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In Someone Else’s Shoes

By Jeffery Porter Leave a Comment

When encountering people from other ethnic, national, or religious cultures it is easy to see how their culture influences their values and ways of thinking about the world. Yet, in Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead, the fictional narrator Reverend John Ames reminds me that I am no different. As Ames tries to make sense of an illustration from French reformer John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, he says, “I suppose Calvin’s God was a Frenchman, just as mine is a Middle Westerner of New England extraction.” (p. 142) The beauty of this reflection is that Ames is not dismissive of the importance or trueness of beliefs and doctrine and at the same time does not reduce important theological differences to simple cultural relativism. Instead, he merely recognizes how much his own culture inexorably shapes his perceptions of reality, including his idea of God.

This can be a scary thought. Don’t we often believe that our impressions of reality are completely trustworthy and that our theology and doctrinal beliefs about God are entirely based on absolutely true and unchanging Biblical propositions? However, these kinds of certainties are not only deeply unhelpful when engaging with other cultures, but they also muddle our sanctifying ongoing life in Christ. In his letter to Roman Christians, the apostle Paul says to his readers, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). On the surface, this may seem like a command that can either be obeyed or disobeyed. However, in the context of the rest of this chapter Paul’s injunction is not a simple binary command, it is a complex one. Rather, it is a description of the life-long process and struggle of following Christ while living in a culture separated from and sometimes opposed to God’s purpose and ideals.

Philosophers, especially European philosophers, have struggled with the problem of cultural influence for quite some time. Thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault recognized that our given cultures deeply inform all aspects of our lives. Some of these cultures are based on nationality or ethnicity. Some are based on finances or education. Some are based on family or friends, and some are based on religion. All of these different cultures influence both our identities and our perceptions of reality. People within our own cultures, like our relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, and coworkers, all contribute to the values and assumptions we use to think about what is good, acceptable, and perfect. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger called this problem throwness, because it is as if we are thrown into the world at birth onto a potter’s wheel and into a complicated and constantly shifting milieu of principles, values, and assumptions about the world and our proper place in it. In other words, whenever we try to be reasonable and objective about anything we unconsciously input culture assumptions from a variety of sources into our thought process. This can become especially clear when Christians argue over topics such as immodest dress or coarse language. We often agree that modesty and edifying language are important values, but when it comes to culturally framed boundaries of what counts as immodesty or foul language the debates are never-ending.

Yet, our relationship to Christ can help us find solid ground in this tempestuous philosophical conundrum. After all, the Bible tells us that Jesus is not only the “way, the truth and the light” (John 14:6) but that he is also “the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) To follow Christ is to follow that which is absolute and unchangingly good, right, and true. Against the backdrop of constantly shifting and competing cultures, following Christ often conflicts with any and all cultures. This is a perennial difficulty for Christians living in a broken world. A major theme throughout the New Testament is the long enduring struggle of being a Christian in this world. For instance, the apostle Peter tells us that we are only temporary parepidēmos, or sojourners, in this world, (1 Peter 1:1) while the apostle John warns us not to “love the world or anything in the world.” (1 John 2:15) Yet, we also know that God loves this world too, (John 3:16) and the Bible tells us that a culturally diverse church will glorify God in the new heavens and new earth. (Revelation 7-9-10) Therefore, tension exists between rejecting the cultures of the world and accepting the parts of culture that are in some ways pleasing to God. 

This is precisely the tension Augustine confronted when he wrote his book City of God nearly 1,600 years ago. He wrote his book because people in the predominantly pagan culture of the Roman Empire were blaming Christians and Christianity in general for the sacking of Rome. Augustine does not tell Roman Christians to hide from the world. Instead, he explains that the Christian life, sojourning in this world, is both reflexive (culture shapes our beliefs) and Christocentric (Christ is at the core of our beliefs). He explains that as Christians, regardless of the cultural backgrounds in which we find ourselves, Christ is always at the center. This point may seem obvious. After all, the moniker “Christian” implies that we are followers of Christ. Yet, Augustine points out that Jesus is not only the goal of the Christian life, in that we are called to imitate him, but he is also the way to that goal. Christ will always be at work in sanctifying every dimension of our lives to look more like his. That means that this work is not only done at church or in our personal devotional time. God uses our interactions with the world to shape us according to God’s will, which dovetails with the importance of reflexivity (how our personal experiences become our culture). 

Because our lives as Christians are characterized by a transformation in Christ, according to his perfect will and character, in our lifetimes we are never done transforming. In other words, we will never arrive at a state of perfected goodness, righteousness, and truth this side of heaven. In terms of culture, if we ever think that we know exactly how we are supposed to be or how a culture ought to be, this should give us pause. We can’t rely on our culture. Just checkout those history books to see some of the attitudes and beliefs that were culturally accepted norms from the past that would be culturally appalling to us today. Instead, we should be relying on Christ. We can embrace the good things inside and outside of our own cultures that challenge us to imitate the character of Christ, while critically considering the negative aspects of culture that will deter us from following Christ. Of course, it is often far easier to see the good in our own culture while ignoring the bad, which makes it all the more important to practice looking for the good first in other cultures, while remembering to “reject every kind of evil” in our own (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Throughout City of God, Augustine provides a number of examples of how Roman culture wrongly valued things that ran contrary to what God considers good, acceptable, and perfect. But, he also presents a number of examples of how some parts of Roman culture are really virtuous and honorable, so much so that he implores Christians to recognize the virtuousness of some non-Christian, Roman cultural heroes.

In most ways, our lives as Christians in the 21st century are very different than the lives of Christians during Augustine’s lifetime. Yet, as Christians trying to live out a life of faith in a broken world, his vision of Christocentric cultural reflexivity is just as important today. As citizens of the kingdom of God sojourning in this world, we are always at odds with our own culture and yet inescapability apart of it. This is why before Paul urges his readers not to conform to this world, he first tell them, “I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1) When we encounter other cultures that are clearly different or at odds with what we know and value, it is easy to resist learning from such cultures that are unfamiliar or seemingly at odds with our own. Yet, it is what we are called to, making our continued reliance on the sanctifying power of Christ as urgent as ever. When we present our whole selves as sacrifices to God, via prayer, fellowship in a Christian community, acts of worship, deeds of service, and personal scriptural devotion, we will continue to better understand that which is good and acceptable and perfect in our cultures and in the cultures of others.


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Filed Under: Community, Connect, Featured Tagged With: Issue 39

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Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on ou Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on our own is in vain. We can never hope to achieve the same level that Jesus was on while we are still here on Earth. We’re like little kids, struggling just to walk. But that’s why Jesus gave us an example of redeemed followers in the form of the Apostles, who were his close group of students here on Earth. He chose a group of broken, sinful men, and ultimately shaped them into the group responsible for continuing his ministry here on Earth. ⁠
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"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's th "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." –Desmond Tutu
The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not t The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not to become like it. The New Living Translation puts it this way, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Rom. 12:2a). Some have interpreted this as an instruction to reject anything that isn’t explicitly Christian. But I don’t think that’s what this verse is getting at. I think it means much more.⁠
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If you desire to serve, seek to form groups withou If you desire to serve, seek to form groups without age distinction. Maybe you want to form a group in your church. Avoid just inviting members from your age group. Seek out people older and younger than you to invite to meet together. Find that person who sits alone and talk to her or him. Instead of a focus on building groups that have the same characteristics to “relate” with one another, you center your discussion in the work of Christ. He will bring the group together. ⁠
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"If we put our faith in temporal things, they will "If we put our faith in temporal things, they will inevitably let us down. They were never meant to be enough for us. Not alone. When Barnum finally does hit bottom, he recognizes that his heart has been led astray, fooled into thinking that fame or fortune could satisfy him."⁠
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"The presence of my sin reminds me of my great nee "The presence of my sin reminds me of my great need for grace, and good works are the outpouring of a grateful heart; being a good child is not a means of earning the favor of God."⁠
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Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others an Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others and not to judge. I forget that when he said, “Come follow me,” he wasn’t just inviting us to a strict set of rules but to a real and exciting life whether you turn out to be a pastor, a doctor, designer or simply “Dad.” Sometimes I forget one of his main messages was that he came to give us a better life than we could ever dream of—life to the fullest. Jesus wasn’t locking us down to a vocation or job title. It’s as if he was saying, “Real, vibrant life is available to you now. Following me, loving me and living like me is your real calling…the rest is just there to aid you in following, loving and living.”⁠
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Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” There is yet another parallel between the Christian story and The Matrix, simultaneously the most foundational and the most captivating. It’s that something which is missing, something which is not quite right with the world. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know that it’s there. At the outset of the first film, Neo is searching for it. Trinity asserts that “it’s the question that drives us.” Morpheus claims that “you can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.” The question is: What if I’ve only ever scratched the surface of all that life has to offer? What if there is a deeper, truer current of reality, ever-present behind all of my life’s experiences, to which I might awaken at any moment?⁠
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"I’ve always been intrigued by Augustine because "I’ve always been intrigued by Augustine because we all struggle with temptations to sin. And we all struggle to live in a way that honors God. Like Augustine we all feel the tug of our past sins that say, 'Don’t you want to enjoy us?' And Augustine’s story relates to Galatians 5:16-26 where Paul tells us about how the Christian life is like a walk. In a way, walking is a metaphor for the Christian life." ⁠
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