Contrasts

It has often been pointed out how counter-cultural Jesus is. Culture is merely a reflection of the human hearts that make it up. Culture has no existence outside the humans that inhabit it. Its institutions, architecture, methods, educational content, and the like are merely creations of humans who may or may not be led by God. The fact that we live under a constitutional government and not under a monarchy is a reflection of the thinking of the day in the early 1700's. If that changes to become something else, it will be because we change the way we think. There are many reasons why culture develops as it does. At the heart of the reasons is the desire for well-being. We all want to have the best possible life. We support those things we think will give us that, and oppose the things we think work against wellness and wholeness. This gives rise to our opinions. This sense of well being ranges from the level of maintenance of the body to the salvation of the person eternally, and everything in between. So in John 7 people are abuzz about Jesus. Does He enhance our well-being, or does He pose a threat to our well-being? If well being is equated with maintaining the status quo, then the answer is simple. Jesus always challenges the status quo. He shines the light of truth on us individually and collectively, privately and institutionally. He calls us to look, see, think, and change. He messes with our personal comforts. He addresses our will.

So in the current scene we see a fundamental contrast in two systems, the system of the world and the system of heaven. The world murmurs, talks in secret, whispers, spins ideas and opinions, all of which results in in-breeding. When a closed culture simply shares ideas among themselves, reinforcing whatever truth mixed with error there is in it, and there will be truth mixed with error, then the offspring that is produced will have a tendency to be weaker than the parents. In other words, don't marry  your first cousin if you want healthy kids. If you like cross-eyed kids, then have fun at the family reunion. The Jews of Jesus' day, like the philosophers on Mars Hill in Acts 17, simply traded theories with one another and eventually produced a meaningless and powerless culture. If we are to break free of the cultural inbreeding, whether it be in a country or one of its institutions, even religious ones, then we need a message from outside ourselves. We need some light from above. We need a Teacher to show up who is not afraid of the opinion leaders of His day, go to the heart of our world (in Jesus' case the temple) and speak truth openly and plainly.

All other ideas must be now measured by this objective, divine source of truth, light, and wisdom. Jesus' teaching is not fear-based. It is not controlled by what others will think or what the consequences of speaking it will produce. It knows that truth will prevail and that light will extinguish the darkness. Jesus did not need a showy arrival into Jerusalem. He simply needed a determined, resolute face that marched through Jerusalem's streets to the heart of their culture, the temple, and a face that opened its mouth and taught. How do we change culture? We teach. Where do we teach? At the centers of the culture, not on the fringes, and not simply within our four-walls. We move to public places and speak. If we are going to confront the culture as Jesus did it will have to be how He did it. We cannot speak to the culture if we are not engaged with the culture. It is a time for bold proclamation, and careful instruction (2 Tim.4:1ff). As we will see from John 7, when you speak to the culture, you have to be prepared to hear what the culture will say to you, and be ready to give an answer for the reason for the hope that is within you. (1 Peter 3). But, we who represent Jesus MUST be sure that we speak His word and His word only lest we simply contribute more man-made opinion to the mess we already have. "Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God..." (1 Peter 4:11).