Culture in Transition Pt. 1
Culture is defined as a) the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group, b) the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time, and c) the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends on the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. There are many discussions taking place in our world today about what is truth, and how the interpretation of truth impacts the culture of our day. The greater discussion focuses on who is responsible for the truth or who can redefine truth. Regardless of our answers to these questions, they continue to impact generations after generations. The struggle here is evident as each generation struggles more to internalize the truth itself.
The prophet Jeremiah had some keen insight into this challenge. However, he represents the God of the Bible. This revelation alone places pressure on our culture in general. It is difficult for the culture of the day to accept the fact that it is not the source of truth. The interpretation of this statement challenges the notion that the culture itself can determine the truth. Jeremiah 18:15 states: “Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways and in the ancient paths. They made them walk in bypaths and on roads not built up.” First, Jeremiah speaks of an ancient time, and about ancient paths. The word, path, is defined as a trodden way, implying that many persons have gone it's way. The word-path refers to a way of life that succeeding generations have adopted as acceptable. Culture, from this perspective, remains in transition.
God declares that even His people have forgotten him. They have turned away from His truth. God does not have to pursue truth or even redefine it. God is truth! God is the source of truth. Truth is not something that God needs; rather, truth is who God is. From the very beginning, God revealed His truth to humanity. He shared truth in the context of paths; or His expectations of man and how he was to live. Isaiah speaks to this challenge directly. He states in chapter 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. (9) As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah identifies the problem by revealing that the ways of men do not represent the thoughts of God. In short, man has forsaken the truth of God’s Word. As a result, man has turned from the ancient paths for his paths. Today’s culture has and continues to redefine truth according to the paths they have chosen.
The conclusion is evident, according to the prophet Jeremiah. The present culture is walking in deception on roads that are not stable. The end result will be confusion. The farther our culture goes in ways contrary to the truth of God, the more generations that will be lost. The church must sound the alarm that today’s culture is going in the wrong direction. But the church has a greater responsibility than this. The church, itself, must first become the witness of the truth that it represents. The church must ensure that it is going in the right direction. Let us pray that the church remains the witness it is to be in the midst of a culture in transition. Someone has to represent the truth if someone else is to know it.