响。与此同时，上帝的普遍恩典仍然约束世人，所以即使不信的人，常常他们的生活方式在某种程度上也是符合上帝的旨意。这在福音有极大影响的地方就显得特别明显。
作为跟从基督的人，我们的责任就是走在符合上帝旨意的文化道路上，回避那些不符合上帝旨意的道路。有时我们追求的道路会和世人很不一样。《圣经》的作者反复警告他们原本受众，不要落入拜偶像、性关系方面的淫乱、自私、骄傲、不公义和大量其他文化方面的邪恶。每次我们在我们今天这时候看到这些各种各样的邪恶，我们都要掉头转离。
但是其他时候《圣经》作者鼓励他们原本受众，要认清普遍恩典在社会关系不同的方面、技术、艺术、音乐、建筑、法律和政治方面的影响。每次我们看到《圣经》认可不信的人的生活方式，我们就要去发现，上帝的普遍恩典对于今日世界文化的类似影响，只要我们坚守《圣经》的教导，我们就应当可以自由地接受普遍恩典在科学、艺术、政治和生活其他方面带来的祝福。
我们可能会发现，有时候很难分清怎样把《圣经》里的文化模式应用到我们今天。但总的来说，我们必须考虑到上帝贯穿《圣经》是怎样指引文化的不同层面。当我们比较《圣经》启示关于文化不同层面的全部内容时，我们发现上帝至少用四种方式指引文化的模式。他长久认可一些模式，比如婚姻和工作。其他模式，他只是暂时认可，比如以色列支派在从埃及列队进入迦南时的安排。有时候，在对罪人的忍耐宽容中，上帝暂时容忍他百姓做的一些文化活动，比如一夫多妻制和奴隶制，尽管他并不认可这些做法。当然贯穿《圣经》我们看到，很多文化模式是得到上帝长久不认可的，比如不公义和偶像崇拜。
换言之，要把我们在《圣经》里发现的一种文化模式应用到我们今天的生活中，我们就应当看上帝在经文本身对它所做的评价，然后，我们就应当根据其他《圣经》经文查考相关的道德标准，决定在这些我们看到的《圣经》文化元素背后的动机和目标。使用这些方法，我们就能分辨，《圣经》经文里的文化模式如何代表出两种对立的文化理想，服事上帝或悖逆上帝的文化理想。我们这样做的时候，就能合适地把《圣经》中的文化模式应用到我们现今的世界。
我们看了在文化重要性光照下的现今应用，以及今日世界对立文化理想的这些问题之后，现在能来看第三个问题，我们今天应用《圣经》的时候，应该怎样处理文化多样性的问题。
我们去到世界不同地方拜访不同信徒的时候，很明显的就是，我们的语言、穿衣打扮、我们的饮食、音乐，还有很多其他文化模式可以是非常不同，为什么会这样？如果我们都努力要遵循《圣经》标准，那么为什么我们的文化模式已经朝着如此不同的方向发展？不言而喻的是，我们存在着的一些差异是因为我们都没有完全遵循《圣经》的方式生活。但是，除了我们的失败外，还有很多合理的原因，使我们期望在全世界上帝百姓当中发现文化的多样性。
正如我们已经看到的，随着新约时代开启，上帝的百姓不再是单一民族。在过去两千年间，随着福音越来越远传遍全世界，上帝忠心的百姓已经面对在日益多样化的文化中为基督而活的挑战。这种挑战带来一个至关重要的问题。我们应当容许多大程度的文化多样性，我们应当怎样设立界限？
《圣经》中有很多地方回答了这个问题，但其中一处探索这问题的最好地方，就是在哥林多前书第9章19到23节。在这一段《圣经》中，保罗告诉哥林多教会：
我虽是自由的，无人辖管，然而我甘心作了众人的仆人，为要多得人。向犹太人，我就作犹太人，为要得犹太人；向律法以下的人，我虽不在律法以下，还是作津法以下的人，为要得律法以下的人。向没有律法的人，我就作没有律法的人，为要得没有律法的人；其实我在上帝面前，不是没有律法；在基督面前，正在律法之下。向软弱的人，我就作软弱的人，为要得软弱的人。向什么样的人，我就作什么样的人。无论如何，总要救些人。凡我所行的，都是为福音的缘故，为要与人同得这福音的好处。（哥林多前书第9章19-23节）保罗在这一段描写了他坚持要实现福音使命，这如何带领他接受广阔范围的文化观念，行为和情感。正如他在22节概括的那样，「向什么样的人，我就作什么样的人。无论如何，总要救些人。」
保罗作为一个到处旅行布道的人，他发挥异乎寻常极大的文化灵活性。在20节他说，他在犹太人群体中，「作津法以下的人」。在21节他说，当他在外邦群体中，他「就作没有律法的人」。
但是请注意，保罗怎样限制他愿意接受的文化多样性。在20节他说，「我虽不在律法以下，还是作津法以下的人。」换言之，保罗遵从犹太群体的文化模式，但他不受按当时宗教领袖理解的律法约束。在保罗的时候，大部份的法利赛人和宗教领袖只是用律法来炫耀他们自己的自义。但是正如耶稣在马太福音23章表明的那样，这种行为导致定罪和死。在这里保罗解释说，他接受文化，却不接受那最终只能把他带在上帝审判之下的文化标准。
类似地，他在21节说，「我就作没有律法的人其实我在上帝面前，不是没有律法；在基督面前，正在律法之下。」保罗一同担当外邦人群体的文化观念、行为和情感，但是，只到他并不违反基督为他新约百姓解释的上帝律法含义的地步。
几乎同样的是，忠心跟从基督的人要在今天实现福音使命，就必须预备好，无论何时遇到其他文化背景的人和处境，他就要不同地应用《圣经》。地方教会，基督徒所做的生意，学校，医院，甚至友情，也会彼此不同。当然随着时间过去，这些群体随着所涉及的人和处境改变也要改变。
但是，这并不意味着我们有自由，按照我们想要的任何方式塑造我们群体的文化。相反，正如使徒保罗一样，今天跟从基督的人，必须牢固坚守在《圣经》范围之内。我们以不同方式把《圣经》应用到我们所在群体的时候，这种对《圣经》忠心的坚持，就是现今应用其中一个最复杂的方面。
上帝向我们启示他自己的时候，他是在时空之内向我们启示，这就是他启示荣耀的一部分，是他的救赎计划。当我们从旧约《圣经》时代来到新约《圣经》时代，很明显我们是与不同的文化，不同时期的人进行互动。我们看到有各种各样的文化多样性，是和历史上某些地方联系在一起的，是和从文化和背景角度讲的某些地方联系在一起的。我们怎么知道哪一种多样性是适用在我们身上，我们应当怎样把它活出来？我认为，我们首先需要按照某种道德要求的标准评估文化多样性。某些文化多样性是要被拒绝的，因为它们与上帝造我们人的目的，他的道德标准并不一致。这些做法虽然可能反映出文化多样性，却是反映出偶像崇拜，可能反映出的是一种对上帝和他标准的拒绝。司提反威乐姆博士贯穿《圣经》历史，每一个忠心上帝的群体都坚守某种文化模式。但是其他文化模式随着时间发生变化。要决定我们效仿《圣经》中任何文化模式，要效仿得如何密切，其中一个决定方法，就是留意是否有某一种特别的文化特征，是贯穿《圣经》维持不变的，还是为切合不同的时代、群体或环境而发生改变。如果《圣经》里的文化模式发生改变，我们应当期望它们在我们的时候也会改变。但如果文化的方面贯穿《圣经》历史是不变的，我们就必须把它们看作是我们今天的标准。
比如说在过去2000年，家庭结构和生活处境已经发生改变，但是《圣经》一贯教导，儿女要孝敬父母，这对我们今天来说依然是有效的。虽然从一种文化到另一种文化，从一个时代到另一个时代，法律体系有所不同，但《圣经》从来没有改变这个事实，就是上帝的百姓被传召来作见证时，理当作诚实的见证人。政治制度、服装、音乐、食物偏好，还有文化的许多方面，贯穿《圣经》历史发生改变。但是在我们的家庭、工作场所和群体中，荣耀上帝服事上帝的命令一直是保持连贯不变的。
作为跟从基督的人，每次我们把《圣经》中的一种文化模式应用到我们自己的时候，都应当小心分辨这些延续性和非延续性。
我们在这一课探索了《圣经》文化和现今应用的几个重要层面。我们看了在《圣经》最初几章中文化的《圣经》基础，我们看了在旧约和新约中文化的《圣经》发展。我们探索了《圣经》中文化的方面，应当如何影响我们对《圣经》所做的现今应用。
《圣经》本身讲得很清楚，忠心跟从基督的人必须应用《圣经》的教导，不是简单对他们自己这些个人进行应用，还要应用在他们生活的文化层面。就算在新约时代，我们仍然是带着上帝形象样式的人，我们已经得到呼召，要按照讨上帝喜悦的方式建造人类文化。这使命或御令要继续生效，直到基督再来。所以，我们必须学习怎样把《圣经》启示应用在现今文化的每一个层面和领域中。
He Gave Us Scripture: Biblical Culture and Modern Application
INTRODUCTION
At one time or another, everyone teaching the Bible has heard someone ask, "Isn't this part of the Bible just cultural?" What they usually mean is that some portions of Scripture are so embedded in the ancient cultures of biblical times that they can't possibly apply to us today. So, Christians often spend a lot of time trying to distinguish between "cultural" biblical passages and passages that apply to modern life.
In this lesson, we're going to propose a different outlook. Rather than treating parts of Scripture as either cultural or applicable, we'll see that every portion of the Bible is both cultural and applicable. The entire Bible reflects the ancient cultural context, but it still is God's Word to be applied in one way or another to everyone, no matter who we are, or where or when we live.
This is the tenth lesson in our series He Gave Us Scripture: Foundations of Interpretation, and we've entitled it "Biblical Culture and Modern Application." In this lesson, we'll see how the cultural dimensions of Scripture should affect our application of the Bible to the modern world.
As we've said in earlier lessons, whenever we apply biblical passages in our day, we must take into account the epochal, cultural and personal distance between the original audiences of Scripture and modern audiences. Although these three considerations can't be entirely separated from each other, we're going to focus especially on the cultural issues that come into play as we move from the original meaning of Scripture to modern application.
There are many ways to define culture. But following outlooks that typically appear in modern sociology and anthropology, we'll define culture as:
The intersecting patterns of concepts, behaviors and emotions that characterize a community.
As this definition suggests, cultures involve a spectrum of intersecting patterns such as language, the arts, worship, technology, interpersonal relations and social authority. And these intersecting patterns consist of shared concepts, behaviors and emotions — what we believe, do and feel. So, when we speak of cultures, we have in mind how these features characterize a community — whether it be a family, an ethnic group, a social organization, a religious association, a nation, or even the entire human race.
This lesson will focus on three dimensions of biblical culture and modern application: first, we'll examine the biblical foundations of culture found in the early chapters of the Bible. Second, we'll trace a number of biblical developments of culture that took place in the Old and New Testaments. And third, we'll see how these cultural aspects of the Bible should affect our modern application of Scripture. Let's look first at the biblical foundations of culture.
FOUNDATIONS
As we consider the biblical foundations of culture, we'll begin by exploring Genesis 1–11. First, we'll see how these chapters establish the importance of culture. Second, we'll focus on how they introduce two opposing cultural ideals. And third, we'll notice how the opening chapters of Scripture set the stage for cultural variety among God's faithful servants. Let's begin with the importance of culture.
Importance
The first eleven chapters of Genesis cover the whole history of the world from creation to the days of Abraham. They're particularly important to our study because they lay out God's ideal patterns for the world and human culture. In this way, they guide our reading not only of the rest of Genesis, but also of the rest of Scripture.
The foundations of culture first appear in Genesis 1:28, a passage often called the "cultural mandate." Here, God told humanity:
Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Genesis 1:28).
To understand and apply the significance of the cultural mandate, we need to remember something we've seen in earlier lessons. God's final goal for history has always been to fill the world with his visible glory so that every creature will worship him forever. And after God established the initial order of creation, the cultural mandate indicated that humanity's responsibility was to develop the creation further in preparation for the final display of God's glory.
God gave humanity the cultural mandate in the most simple terms so that the world, the creation would be filled with his glory. We see a picture of creation as being something like the construction of a house, sort of like an ancient temple. And when a temple is built, the god who commissioned its building inhabits it. And so, the biblical view of creation is that the whole earth was made to be a dwelling place for God, to be a holy sanctuary. But instead of a statue representing God — a statue of a bird or a lion or something like that being placed in that temple — God placed man and woman as his image bearers. And in giving the cultural mandate, God was in effect saying, "Go multiply my image, fill the earth, and then bring it under dominion, exercise authority over it like it a priest." And so, the cultural mandate was so that God's image bearers would go exercise God's lordship over the created world so that the earth would be a dwelling place for the God who made it, just like his heavenly throne room, glimpses of which we see in places like Isaiah 6, the earth was to be the same. And so it's not a new thing for, for instance, the Old Testament to tell us that the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea, because that was God's original design for it. [Rev. Mike Glodo]
Right there at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1, before the Fall, God gives a very important mandate or set of instructions — really, a worldview we'd almost say — to Adam and Eve, and that is to take the beauty of the Garden and the order and the excellence of it and to spread that throughout the world. And the story of the Bible is very much about the Fall and the failure to do so, and then the restarting of that very mandate through the second Adam and his bride, the church, Jesus Christ. And so that cultural mandate, that creational mandate, that original ordinance from Genesis 1, is really at the core of the Bible's message, and, I would suggest, is really very much what redemption is about. One scholar has called redemption "creation regained." And I think that's a beautiful image. It's a beautiful comprehensive understanding of what the Bible is about. I've often described the message of the Bible as God restoring his reign, or his kingdom, from heaven to earth, from creation to new creation. And that traffics in these two poles, these two axes, of God bringing the heavenly realities to become fully, full-born earthly realities, and also give the temporal sense of God working from creation to the end-goal of new creation. And at the heart of that is the idea that God is spreading his beauty, his excellence, or to use more biblical language, "his glory" throughout all the earth. And that is the calling of all humans as individuals as well as redeemed humanity in God's church. [Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington]
We can see this in Genesis 1:26, where God said, "Let us make man in our image." In the ancient world, kings of nations were called images of god, in part because their royal task was to determine the will of their gods and build their cultures accordingly. In this light, the early chapters of Genesis make it clear that all human beings were created to perform this kind of royal cultural service to further God's will on earth.
In addition, Genesis 2 explains that every cultural development in accordance with God's will is a sacred priestly service to God. In verse 15 we learn that God put Adam and Eve in his sacred garden "to work it and take care of it." This expression is an unusual combination of two Hebrew verbs: avad, usually translated "to work" or "to labor," and shamar, normally translated "to take care of" or "to protect." Moses used these terms together only one other time — in Numbers 3:8 when he described the service of Levitical priests before God's glorious presence in the Tabernacle.
So, in effect, the opening chapters of Genesis establish the foundational biblical perspective that culture is not some minor dimension of our existence. Rather, it is our royal and priestly service to God. God has ordained for us to fill, develop, order, beautify, and sanctify the earth in preparation for the final display of his visible glory.
I think to understand why God gave man the cultural mandate, it's important to remember that man was uniquely created in his own image. So there's a structural component to the divine image — we just are in God's image. But then there's also the functional component, that we show and display the glory of God in the particular way that's just right for us being human by the way that we carry out and reflect his glory through the work that we do. And so when we think about the cultural mandate, we have sort of a work to fill the earth and to subdue it, to make the world like Eden, like the Garden, and so on, but also to fill it, to populate it. And so the idea is that we are to carry out the cultural mandate to spread the glory of God displayed uniquely in his divine image in human form to the ends of the earth for his own glory. [Dr. Bruce Baugus]
Now that we've seen the biblical foundations of the importance of culture, we should take up a second issue: the biblical foundations of two opposing cultural ideals pursued by human beings throughout history.
Opposing Ideals
When we travel to different parts of the world, we're right to remind ourselves that there's a lot of room for people to do things in different ways. We don't all need to drive on the same side of the street, speak the same language, or wear the same kinds of clothes. Still, the opening chapters of Genesis make it clear that culture is never morally neutral. On the contrary, in one way or another every development of every culture either displeases or pleases God as it reflects one of two opposing cultural ideals.
Biblical authors were well aware that human beings developed culture in many ways. But from their point of view, all cultures fell into one of two basic categories: cultural patterns that served God and cultural patterns that opposed him.
As we'll see later, these cultural distinctions become very important when we apply the Bible today. But for now, let's consider how this division was first established in the earliest chapters of the Bible.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve failed their test of loyalty to God by eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. After this, God revealed that their fall into sin would lead human beings to follow two distinct cultural paths. Listen to the way God described these two cultural pursuits in Genesis 3:15 when he said to the Serpent:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15).
In brief, "the woman" mentioned here is Eve, the first woman God created, and the Serpent is Satan.
This passage establishes the division that's characterized human culture throughout history. The woman's offspring have sought to serve God faithfully. And the Serpent's offspring have sought to oppose him. And this division will continue to characterize human culture until Christ, the great offspring of Eve, returns to complete his final victory over Satan.
These two paths immediately appear in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. Near the end of chapter 4, we see how Cain and his descendants lived as the offspring of the Serpent. They formed highly sophisticated cultures, but with the intention of resisting the will of God and exchanging their natural ancestry for the Evil One as their spiritual father.
But in Genesis 5 we find a record of Seth's descendants who developed culture as the offspring of the woman. They formed families and tribes. They developed religious practices and language. They weren't perfect, but they did their best to establish cultural patterns that served and glorified God. From this point forward, the Scriptures continue to distinguish these two opposing cultural ideals.
Now, we have to be careful here. To interpret and apply Scripture, we also have to see that there were many similarities between these two paths of human culture. Genesis 4 and 5 indicate that Cain and Abel both sought to subdue nature. They both developed societies and religious practices. And, as the genealogies of Seth and Cain demonstrate, both lines married and had children.
How was it possible for people following such different cultural ideals to develop such similar expressions of culture? From the rest of Scripture we learn that these similarities appeared for two reasons.
On the one side, God's common grace, his non-saving mercy toward humanity, restrains Satan and the sinful propensities of those who follow him. And as a result, even the most diabolical cultures in the world have exhibited a degree of conformity to God's will. On the other side, sin continues to corrupt those who pursue the ways of God. So, even the holiest cultures in the world have failed to adhere perfectly to God's will.
From the time of Cain and Abel until our own day, there have always been both differences and similarities between the cultural efforts of God's faithful servants and of those who rebel against him. And as we seek to apply any passage of Scripture today, it's important to keep in mind these cultural distinctions.
Having explored the biblical foundations of the importance of culture, and the establishment of two opposing cultural ideals, we can now turn to a third factor: God's approval of cultural variety in the opening chapters of Scripture.
Variety
The first chapters of Genesis deal primarily with a few individual human beings. So, there are no examples of communities displaying cultural variety in this part of the Bible. Even so, God set the stage for cultural variety in the first chapters of Genesis in the ways he revealed his will to individual people in early human history.
There are many ways to describe the foundations of cultural variety, but for the sake of time we'll consider how cultural variety developed through "special revelation" and what we commonly call "general revelation."
"Special revelation" is the term traditional theologians use to signify God's disclosures of himself and his will to a select number of people through dreams, visions, prophets, the Scriptures, and other similar means. For example, in the early chapters of Genesis, God verbally revealed himself to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah.
On the other hand, "general revelation" refers to God's disclosures of himself and his will in all of creation, both in people — human personalities, physical and spiritual abilities, and other qualities — and in circumstances — in the external, observable world. We see this in passages like Psalm 19 and Romans 1:18-20.
God's use of special and general revelation helps us understand how God set the stage for cultural variety among his people.
We see this in the way God's faithful people obeyed the same special revelation in different ways, even at the same time, because they were different people facing different circumstances. For instance, Adam and Eve received the special revelation of the cultural mandate in Genesis 1:28. But Adam and Eve had different talents, personalities, physical abilities and the like. They also dealt with different personal circumstances. To whatever degree these varieties appeared between them, Adam and Eve had to apply the special revelation of the cultural mandate to their lives in different ways at the same time.
In addition, humanity often applied the same special revelation in a variety of ways over time because of ongoing changes in the people and circumstances involved. As just one example, when God first gave the cultural mandate, sin hadn't entered the world. But after Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they and their circumstances changed, and as a result, the way they obeyed the cultural mandate also changed. In fact, special revelation in Genesis 3 revealed how pain and futility would complicate the fulfillment of the cultural mandate as time and humanity progressed.
We can see that the same kinds of variety appear again and again as God added one special revelation after another over time. To one degree or another, every new special revelation modified the requirements of earlier special revelations. So, every time God gave new special revelations, his faithful people had to respond by changing how they served him both at the same time and over time.
From the very beginning, special and general revelations led to all kinds of variety in the ways early human beings were to serve God. And as we'll see later in this lesson, this initial variety laid the foundations of cultural variety for communities of God's faithful people throughout biblical history and even today.
The cultural mandate in Genesis requires us to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and take dominion over it. That's going to lead to cultural variety. And the question can arise, is that really part of God's design? Does God intend for there to be diversity among different cultures? And I would say that the teaching of Scripture is, yes, absolutely. This is an outworking of what God calls us to begin to do… He created us in an environment that is just shot through with his desire for diversity: There's not just dry land, there's also sea. There's not just sun, there's also other kinds of stars. There are not just birds, there are animals of all types. And there's not just one kind of being human, there is male and female. So as we extend the image of that God who has created in this way throughout all of his creation, surely we ought to mirror that kind of variety, and that's going to show up in different cultural practices and things. See, I think the other thing we'd say there is that God calls us to fill the whole earth with his glory, and as we do that, we're going to run into things like variety of climate, variety of terrain. You can't very well build an igloo at the equator, and grass huts won't work in Alaska. So, as we fill the whole earth and take dominion over the whole earth, there is naturally going to be this kind of variety that we see reflected when Revelation says that in the company of the redeemed will be people from every tribe and language and tongue and nation. That is not a departure from God's intention from the beginning. That's actually the fulfillment of what God commanded in Genesis 1. [Dr. Jimmy Agan]
I think part of the beauty of God's working in the world is he's not working only in one culture but in and through many cultures. And I think we have a lot of affirmation of that in the Bible. The proclamation of the gospel is for all nations, that is, all the ethnicities, all the people groups of the world. And when you get to the end of Revelation, the Scripture talks about the kings of the earth bringing their glory into the kingdom of God; all of these treasures of different cultures and the unique strengths and gifts that we see worked out in various cultures of the world, these are all things that God uses in a redemptive way that are part of his purposes for humanity. And that's one of the reasons I think it's so important for us to have relationships across cultures in the body of Christ so that we can benefit from the full riches of God's work through the different cultures of the world. [Dr. Philip Ryken]
To explore biblical culture and its relationship to modern application, we need to keep not only the biblical foundations of culture in mind, but also the biblical developments of culture throughout the Old and New Testaments.
DEVELOPMENTS
There are many ways to summarize the biblical developments of culture in the Bible, but for our purposes, we'll look at these cultural developments through the same lens that we used to examine the foundations of culture. We'll look first at the importance of culture as biblical history developed. Then, we'll see how the two opposing cultural ideals developed in the Bible. Finally, we'll examine how cultural variety developed in the Scriptures. Let's begin with the importance of culture.
Importance
Culture is important in both the Old and New Testaments, but the importance of culture in the Old Testament appears most clearly in the amount of attention the early Scriptures give to Israel as a nation.
The book of Genesis describes cultural developments before Israel became a nation, but the entire Pentateuch — the first five books of the Bible — was written during the epoch of Moses' covenant of Law, after Israel had left Egypt and been gathered as a nation at Mount Sinai. For this reason, these books focus a lot of attention on God's commands and instructions for Israel's national life.
The rest of the Old Testament, from Joshua to Malachi, was written during the epoch of David's royal covenant, after Israel had already become a fully developed nation. These books address the spectrum of God's revelations that directed Israel's culture during its rise to imperial glory, the ups and downs of the divided kingdom, the exile, and the brief period of restoration at the end of the Old Testament.
Although the Old Testament describes many cultural developments that took place in Israel, the greatest cultural development in Scripture occurred in the transition from the Old Testament to the epoch of the new covenant in Christ. Instead of focusing on the national culture of Israel, the New Testament draws attention to the developments of cultural patterns in the Christian church.
To understand how this dramatic shift occurred, we need to remember that most Jews in first-century Palestine looked forward to the arrival of the new covenant age. As we learned in an earlier lesson, during the intertestamental period Jewish rabbis referred to all of history prior to the Messiah's arrival as "this age." And they taught that when the Messiah appeared, he would bring in "the age to come." They believed that in the age to come, the Messiah would appear, lead his people in battle against the evil nations of the world, and rapidly establish his people in his glorious, worldwide kingdom, dramatically and decisively altering the culture of Israel.
But Jesus and his apostles made it clear that his rule would unfold in three stages: the inauguration of his kingdom in his first coming, the continuation of his kingdom throughout church history, and the consummation of his kingdom at his second coming. This three-stage outlook led to a whole new understanding of the ways God expected the culture of his people to develop during the new covenant period.
It's very easy to lose sight of the importance of culture in the New Testament unless we keep in mind the final goal of Christ's kingdom as described in passages like Revelation 11:15:
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15).
In this passage, we see that Christ will one day destroy the "kingdom of the world" with its many rebellious cultures. But he will not simply destroy these evil cultures. He will also transform the world into a worldwide culture that can be described as the "kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ" where "he will reign for ever and ever."
So, rather than being a marginal element of the New Testament, culture is so important that every portion of this part of Scripture in some way deals with how Christ brings about the fulfillment of God's purposes for human culture.
Some passages focus on the ways Jesus set in motion the final stage of the cultural mandate by his life, death, resurrection, ascension and outpouring of the Spirit. Other portions of the New Testament focus on guiding the church as it helps transform the world through the gospel during the continuation of Christ's kingdom. And still other passages draw attention to the consummation when Christ will return to fulfill God's purposes for humanity and establish a culture in which God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
Now that we've explored biblical developments in culture by looking at the importance of culture in the development of biblical history, we can turn to the development of the two opposing cultural ideals found throughout the Bible.
Opposing Ideals
The establishment of the two cultural ideals in Genesis 3 led Old Testament authors to associate the offspring of the Serpent with Gentile nations and the offspring of Eve with Israel.
Gentile nations developed their cultures in service to false gods and opposed the God of Israel. They set up shrines and temples to these false gods and sometimes even sacrificed their own children. God made it very clear that his people were to have nothing to do with these practices.
Israel, on the other hand, embraced the righteous laws God gave through Moses, and attempted to live in ways that glorified the one true God. They observed the Sabbath, avoided idolatry, and relied on God's guidance and protection instead of on human wisdom and strength.
Of course, this didn't mean that Gentiles couldn't be adopted into the nation of Israel by pledging their loyalty to God, or that Israelites couldn't become so corrupt that they became the enemies of God. But to the extent that each followed their customary ideals, Israel developed its culture in service to God, and Gentile nations developed their cultures in service to false gods.
Now, at the same time, the Old Testament and archeology also indicate that Israelite and Gentile cultures were similar in many ways. Some of these similarities resulted from Israelites following the sinful paths of their neighbors. But other similarities resulted from God's common grace restraining the sinful propensities of Gentiles, so that aspects of their cultures were at least superficially true to God's will. These cultural divisions continued throughout the Old Testament.
When we turn to the New Testament, the two opposing cultural ideals appear again, but with different associations.
Israel's long unfaithfulness, which began in the Old Testament, had left only a remnant of faithful Jews by the time of Christ's incarnation. And in the New Testament, Gentiles could now receive full adoption as God's people alongside this remnant. So, rather than dividing between the Jews and Gentile nations, New Testament authors associated followers of Christ with the seed of the woman and unbelievers with the seed of the Serpent, whether they were Jews or Gentiles.
This is why Jesus spoke of Satan as the father of the Pharisees in John 8:44. This also explains why, in Romans 16:20, Paul alluded to Genesis 3:15 when he assured the Christians in Rome that God would crush Satan under their feet.
The relationship between Israel and the Gentile nations is an interesting question… And if you look in Genesis 18 and elsewhere, God makes a promise to Abraham that he would bless Abraham and bless his descendants. And if we think of Scripture as a multi-act drama, you have the first act where God makes the promise to Abraham, and he preserves the nation of Israel, keeping it from the corrupt influences of the surrounding nations; they fail, but he disciplines them. He protects the nation until the Messiah comes. The Messiah comes and announces salvation for Israel. If you look in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says in Matthew 15, "I came for the lost sheep of Israel." This Canaanite woman is beseeching him for her daughter. And it's troubling sometimes. People say, "well, why isn't he immediately healing her daughter?" And Jesus is in some ways saying, "This is act two." Right? "I've come to announce salvation for the lost sheep of Israel." But then you get to the end of the gospel, Matthew 28, and we have what begins act three, the act that we're in, where the gospel goes forth to all nations, to Jews and to Gentiles alike. Now, in Romans 1 it's interesting, even in act three, Paul maintains this distinction. He speaks about "to the Jew first, then to the Gentile." He feels an obligation to his countrymen, to those who have the promises of Abraham: I have an obligation to announce to them first. So he goes to the synagogue and declares the promises given to our forefather are true. But when he's kicked out of the synagogue or when they'll no longer listen to him, he immediately goes to the Gentiles. Because, as he describes in Ephesians 2, through Christ's death on the cross, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile is broken down… there's a beautiful unity we have now as Jew and Gentile together as adopted sons and daughters of God. [Dr. Robert L. Plummer]
The New Testament often warns believers not to be conformed to this world because the church and world follow opposing ideals. But at the same time, New Testament authors acknowledged that the line between the church and the world was not absolute. As culture developed in the Bible, early Christians often endorsed customs and philosophical outlooks that unbelievers followed. And as we learned earlier, some of these similarities resulted from the influence of sin on Christ's followers, and other similarities stemmed from the positive effects of common grace on the world.
In our focus on biblical cultural developments we've seen the importance of culture in the Old and New Testaments, and how opposing cultural ideals developed throughout biblical history. Let's now turn to our third topic: the development of cultural variety in the Scriptures.
Variety
When we explore the Old Testament, it's obvious that it contains many laws and instructions that were designed to solidify Israel's national culture. But this didn't mean that God expected all Israelite cultures to be exactly the same. In fact, as different communities within Israel faithfully applied God's special and general revelations, a variety of cultural patterns emerged.
Many of these variations occurred simultaneously. Levitical priests applied God's laws in certain ways in their communities, while at the same time kings and other political leaders applied God's laws differently. One family applied God's laws in ways appropriate for its members, while other families applied God's laws in ways that were appropriate for their members.
Beyond this, even more variations occurred as God gave more and more special revelations to Israel over time. God ordered certain cultural patterns for his people as they marched through the wilderness and different patterns during the conquest of Canaan. God ordained changes when he established kingship in Israel and also when he commanded Solomon to build the Temple in Jerusalem. Other variations in the culture of Israel took place during the exile and after the exile.
Some aspects of Israel's cultural life did not change very much throughout their history. They were a patriarchal culture from beginning to end. The husband was the major figure in the family. Not the only figure by any means. I'm reminded of Proverbs, which says that you much honor your father and not curse your mother. But nevertheless, the culture was largely patriarchal from beginning to end. On the other hand, their state life changed rather dramatically from loose clans and then more tightly organized tribal structure, finally to nation status, and then the nation being destroyed and them being simply a culture within a larger world empire and trying to understand, who are we then as the people of God? So, that political situation changed for them pretty dramatically over that period of time. [Dr. John Oswalt]
When we turn to the New Testament we find variety again. Old Testament cultural patterns were still applicable, but they had to be seen in the light of the fact that God's people were no longer a single nation. The people of God were now the church, a community called to live within many different national cultures. So, as you might expect, in the new covenant epoch God led his faithful people to develop even greater cultural variety.
Differences in people and circumstances led Christian communities to apply biblical teachings in different ways from one another. For instance, Jewish and Gentile believers observed distinctive cultural practices based on their own circumstances. And Christian churches located in different regions had to consider their own people and circumstances as they applied the Bible. And various family groups faithfully followed God's words in diverse ways.
But it's important to remember that new covenant special revelation didn't take place all at once. For nearly a century, God disclosed his will for the church through Christ and through Christ's apostles and prophets. So, the culture of the church in the New Testament also varied over time. For instance, the practice of circumcision changed dramatically when the apostles and elders met in Jerusalem in Acts 15. And every time a New Testament book was written and received, various Christian churches went through changes. For these and many other reasons, there was a great deal of cultural variety among Christian communities in New Testament times.
Now that we've looked at biblical culture and modern application by investigating the biblical foundations of culture and the way biblical developments affected culture in the Bible, let's turn to our third main topic. What do all of these considerations have to say about our modern application of Scripture?
APPLICATION
In our day, many evangelicals think of faith primarily as a private, individual matter. Now to be sure, the Scriptures have much to say about our personal walk with God. But many of us stress this aspect of the Bible to the point that we have very little interest in the implications of Scripture for modern culture. But as we'll see, the Scriptures emphasize the cultural dimensions of our faith so much that we must devote ourselves to applying the Scriptures to culture today.
We'll consider the modern application of what the Bible teaches about culture in the same way that we looked at the foundations and developments of culture in Scripture. First, we'll explore the importance of culture when we apply Scripture. Next, we'll see how the two opposing cultural ideals should affect the application of Scripture today. And finally, we'll see how modern application must take into account the cultural variety that God has ordained for our times. Let's begin with the importance of culture in modern application.
Importance
Many portions of Scripture help us understand why it's important to apply the Bible to modern culture. But one of the easier ways to see this is to consider how Christ called his followers to influence every culture in the world by teaching the full range of what he'd commanded.
Listen to the way Jesus put it in Matthew 28:19-20, the familiar passage that Christians often call the Great Commission or the "gospel mandate." In this passage, Jesus told his disciples:
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20).
This passage summarizes the mission of Christ's followers until he returns in glory. But to appreciate how it relates to our modern cultural endeavors, it helps to see how this gospel mandate echoes the cultural mandate given to the human race in the beginning of Genesis. In the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28, God told humanity to "be fruitful and increase in number."
Similarly, in Matthew 28:19, Christ called his followers to increase in number when he said, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Much like Adam and Eve were to fill the world with images of God, Christians are also to multiply God's redeemed images. And we do this in part by leading people to saving faith in Christ.
But Jesus' gospel mandate didn't stop with just increasing the number of God's faithful servants. According to Matthew 28:20, our mission also entails "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Just as Adam and Eve were called to obey God by filling the earth and subduing it, Christians are to teach all nations to obey God by following his commands, and that includes instruction on nearly every facet of culture.
We can look at it this way: Adam and Eve were to obey God and build culture by subduing the earth, and we are to obey God and build culture by discipling the nations.
It should be evident from Matthew 28 that Jesus expected his followers to have an impact on every culture by baptizing believers and teaching his commandments to all nations. His teachings addressed very public cultural issues like poverty, finances, health, marriage, justice, ethnicity, politics and even paying taxes. This is why we find New Testament books touching a broad range of cultural issues.
Along these same lines, in Matthew 5:13-14, Christ boldly described his disciples as:
The salt of the earth … [and] … the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14).
As history has shown time and again, when followers of Jesus faithfully devote themselves to teaching all that Christ commanded to every nation, we have the potential of positively influencing every facet of every culture in the entire world. And for this reason, our modern application of the Bible must address the full range of human culture.
In Matthew 5, Jesus tells his disciples that they are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And to a modern reader, this is kind of a mysterious statement… You think about, to the ancient hearers, what does that language convey especially rooted in the culture in the Scripture? And salt was something that preserved things from going rotten, so salt was added to meat or fish to keep it from rottening, to preserve it, and it was something that added flavor. And you think about Christians. Their influence in the world is to be a presence for righteousness in many ways under the instrument of God, preserving the culture or flavoring the culture with the presence of God's truth. And light pictures that as well. Light throughout Scripture is seen as an image of revelation, as revealing. And Christians are to be in the world revealing who God is, broadcasting, illumining a dark world with the truth and the righteousness of who God is. [Dr. Robert L. Plummer]
In our study of modern application and biblical culture, we've seen the importance of culture for Christ's followers today. Now let's look at our second topic. How should the existence of the two opposing cultural ideals impact our modern application of the Bible?
Opposing Ideals
When Christ came to earth, he inaugurated the final stage of his great victory over Satan. But this victory will be completed only when Christ returns in glory at the consummation of all things. In the meantime, during the continuation of his kingdom, the human race continues to be divided between the offspring of the Serpent, the unbelieving world that pursues the cultural ideal of rebellion against God, and the offspring of Eve, followers of Christ that pursue the cultural ideal of service to God.
But, as it was in biblical times, the line between God's people and the world is not absolute. Until Christ returns, his people on earth will continue to struggle with the remaining influence of sin. We are free from sin's tyranny, but not free from its influence. At the same time, God's common grace still restrains the world so that even unbelievers often live in ways that, to some degree, conform to the will of God. And this is especially true of nations where the gospel has had great influence.
As followers of Christ, it's our responsibility to follow cultural paths that are true to God's will and to avoid those that are not. Sometimes the paths we pursue should be very different from the world. Biblical authors repeatedly warned their original audiences against falling into idolatry, sexual immorality, selfishness, pride, injustice and a host of other cultural evils. Wherever we see these kinds of evils in our own day, we are to turn away from them.
But other times, biblical authors encouraged their original audiences to recognize the influence of common grace on different aspects of social relationships, technology, art, music, architecture, law, and politics. Every time we find that the Scriptures approve of the ways unbelievers lived, we should search for similar effects of God's common grace on the cultures of the world today. As long as we remain true to the teachings of Scripture, we should freely endorse the blessings of common grace in science, art, politics and other facets of life.
We may find it difficult at times to discern how cultural patterns in Scripture apply to our day. But in general terms, we must take account of the ways God directed various dimensions of culture throughout the Bible. When we compare all that the Scriptures reveal about different dimensions of culture, we find at least four ways in which God directed cultural patterns. He permanently approved some patterns, such as marriage and work. Other patterns he only temporarily endorsed, such as the arrangement of the tribes of Israel during their march from Egypt to Canaan. At times, in his patience with sinners, God temporarily tolerated some cultural activities of his people, such as polygamy and slavery, even though he disapproved of them. And of course, throughout Scripture, we see many cultural patterns that received God's permanent disapproval, such as injustice and idolatry.
In other words, to apply a cultural pattern we find in the Bible to our lives today, we should look for God's evaluation in the passage itself. Then, we should search out relevant moral standards from other biblical passages and determine the motivations and goals behind the biblical cultural elements we see. In these ways, we can discern how cultural patterns in biblical passages represent the two opposing cultural ideals of service to God or rebellion against him. And as we do this, we'll be enabled to apply appropriate patterns of culture in the Bible to our modern world.
Having looked at modern application in the light of the importance of culture and at the opposing cultural ideals in the world today, we can now turn to a third consideration. How should we deal with cultural variety as we apply Scripture in our day?
Variety
When we visit different believers in various parts of the world, it's obvious that our languages, styles of dress, our diets, music, and many other cultural patterns can be very different. Why is this true? If we all seek to follow the standards of Scripture, then why have the patterns of our cultures gone in so many different directions? Well, needless to say, some of our differences exist because all of us fail to live in ways that are true to Scripture. But apart from our failures, there are many legitimate reasons for expecting cultural diversity among God's people throughout the world.
As we've seen, with the inauguration of the new covenant age, God's people were no longer a single nation. And over the last two thousand years, as the gospel has spread further and further around the world, God's faithful people have faced the challenge of living for Christ in increasingly diverse cultures. This challenge raises a crucial question. How much cultural variety should we allow? What limits should we set?
There are many places in Scripture that address this question, but one of the best places to explore this issue is 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. In this passage, Paul told the Corinthian church:
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
In this passage, Paul described how his commitment to fulfilling the gospel mandate led him to embrace a wide range of cultural concepts, behaviors and emotions. As he summarized it in verse 22, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."
As one who travelled here and there, Paul had to exercise an extraordinary amount of cultural flexibility. In verse 20 he said that he "became like one under the law" when he was in Jewish communities. And in verse 21, he said that he "became like one not having the law" when he was in Gentile communities.
But notice how Paul drew limits on the cultural variety he was willing to embrace. In verse 20 he said, "I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law)." In other words, Paul followed the cultural patterns of Jewish communities, but he wasn't bound by the law as the religious leaders of his day understood it. Most of the Pharisees and religious leaders in Paul's time only used the law to flaunt their own self-righteousness. But, as Jesus indicated in Matthew 23, this behavior led to condemnation and death. Here, Paul explained that he embraced the culture without embracing cultural standards that ultimately would only bring him under God's judgment.
Similarly, in verse 21 he said, "I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law)." Paul shared in the cultural concepts, behaviors and emotions of Gentile communities, but only to the extent that he did not violate the law of God as Christ had interpreted it for his new covenant people.
In much the same way, to fulfill the gospel mandate today, faithful followers of Christ must be prepared to apply the Scriptures differently whenever they encounter people and circumstances from other cultural backgrounds. Local congregations, Christian businesses, schools, hospitals, and even friendships will be different from each other. And of course, as time passes, these communities will change as the people and circumstances involved change as well.
But this doesn't mean that we're free to shape the cultures of our communities any way we wish. On the contrary, like the apostle Paul, followers of Christ today must be firmly committed to staying within the parameters of Scripture. This commitment to remaining true to the Scriptures as we apply them in different ways to our communities is one of the most complex aspects of modern application.
As God reveals himself to us, he does so in space and time. That's part of the glory of his revelation and his plan of redemption. As we work from Old Testament era to New Testament era, obviously we interact with various cultures, people in different periods of time. There's all kinds of cultural variety that we see that's tied to certain places in history, certain places in terms of cultures and backgrounds. How do we know which variety applies to us, how it should be lived out? Well, I think first of all we have to evaluate variety in terms of the standard of certain moral demands. Certain cultural variety needs to be rejected because it is inconsistent with how God has made us — what his moral standards are, and those practices — even though they may reflect… cultural variety may reflect idolatry, may reflect a rejection of God and his standards. [Dr. Stephen J. Wellum]
Throughout biblical history, every community of God's faithful people maintained certain cultural patterns. But other cultural patterns changed over time. One way to determine how closely we should imitate any pattern of culture we find in the Bible is to pay attention to whether or not a particular cultural feature remained the same throughout Scripture or changed to accommodate different eras, people or circumstances.
If cultural patterns changed in Scripture, we should expect them to be changeable in our time as well. But if facets of culture remained the same throughout biblical history, we must consider them standards for us today.
For example, family structures and living situations have changed over the last 2,000 years, but Scripture consistently instructs children to obey their parents. This is still true for us today. And although legal systems varied from culture to culture and era to era, Scripture never altered the fact that God's people are expected to be honest witnesses when called to testify. Political systems, clothing, music, food preferences, and many other facets of culture changed throughout biblical history, but the directive to honor and serve God in our families, work places, and communities has remained consistent.
As followers of Christ, we should be careful to distinguish these continuities and discontinuities every time we apply a cultural pattern in Scripture to our own day.
CONCLUSION
In this lesson, we've explored several important dimensions of biblical culture and modern application. We've seen the biblical foundations of culture in the early chapters of the Bible. We've looked at biblical developments that took place in culture in both the Old and New Testaments. And we've explored how the aspects of culture in the Bible should affect our modern application of Scripture.
The Bible itself makes it clear that faithful followers of Christ must apply the teachings of Scripture not simply to themselves as individuals, but to the cultural dimensions of their lives as well. Even during the epoch of the new covenant, we are still images of God and we've been called to build human culture in ways that please God. This mandate will continue in effect until Christ returns. So, we must learn how the Scriptures apply to every dimension of modern culture.