Declaring war on the declining culture
Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost seems to be thinking about a lot of the same things that we think about - i.e. culture and how it is changing. It seems that culture, and the study there of, is a major hobby for Joe and in the end, he finds that the biggest reason for shifting culture is our lack of Bible literacy -
All this thinking about culture has lead me to conclude that the single most important activity we could undertake to change and improve culture is to read the Bible
Amen Joe, time to pass the plate and head to the fellowship hall for some chicken, taters, green beans, sweet tea (or water in my case - being the only Southerner in the world that does not drink tea) and various homemade desserts. Seriously, Joe is dead on right. Our culture is not shifting do to some new trend or concept, there is nothing really new under the sun - only new means and methods to achieve the same old goals. Our culture is shifting because we have decided self is above selflessness, we value goods over service, we value short term personal gain over long term individual investment. We are simply choosing the world over God and the result is that we are reaping the harvest of the seeds that have been sown for several generations.
Joe goes on to point out the general lack of Biblical knowledge within the church, even including himself in the group (always good to see when a writer is not just broadcasting a call to change the lives of others, but themselves as well)
I wish I could say that I was an unrepresentative example of an evangelical. But I suspect that most of my fellow conservative Christians – from the KJV-only fundamentalists to the emerging church conversationists – are equally illiterate.
Joe then challenges us all to reevaluate our view of the Bible and it’s reading -
Imagine if we treated the Bible as if it were an actual book that we read from beginning to end. Imagine that instead of reading a chapter a day (as proscribed in our devotionals) that we hunkered down and read large chunks, the way we would read Melville, Dostoevsky or Stephen King. Imagine if we stopped treating it solely as a reference work, to be pulled off the shelf when we need some advice, but as a coherent narrative, a work of literary art co-produced by the very Creator Himself.
Challenging and heady stuff, give the post (and the Bible) a read - one is interesting (the post) and one will change your life (the Bible). Then take on the challenge to turn the tide of the shifting culture, even if it is just within your own world.
Full Post here
We included this post in the Stop the ACLU open trackback post today, there are several other interesting posts there as well Open Trackback Link here
