The church needs to get out of buildings and into the streets. Repent> Protest> Rage against the machine. Cultural masquerades of the rhetoric of individualism have fooled many, but alas the ideology of the prevailing system of stamping, numbering, and coding, rules under the clever disguise of freedom. It is time for ideologies and rhetoric to be resisted and overthrown. Too long, oh Lord, too long. While dancing around in arena of death, we have squandered truth and love, and made them fools to be sneered at and ignored. Too long, oh Lord, too long. Give us renewed vision and strength to see redemption lived, and flowing into the byways and passages; the theater of life. May we contribute to and enhance the credibility of the gospel as “good news” for all humanity.
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2 comments:
Dear Greg,
Thanks again for your bold, insightful postings! Like the previous set of posts and comments on the self, nothingness and otherness, it seems we are once again challenged to strike what Dr Schaeffer dubbed "the form-freedom balance" as we respond to our culture and cultural imperatives (read today's multiculturalism and pluralism). As you put it so well:
"Cultural masquerades of the rhetoric of individualism have fooled many, but alas the ideology of the prevailing system of stamping, numbering, and coding, rules under the clever disguise of freedom. It is time for ideologies and rhetoric to be resisted and overthrown." I agree entirely with you in that we are not living in a post-ideology world, even though the Cold War and 20th-century labels seem outdated. Ideologies and rhetoric are actually everywhere, and Christians cannot pretend they are "neutral" or indifferent to our own culture. After all, this is what L'Abri is all about, to take a prophetic stand against these subtle masquerades --and cultural relativism seems to slip into the comfy clothes of moral relativism.
Nita,
Thanks for your helpful response. Any chance you'll be in Europe one of these days?
What would you think of adding to the cultural imperatives that you so rightly mention; reductionism, polarization, and relationalism?
Yes, the form-freedom balance, or better tension, is ever present. Being in and affected by culture, yet being aware and therefore not entirely immersed in its rhetoric and ideologies leads to a possibility of a configuration of belonging/distanciation.
While Christians have the tendency to be unconsciously submersed in their own rhetoric and ideologies, ultimately, as I see it, the faith points in another direction: towards community with the one who is and with others who are.
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