Culture Center Meeting

Here’s a brief overview of what was discussed at the “Introduction to the Culture Center” on August 17:

Lately we’re been hearing a good bit from the pulpit about the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate. What we’ve come to call the Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:19-20:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

The Cultural Mandate is found in Genesis 1:26-28:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The Great Commission tells us to make disciples of the nations. The responsibility to do this rests primarily with the church in preaching the gospel and equipping its people to help bring others to Christ, further carrying out the commission. The Cultural Mandate seeks to bring God’s order to human society and all creation. The implementation of the mandate is primarily the responsibility of individual Christians.

So how are we doing in carrying out the Cultural Mandate? Are we treating the world the way it should be treated? Are we treating other people the way they should be treated? Do we even think about taking the Cultural Mandate beyond the confines of the church and into our lives? Just how do we identify the Cultural Mandate in, for instance, our jobs?

What exactly do we do at work? Does your profession help people? Have you ever thought about it? I have and it’s pretty convicting.

So let’s take an example. Let’s say there’s a guy at the local grocery store stocking shelves, bagging groceries, etc. Sure, he’s stocking shelves and bagging groceries, but he’s also helping to feed people. Maybe if he thinks about it, he might think of other ways to feed people, people who can’t get to the grocery store, people who can’t afford groceries. Maybe he comes up with a plan for donating food to the needy. Maybe he begins to go to work thinking about more than just earning a paycheck, thinking about helping to provide what people need to live.

How can you help people where you work? Ask enough questions and you’ll get answers. When we think about nothing beyond the paycheck, we’re not really caring about people. But when you do care, you’ll start thinking about how you can help, about how you can start forming relationships. When you build relationships, you really won’t have to be so concerned with saying anything about being a Christian. People will know that there’s something different about the way you’re treating them.

When you genuinely start helping people, when you build relationships, people are likely to respond to what you’re saying. This is more than practicing random acts of kindness. It’s bringing the love of Christ to His entire creation, especially those created in His image.

Applying the Cultural Mandate at work is just one aspect of your life outside the church, just one way you can positively influence the culture. Sure it might be small, but so what? Start small, start local.

So how else does the Cultural Mandate affect our lives? What about in our choices of entertainment? Is it important for you to listen to music, to watch movies that recharge your soul in positive ways? What about the choices you make politically, who you’re going to vote for? How does the Cultural Mandate affect the environment? Education? Public policy? How you think about sports?

What we want to do in the Culture Center is to help you to live out the Cultural Mandate as individual Christians, to equip people to respond to cultural issues by engaging the culture, bringing a Christ-like influence to the culture around us. Wherever we are, we should have a mending effect in this broken world.

Too often we see areas of our culture that need a Christ-like influence, but aren’t sure how we can get involved. We want to provide resources that will allow you to use your gifts to impact the culture in a positive way. We already have many ministries in place: Disaster Relief, homeless ministries, food pantry and several others. But these just scratch the surface. You might know of a need in the community that is getting no attention. Maybe it’s not something that falls under the leadership of the church, but you as a Christian have a passion for it. Maybe it’s a public policy issue or maybe it’s something as simple as spreading the word about a really uplifting movie you just watched. We want to connect you with people who may already be doing those things. If it’s something new, we want to look at what we can do to address it.

A trellis provides a structure for growth. If you have plants in your backyard and you want them to expand over a certain area, you put up a trellis. If that trellis only has two growth points of a couple of inches high, you aren’t going to get very much coverage. For a long time, we’ve had just a few parts to our trellis: you could become an officer in the church or teach Sunday School. Well, that’s pretty limiting. Maybe get involved with a small group or volunteer in a ministry. That’s better, but there’s more. And maybe your gifts aren’t in those areas. Or maybe our trellis expands with ministries, which is great, but is still only covering a fraction of our yard. We need something more for those people in the church who have a passion for the culture, but not only the culture, but people care, spiritual growth, family, all of our centers.

I’m asking you to start thinking about the Cultural Mandate and how we can carry it out beyond these doors. We’ve all been given gifts. We all have a passion about something. And we’re all called to good stewardship of the gifts and passions God has given us. If you’re not sure what to do, would you pray? Pray for God to show you what you can do. And would you pray for us, for the Culture Center? And for all the centers. If you have any questions or would like to talk, I’d love to meet with you.