Notice board?
This blog has become something of a notice board of late, the only things posted in the last couple of months have been ‘what’s on’ type posts. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it’s good to get the info out there, but where have the stimulating conversations about God, climate change and what’s you favourite book, cd, shop gone?
Surely facebook hasn’t taken up everybodys online time?!?
So here’s something to discuss (if you want to)
The clash of culture and theology!
I recently visited Kenya and there met a number of Christian men who have several (usually 3 or 4) wives. For the most part western theology understands the Bible in a way that marriage is a partnership between two people. I didn’t ask any of the men I met how they reconciled polygamy with scripture, I’m sure most of them had never even considered it an issue. It has been a part of their culture historically forever (as far as traditions go anyway) and the thought of changing would be met with a hearty African laugh and a dismissive comment about how white men could only handle one woman.
The issue is far more complex than what I have just outlined, but the question it raises for me is not what should we do about polygamous relationships in Kenya, but a more internal one that I/we might actually be able to do something about. What are the things that we have just absorbed as part of culture/tradition that are seemingly incompatible with scripture and that I/we have possibly not even considered an issue before?
This is potentially a painful question to ask because its consequence may shake the foundations of who we are. But hopefully by asking it we might become more like the people God created us to be. I have a few thoughts, but thought I’d start by leaving it open for other people’s comments, before I wade in with my own opinion!
Thanks Martin, I think it’s a really useful post. Apart from also saying welcome back and I hope the time away was good, I’m fascinated by your story.
It’s definitely true that there are things we take as normal that are part of our faith that might not need to be there, or perhaps should be there?
Perhaps polygamy is part of that cultural tradition in the same way that buying clothes, electronics and food all produced by ’slaves’ in poorer parts of the world is for us.
Sometimes we really need to look at the heart (and sometimes the most down to earth practical points) of our way of life and question what can be changed for the better. We’ll never reach perfction but with God’s help we absolutely can make a difference.
I think what Josh said about buying things thoughtlessly is something we accept is interesting. We just all do it…to different extents maybe but we all do in some way.
I would also put in that category downloading stuff for free – that isn’t – off the internet. People can justify it anyway they want but if there’s something that should be paid for and you’re not then you are stealing and breaking one of the the ten most explicit commandments. I hear so many people justifying it (including things like “but do you have any idea how much money it costs?” – so stealing is acceptable if it’s something very expensive?) and I think people do just accept that’s what happens but that doesn’t mean we have to do it. Yet this seems to be a sin that a lot of Christians feel fairly comfortable with. Why?
I realise illegal downloads is not a particularly deep issue and perhaps there are loads of things in society generally, if not Christians especially, that are accepted now and we accept that acceptance. The use of blashpemous language and in fact just bad language generally comes to mind (after all it says in the bible that praise and curses should not come out of the same mouth). There are so few taboos in language now – having said that apparently there are a few, I’ll let Banks explain as he had a talk on it at uni or something… Language used is something that challenges me in BCF particularly because a lot of people in the church seem to not really care how they use it. I would say obviously that language within the church is abused less than in wider society but I still feel uncomfortable in some situations but don’t feel like I can say anything without being laughed at/shouted down because it’s so widely accepted in our own community. I know that although I try to moderate my language I have been known to have….errrr…imprudent outbursts shall we say but that’s something I’ve genuinely been working on. Josh is right, we can never reach perfection, but that doesn’t mean we should just ignore the little things, like the use of language, under the pretext that there’re more important things.
Interesting stuff.
It’s very true that us westerners think we’ve eradicated all the ‘really bad’ sins but i’m not so sure.
I once heard someone interviewing madonna (i think it was madonna but it might have someone else like her. Some other creative, forward thinking, trend-setter. oops. i’m losing my point) and they said
‘you are a self-proclaimed bitch. Is this true?’
to which she replied
‘Yes I am but only because you have to be to get what you want’
this, for me, summed up something that i think is really wrong and very common in our society. This notion that ‘getting what you want’ is paramount to anything else. (I don’t excuse myself from falling into this trap sometimes)
That’s an example of something I think we’ve got wrong. I believe that you may end up rubbing people up the wrong way or come into conflict as a bi-product of doing the right thing and that’s ok, if not healthy, but I don’t think it’s ok to treat others wrongly so you can help yourself with your own selfish desires.
Sorry, I probably could have said all that in 2 sentances. Perhaps one of our literary scholars can edit it. Also, did I just use this discussion as another to have a rant? I don’t know.
Thanks for your comments guys, you raise some really interesting points, some of which I hadn’t really thought of before, which was the point of this exercise!!
I guess most of the thoughts people have made (all, except for Chloe’s about language) fall into the category of us being self-centred people, of putting me and my material gain before anything else. I think that in many ways this is a sad but accurate evaluation of ‘western’ culture.
I fear it may be reflected in many of our churches by a focus of salvation as just for the individual, it me, my faith, my Jesus, my Saviour (sarcastic pun intended!) If a church isn’t feeding ME I’ll move to another. If the worship isn’t what I like, I’ll find one where I do. Are Jesus and the church here to serve us or are we here to serve them?
Guys, not wanting to go so far from the point of Martin’s thread, but I just read some news from the One Campaign that thanks to pressure from supporters like us, the IMF have actually cancelled the unpayable debt owed by Liberia. There’s more about this at http://www.one.org
It excites me to see any kind of progress in the world through small actions like sending an email!!!
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce