Church Culture and the Character of God

When I first started taking anthropology classes and my prof would talk about something that is generally accepted in society—like, actually can’t even remember a good example, probably gender something or I don’t know—anyway, she would say something, even just understanding of race, what determines race—and then say, like it was a really novel idea, “that’s cultural.” For a while, I thought when she was saying that, she meant that it wasn’t real, or that it wasn’t credible and I had a really hard time with it, because I thought—just because it’s cultural doesn’t mean it’s not important, it doesn’t mean it’s not the way things are! But—I was just starting out, so that’s not what she meant, but I didn’t understand. All the lessons were just making the point that many things that people assume are the norm or are truth, are informed by the culture they are surrounded in, very simple. Something else that was said a lot is that nothing is formed in a vacuum, that nothing comes about without being affected by what surrounds it.
It’s good to understand the body of Christ in these same ways, all different denominations, all different backgrounds of Christianity. I feel really lucky that I didn’t even understand that there was such a thing as a denomination until well into high school because its not too hard for me to look out and see unity instead of division, because I don’t even know the differences in theology that different groups disagree on, and I like it like that. I like thinking about things without those limitations, so I’m just going to talk about things like I experience them, and leave the filtering up to whoever is reading this.
There are a lot of things within this church culture that I haven’t experienced before—a lot of things about the culture that are really appealing, the main thing being the freedom of expression. Last Tuesday, ha!, during the worship service, the entire room just erupted into a giant dance party. I felt like I was in an 80’s movie or something—people dancing everywhere, some dancing well, others not so well, one guy doing really violent looking somersaults across the stage. And the feeling in the room was joy, I was having so much fun! I even got a cramp. But it just made me think about dancing—everyone in the world does it, every culture I mean—and there is some meaning to it everywhere. And I think it does have a place in worship—it’s a way of adding emphasis to what you want to express. It makes me think about this movie my brother and I made for my parents on their 50th birthdays. Benj impersonated dad and I impersonated mom, and when we showed it to them, they laughed so much, my mom laughed harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. And during one scene, she just couldn’t laugh enough and she started doing these funny kicks and slapping the bed where we were all watching the movie—just because laughter only wasn’t enough to demonstrate what needed to be expressed. So I think it’s the same as dancing--it can aid the expression. And there are some people who dance all the time. But the good thing about being here is that if you want to—you can, and no one will think you’re trying to get attention, or that you’re a total weirdo. But if you don’t want to, who cares.
So—the freedom, that’s a good thing I think. But, also, I do not just want another church culture. I don’t just want a new setting with new rules, or with rules that I like better. So it’s been a gradual sifting of what is just part of this culture and the questions of what meaning do parts of this culture contain. A huge revelation I’ve had since getting here is how God feels about purity. When I got back from Bolivia last year, I had was really sensitive to characteristics of Christian culture that I felt were empty-I hated it, I wanted NOTHING to do with it. And, in just rejecting something outright like that, I couldn’t see the deeper meaning to it, and I missed out on something. The example that has been heaviest to me is purity. I was really fed up and confused by a lot of ideas a lot of the more conservative Christian culture has about dating and relationships, modesty, etc. Really fed up, and really boxed in. So, I just discredited a lot of those ideas as nothing more than a culture that was afraid of sex, didn’t know how to deal with it, didn’t know how to talk about it, and by doing that, I missed out on the actual meaning, the center of those ideas. So those rules about what to wear and how to act and how to think just lost all meaning to me. It’s the same with any concept, if rules and rituals become the center, then the meaning gets lost and it’s empty. But I feel like in the past few weeks, I’ve had my eyes opened to see how wow, I can see how the ideas behind those rules came about, because purity is so important to God. It means so much to him. No one even taught me this at all, it’s just something that he brought me.
And I came to it, by learning more about who God is, and what he’s like.
So what I’ve been thinking about for the past few weeks, is the character of God, because I’m learning more about him everyday. Do you know that God has never been mad at you? Well, you know, I don’t think I really knew that.—and I’m just writing this in the dark in the middle of the night—so I can’t give verses right now, but I will before too long.
I think this culture here is what it is because of what is believed about the character of God. That he is so good, that he is so in love with each of his people, that he has a real plan and destiny for each person, that he wants to be with us, that he longs for us, that he loves us into correction instead of getting angry with us, that we don’t have to do anything to impress him, that he wants to heal us, that he wants the very very best for us. He loves justice, he’s all good, in him there is no darkness at all.
Wow—knowing that God, I’ll tell you what, re-getting to know that God has made it so much easier for me to trust God with my heart. When I feel dissatisfied with how something is going, I just remember that the King of the Universe is holding the pen to my story, and knowing that, and knowing who he is—hey, that makes me feel good! Even if the situation is still lacking in my eyes. I don’t even feel like, “well, I know I should just know that God is taking care of it, so I guess I’m ok.” I mean, it makes me feel really good.
I think there is a lot more to this subject, so I’m hoping to get some time to share some more soon.
Other updates: my brother now has a wife!(hi mary!), I went to the beach twice this past week—loved it—super cold, super fun, I started my little job at the church nursery and my arms are sore from holding children, still looking for another little job to make ends meet, get a chance to run or ride my bike a couple times a week, annnnd I just made some pumpkin bread.