Christian culture - part 1

In ultimate terms there are two waring kingdoms, Christ’s and Satan’s. We must not only recognise the ultimate conflict between the two kingdoms, but should get down into the trenches and assess. Each kingdom is governed by its covenantal head, both peoples have distinct cultures, and laws or lawlessness prevails within each body. The head of the body sets the standards and culture for his people. As God’s saints, we ought to look unto Jesus and to His Word alone for our guidance. The Law of God governs us and the Head of the Church ought to shape our culture. What we believe, think, do and how we live are to be informed and governed by the Scriptures ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ). In this sense, all of life’s decisions are ethical ( 1 Corinthians 10:31 ) and there is therefore no neutrality. Our beliefs and lifestyles are either covenantally obedient or disobedient to Christ. Most Christians understand that what we believe is to be consistent with the Bible but many don’t join the dots and assert the same for lifestyle. What we must realise is that we are called not only to believe but also to obey. We are to “trust and obey for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus.” This is what Christ demands of us, that we trust Him or confess Him with our mouths and then obey Him with all of our life ( Luke 6:46-49 , John 14:15 ). In other words, culture is simply religion (i.e. our bond to God) externalised. Jesus is interested in both faith and obedience. The two are inseparable. Once we enter the Kingdom of Christ we are to obey the laws of the King.

During a battle the enemy is identified by their uniform. Kingdom uniforms have always been distinct. The people of God have historically been apart from the world, holy and set aside to glorify Christ. Until modern Christendom, this has never exclusively referred to the inward man. The magisterial reformers identified the need to establish all of faith and life on the Scriptures alone. In fact all the way through the Bible itself we see how God is interested in both the internal and external purity of His people. The one flows through and produces a change in the other. Coming into the Kingdom of Christ is the starting point of a new theology and lifestyle. Each aspect is important. I cannot glorify Jesus with poor theology nor with an inconsistent lifestyle. All those who have been baptised into Christ’s body must bear fruit in accordance with their baptism ( John 15:1-17 ). This fruit is not simply notches on an evangelist’s belt; rather it is the full paradigm of believing and obeying the Head of the Church ( John 15:14 ) in every aspect of faith and life.

External appearances are important to God. Unfortunately this needs to be clarified in today’s Church. I do not mean that your appearance makes you right with God or that your clothes somehow transform you into an angelic being. Rather, your “fashion” choices reflect your inward moral compass. A person’s attitude towards Christian obedience can be seen in their choice of attire and adornment. So what grounds do I have to make this assertion? A pattern that emerges from the Bible is the importance God places on His people’s dress sense. From the very beginning God has instructed His people how to look. After Adam sinned he and Eve sewed together some fig leaves to hide their nakedness ( Genesis 3:7 ). A number of points are interesting here. When Adam and Eve had prematurely taken from (instead of being given upon reaching maturity) the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they knew their nakedness and sought to cover it. Implicit to this text is the issue of modesty. Our first parents realised that in the new heavens and earth (one affected with sin) it was not right to show off so much skin. They understood the concept of modesty and covered themselves. However, we read on an see that God inspected them and then not only atoned for their sin but also covered them with the skin of the animal ( Genesis 3:21 ). There are a number of important dimensions to this passage; the animal covering represents the covering of salvation, something that only God can adorn us with. But we must also realise that God was not happy with those fig leaves. On all accounts the leaves only covered the bare minimum. So God adorned Adam and Eve with appropriate coverings. So we see from the very beginning God is interested in the covering of His people. As we progress through the Bible we see how God emphasises the dress of the priests and high priest ( Exodus 28 ). Aaron and the priesthood were dressed with robes and flowing clothes “for glory and for beauty” ( Exodus 28:2 ).

There is objective “fashion” beauty in God’s sight. Christ is interested in how we adorn ourselves. Why? How we adorn ourselves is powerful symbolism. If I adorn myself with a shirt that has blood and gore all over it, with skulls and other symbols of death, I am portraying a certain culture to everyone. In fact I am revealing to all who see me what is of some importance to me. This is a theme I will be pursuing over the coming weeks, working through tattoos, body piercings and modesty. This article has simply given an introductory framework. I recommend that you re-read Mrs Genevieve de Deugd’s article, Reformation in My Wardrobe.

Further reading and resources

Free reading

1. Subscribe to our free newsletter by following this LINK, or subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking this LINK .
2. You can download the book A Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons from this LINK(194kb).
3. The Dominion Covenant: Genesis is also essential reading. It is a large book (in excess of 550 pages and 5.38mb).  but it can be downloaded from this LINK.

To buy

Anselm Study House recommends the following DVDs and books, which can be purchased from our eShop .

1. The Culture War DVD by Dr Voddie Baucham, which can be purchased at this LINK.
2. Training Dominion Oriented Daughters by Geoffrey Botkin can be purchased from this LINK.
3. Tending Your Garden by Denise Sproul can be purchased at this LINK.