I am not a photographer. But I began thinking about the lens of a camera. It is not something focus on, but rather, something you see through. However, if your lens is skewed then so is your perception.

We are called to be individuals between gospel and culture.
We are called to be a church between gospel and culture.

Each of these elements can be the lens of a person’s (or organization’s) perspective. This makes up a large portion of what we call worldview. We can look at everything from the individual, or the communal, or the cultural, or the gospel perspective.

We are called to understand our culture, yet we must be rooted to survive the risks of “in the world, yet not of it.” So what do we root in? What is the lens? It is not the individual’s mindset/opinion. It is not the communal wants/needs. It is not found in cultural immersion. It is only found in Christ and the Bible.

The challenge of “Christ and Culture” philosophy is to continually contrast what we see (stories, expression, art, media, entertainment, politics, education, economics, spirituality, popular culture, etcetera) against gospel story of redemption. We must focus on that lens.

We will deconstruct life and spirituality into rubble if we:
1) focus too much time on one of the other lenses
2) focus little time in the scriptures and prayer

The bible will show us where our personal worldview conflicts with God’s design. It takes courage to allow the searchlight of God’s word to reveal where we miss it.

That said, immerse yourself into the bible. You live immersed in culture. You wake up with your own eyeballs firmly in place. You are affected by your community’s ethos. It takes strategy, humility and submission to honestly look at yourself and your worldview through the lens of scripture. But, oh how important it is that we press in there. Combine that with the supernatural tool of prayer and it transforms. It transforms us. It will transform our view. It will transform community. And it will impact and transform culture.

Get into the bible. Do not just read it - let it read you. Focus on the correct lens.

__________________________
David Thew
Sojourn Pastor
Thewblog