What Does Culture Really Mean?

How do you define "culture?" Does today's associations with the word influence its true meaning? When the waters are muddied by stereotypes and slanted conversation, how are Christians to view what is meant by the culture of an individual? What is the biblical context and how should we define the meaning as God intended in order to celebrate our unique backgrounds? Let's investigate.

The Mandate 

In Genesis 1:28, Adam and Eve are given what is known as the Cultural Mandate. God told them to love and cultivate every aspect of His diverse creation to exemplify His love and care for creation. Understanding the beauty and nuance of culture is essential to the biblical and modern contexts. The Lord would not include descriptors of different groups and their cultures unless there was something He wanted to reveal about Himself. Ultimately, the Cultural Mandate reveals that every part of God’s creation belongs to Him and must be redeemed for His glory.

 

 

The Mission 

As Christians, we are called to engage, navigate, and celebrate cultural differences with a view towards the Kingdom. Lauren Cooley from the Institute for Faith & Culture writes, “Through the Cultural Mandate, Christians possess the potential to be powerful agents of positive change. By living out our faith with integrity, demonstrating love and compassion, advocating for justice, and embracing our responsibility to steward the earth, we can effectively impact the world around us for the better.”[1]

Interestingly, in the book of Revelation, Jesus addressed the seven churches in Asia Minor and engaged each one according to its cultural nuances. Understanding the different aspects of each church’s culture, He challenged and encouraged them. At a cursory glance, this may seem to be incidental. Jesus’s words, however, highlighted that He intimately understood and embraced the redeeming aspects of their cultures. He rebuked and encouraged them in a way that could only be achieved by understanding what made them unique. His message to them was the same message preached throughout Scripture — repent and return to God.

 

The Method 

In Acts 17:16–34, Paul spends time in Athens and observes Athenian culture, including the objects of their worship. He recognized that they worshiped many false idols and many people did not fully understand the motives behind their worship. Since he took the time to learn and understand their customs, he could engage them and reveal to them the true God. He told them, “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious” (v.22). He understood this because of his time observing their culture. In the end, several people believed in Christ because of Paul’s message. To truly love others, we must understand how God has uniquely created them. This requires intentionality: listening to understand, engaging to learn, reflecting to grow. We cannot live in community without celebrating our differences.

 

 

The Meaning

As a bi-annual occurrence, the department of Diversity and Belonging leads the charge to celebrate the beauty of diversity within the Mount Paran Christian School community by hosting Culture Fest. The embracing of culture, with the understanding that culture indicates the things that families hold most sacred to the way they see themselves in the world, is not only a necessary tool to remain “Community Oriented,” but it is a Biblical mandate, instructed to us by God. Herein, we have dedicated a time to outline that very Biblical mandate and explain the ways in which we are to live it out as believers.

Ultimately, we embrace and celebrate culture because the church should reflect what the glorified Kingdom will look like. In Revelation 7:9, John writes, “After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (NIV). In this vision of the future glory of the people of God, Jesus reveals His Kingdom as a world where cultural differences unite instead of divide. May we live the same way for the glory of God and in love for Christ’s bride — the church.

 

 

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[1] Cooley, Lauren. The Cultural Mandate: Embracing Divine and Cultural Responsibilities, "Institute for Faith and Culture - Equipping Christians for this cultural moment." Institute for Faith & Culture, July, 2023. 

 

Catina Taliaferro is the Director of Diversity and Belonging at Mount Paran Christian School. Click here to learn more about CommUNITY at MPCS.

To find out how a diverse, Christian education could benefit your child(ren), please click here.

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