2020-06-25 Coffee with Chris - Culture & Christianity Part 3 What is God’s culture

The speaker discusses the concept of culture and how it relates to Christianity. They emphasize the importance of understanding the culture in which the Bible was written and the need to prioritize God's culture over earthly cultural norms. They highlight the idea that Jesus spoke of a heavenly kingdom rather than trying to fix the earthly government. The speaker encourages readers to live according to God's values and to invite others into His culture. They suggest reading passages from the Bible, such as Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, to gain a better understanding of this heavenly culture. Good morning and welcome to Coffee with Chris. I've got my notes here today so let's just jump right into it. In my previous installments in this series I've been talking about culture and how it relates to Christianity. First, I talked about how our culture is not the base point for what is normal. Second, I talked about how Jesus wasn't born into our culture and how we need to read the Bible with an understanding of the culture it was written in and written to. I also touched on how God had his own culture separate from the cultures of the ancient times the Bible was written in. Today I want to talk about God's culture. What is God's culture? The book of Hebrews in the New Testament says that the God followers of old were searching for a heavenly country. The first part of Hebrews chapter 11 is known as the Hall of Faith. There's a little play on words from the Hall of Fame. It shares a few names and accounts of people who lived by faith, trusting in God in the Old Testament. The author then goes on to say of these people, all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they've been thinking of the country they have left, they would have had an opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. Jesus, throughout his ministry on earth, spent much time talking about what he called the kingdom of heaven. What was this place? When we hear the word kingdom, we may imagine Disney's Magic Kingdom, Disney princesses, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, or perhaps medieval stories. But at the time Jesus spoke of this, the people were being oppressed by the kingdom of Rome. Kingdoms were the ultimate authority and government of that era. It was a model that people understood at the time that is not as easy for us to understand. But here's a key difference between a kingdom and a modern democracy. A kingdom is ruled by a king. A king in ancient times was not like a prime minister or president and was also entirely different from the monarchies we see today, such as the royal family. Ancient kings had ultimate and unbridled control over every aspect of the land and people they ruled. Many became power-hungry tyrants, even or perhaps especially many of the Old Testament kings of Israel and Judah. At times, people think that if we only had a Christian government, we would be fine. We would restore our nation to their former glory, and everything would be set aright. Prayer would come back to schools, and people would honor God. Our dirty culture would fall back in line, but I believe nothing is further from the truth or design God has in mind. King David of ancient Israel was called a man after God's own heart, and yet he coveted one of his key warrior's wife, got her pregnant, then tried to make it look like the baby actually belonged to that warrior. When the plan didn't work, he murdered the warrior and married the woman. He also let all the nation of Israel flounder and be attacked while he lamented his rebellious son who was trying to take over the kingdom. And this man is probably the best human king Israel ever had. And this best king nearly ruined the nation. In fact, his indiscretions set up a generational problem that eventually brought the kingdom to ruin, which God allowed to show the Israelites the king they needed was God himself. Here enters Jesus, hundreds of years later, to redeem this line. King Jesus. But here's the interesting thing. While Jesus was fully human and fully God, he never attempted to set up the kingdom he spoke of on earth. Instead, he spoke always of how important his father God was. He spoke of the need for a heavenly kingdom and not an earthly one. While the people of God were under one of the most oppressive and corrupt governments of all history, Jesus didn't try to fix the government or appoint apostles to it. Instead, he showed people that focusing on Rome and the earthly kingdoms of the day was entirely missing the point. We, in our modern day, often spend so much time trying to counter our culture or fix it that we miss the fact that this world and culture is temporary. Jesus didn't call us to fix a broken culture. He called us to invite people to a new one. He called us to live in his culture that exists beyond this world and adheres to God, not ever-changing cultural norms and ideas. We need to stop worrying about how culture has gone astray and realize we belong to a different country, a heavenly country. Our job is not to Christianize culture based on our idea of cultural norms. Holy Spirit-led overseas missionaries understand that we're not to export westernism, but instead to invite people of all cultures into God's culture. And the fact is, while we walk this earth, how that heavenly culture meets our local culture may look a little different from place to place. And that's okay, as long as we keep ourselves dedicated to the core of God's culture. So how do we find out how to live by this culture? By reading the Bible and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal that heavenly culture to us. I suggest by starting with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 5 to 7. You can also check out Matthew chapter 13, where Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven. After reading those passages, ask yourself, am I living according to the culture I was born into and its values, or the Kingdom of Heaven and God's values? Which one of these cultures influences your decisions more? Until next time guys, I am praying and rooting for you. God bless.