Religion and Culture

One of the most significant questions raised in the early church is represented throughout the New Testament: What should Christian faith look like among non-Jewish followers of Jesus? Acts 15 records the official meeting that considered this question, known as the Jerusalem Council, but in a sense much of the book of Acts and significant portions of Paul's writings, such as Galatians, depicts the outworking of that decision.

The background
After being essentially a sect of Judaism that recognized Jesus as Messiah, the church was thrust into Gentile lands following the stoning of Stephen. As the Gospel spread, God called an apostle who would focus on the Gentiles -- Paul, who as Saul had been a persecutor of Christians. God also revealed to Peter that the Gospel was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews - and sent him to Caesarea to personally witness the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Gentile Cornelius and his family. Acts 11 records Peter explaining to the apostles and believers in Jerusalem, in answer to a challenge by the Judaizers, a Jewish sect within Christianity that emphasized keeping of the Jewish law and custom as essential to salvation. The end result? The leaders recognized God was working among the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas soon formed a missions team that reached deeper into Gentile areas with the Gospel. The acceptance of Gentiles into the church, however, left open a crucial question: How should they approach their new faith? How much of the Jewish background of Christianity was essential?

Acts 15
The Jerusalem Council was an intentional, called gathering of apostles and elders. Various voices were heard in debate. Peter then proclaimed his argument that the yoke being placed on the Gentiles was a yoke the Jews couldn't bear; salvation for both groups had to be by grace alone. Paul and Barnabas told of God's work among the Gentiles. James brought a Biblical argument to the table, quoting Amos 9:11-12 and applying it to the in-gathering of the Gentiles. He recommended some basic guidelines for the Gentiles: Sexual purity and avoiding idolatry (and some associated basic dietary guidelines of avoiding strangled meat and blood). The council sent both the Gentile-familiar Paul & Barnabas, and the more Jewish-oriented Judas Barsabbas and Silas, with a letter of encouragement and guidance to the Gentile church in Antioch. The believers there rejoiced at the content.

Galatians
With the full backing of the Jerusalem Council, Paul developed a strong offense against the Judaizers, who continued to push for a more Jewish-oriented practice among the Gentiles. While many passages could be studied, a review of Galatians will cover many of the salient points.

In Galatians, Paul posts his strongest offense, calling the teaching of this group "another gospel". Essentially, their message was salvation by faith, continuance in salvation by obedience to the law. Paul vehemently argues that the One True Gospel never compromises the doctrine of grace and that any teaching that does so is false and "falls from grace". Paul presents a logically developed argument alongside an emotionally passionate one, to exhort the Galatians to walk by grace alone. In many ways, Galatians culminates and expounds upon one key verse (5:1): "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit against to a yoke of slavery."

Paul's example in Acts and his teaching in other passages (eg. Rom. 8 and 14) clearly does not reject obeying God's laws by grace through faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Nor does he rebuke voluntarily adoption of Jewish or other cultural practices as a demonstration of love or to more effectively reach the non-believers in the group. What he does strongly condemn is any teaching that requires such actions, or places believers who choose not to adopt these practices under condemnation. In fact, Romans 14 argues that those believers who recognize their freedom in Christ are actually the strong ones, but that they might need to makes choices on behalf of love for weaker believers. Likewise, weaker believers should not judge those who feel more freedom in Christ.

Paul also addresses legalistic keeping of the religious calendar (Gal. 4:10), calling these "elementary principles" that can enslave people. Again, Scripture shows Paul visiting synagogues and observing certain feasts in settings where Judaism was prevalent, but his argument was against the requirement of such actions.

Significance
Paul provides a strong example of the outworking of the Jerusalem Council's decision that believers don't have to be Jewish in form to be Christian in doctrine. Without condemning the Jewish form, the Council established a broad principle which Paul applied throughout his ministry. Gentile worship could be culturally distinct without compromising the basic message.

What does this mean for believers today? First, those of us in the West must realize that it means that believers don't have to be Western in form to be Christian in doctrine. Cultural distinctions are not only allowed in Christianity, they are encouraged. We must recognize the difference between a biblical principle and a cultural one.

This principle makes Christianity a truly multi-cultural religion. In fact, Ralph Winter calls it the only true "world" religion, in the sense that it is non-cultural in content. This is not true of most other major belief systems. To become Jewish looks the same in form throughout the world, with a few differences among the various branches. The same goes for Islam, Buddhism (though it is very syncretistic), Hinduism, even tribal religions (which often are restricted territorially because they view their god as limited to their geographic region). Christianity, though, shares doctrines across cultural lines, but not necessarily forms.

Of course, in his attempts to counterfeit God's design, the enemy tries to create a false "world" religion, by blurring the lines between the belief systems. Chrisitanity as a multi-cultural religion does not in any way blur doctrinal distinctives. It is clearly a different faith than Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, tribal religion. At its center is Jesus. The cross remains a stumbling block for those who will not believe. But for those who do, by grace through faith, the cross gives life. But the practice of that life - and especially the form of its worship - is not presented as a required part of the package. In Christ, some aspects of the culture will be rejected, others transformed, and still others highlighted as beautiful expressions of the mosaic of throne room worship, where every tribe, tongue, nation, and people is focused on the Lamb of God.