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Num 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Num 25:2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
Tit 1:12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
Tit 1:13 This witness is true....
Culture - mid-15c., "the tilling of land," from M.Fr. culture and directly from L. cultura "a cultivating, agriculture," figuratively "care, culture, an honoring," from pp. stem of colere "tend, guard, cultivate, till" (see cult). The figurative sense of "cultivation through education" is first attested c.1500. Meaning "the intellectual side of civilization" is from 1805; that of "collective customs and achievements of a people" is from 1867.
For without culture or holiness, which are always the gift of a very few, a man may renounce wealth or any other external thing, but he cannot renounce hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge. Culture is the sanctity of the intellect. [William Butler Yeats]
Slang culture vulture is from 1947. Culture shock first recorded 1940.
Is it a missionary's job to "transform culture"?
Is it a missionary's job to "transform culture"?
I also would answer no. Is that not Gods job to transform culture. While making disciples, transforming a culture would be a by product of conversions. Would it not?
If missionary's could transform a culture than we need to send a boat load to NY state. It seems our state or culture is going down fast.
Is that not Gods job to transform culture.
I would say no based on the Great Commission in Matthew 28. The missionary's job is to make disciples of all nations, etc. To be sure, the transformation of that culture may be a by-product of this work if there are numerous conversions under his preaching.
(Act 17:29) Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
(Act 17:30) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
(Act 17:31) Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Pergs, what is your (biblical) definition of culture? Maybe we need to start from there.
---------- Post added at 08:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:30 AM ----------
The word "culture" is not in the KVJ, NKJV, NIV, NASB, or ESV.
12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Luther is alleged to have said (and many things so claimed are little more than rumors) that all he did was preach the gospel, and drink Wittenburg ale, and God did all the rest. And that sentiment rings true to me, regardless of how accurate the attribution. If I make it part of my job description to "change culture," or even "change people," I am pretty sure the truly vital aspects of my ministry are going to suffer.
There are always a handful of extraordinarily gifted people--like Calvin or Knox--who seem (and its probably more like providentially situated than intentional) like they had power to shape the society around them. But not every minister has those gifts. Many of us have just enough power to fulfill the minimum requirements of our vocation, while we struggle to maintain order in our homes, keep healthy relationships going with the people in our circles, and have a godly attitude more often than we display a sour one.
I think its cruel, and basically ignorant, to demand of pastors or missionaries that they automatically assume the burden of "transformation," along with their responsibility to shepherd the meek, but sometimes truculent sheep of Christ's fold.
If God has called you to be a public "mover-and-shaker" within the scope of your ministry, fine. Have at it, because I'm sure your core duties won't suffer for your aspirations. You'd never let that happen, right? But I have a request:
Please don't make your extravagant expectations the standard expected from EVERY minister. Please don't get angry and resentful with the rest of us who aren't eager to add more to our full-plate. Because after you realize that your goals require cooperation, and your fellow-laborers aren't jumping on the bandwagon you're driving, the temptation is to criticize the others for their "lack of zeal," unfaithfulness to the legacy of "Calvin" (which of course you are so powerfully embodying), and the "non-Reformed" character of their ministry.
More power to the Christian architect (plumber, magistrate, mother, etc.), whose faith informs his narrow endeavors. I'm a minister of Word and Sacrament. I am a Minister in another Man's government. His is a kingdom that is not of this world, and I'm (supposed to be) helping weary pilgrims make it through this wilderness, rather than developing the occasional oases into tony resorts. "Who is sufficient for these things," let alone for politics, government, economics, education, arts, and the rest of the social fabric all around us? No, not my responsibility, thank you very much. I'll leave the "big-picture" to the Christ who looks down upon the whole thing, and understands it all, and is managing its progress.