How does a disciple of Christ live “in” the world but not be “of” the world…associate but not assimilate… separate but not isolate? Are we a counter-culture or a multi-culture? These are questions that believers have wrestled with over millennia and should be wrestling with today.
I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one (John 17:15)
“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN” (2Corinthians 6:17).
In the inner testament period leading up to the incarnation of Christ, Jews both in Palestine and throughout the diaspora (Roman world), wrestled with the tension of relevance and righteousness… distinctiveness and assimilation.
Jews dispersed throughout the predominately Greco-Roman culture spoke Greek, read their Torah in Greek (Septuagint) at their synagogue, went to the gymnasium and read Homer. They followed the teaching of the prophets to work for the peace of their host country. At the same time the Jews in Palestine spoke Aramaic (a dialect of Hebrew), read their Bible only in Hebrew, and resisted the Hellenistic culture.
At the time of Christ within Palestine there were four main expressions (sects) of assimilation vs separation. They are described by the historian Josephus.
1. Zealots – Liberation Expression
Descended from the Maccabees, the zealots were a militant sect that advocated loyalty to the Torah and Jewish control of the religious and political systems. Zealots would periodically break out in physical violence against Rome in an attempt to gain both religious and political control.
2. Essenes – Isolation Expression
Like the Qumran community around the Dead Sea, Essenes withdrew from culture altogether. Their expression was to live an isolated righteous life as far from cultural corruption as possible. They would not be contaminated by the world nor would they try to influence it.
3. Sadducees – Accommodation Expression
The sect of the Sadducees were mostly made up of the aristocracy and ruling party of the Jews. They were connected with the Temple and the Sanhedrin (Jewish court) and their philosophy was “to get along you need to go along”. Their expression was one of accommodation and cooperation with the Hellenistic culture.
4. Pharisees – Separation Expression
The Pharisees were made up of the common people who held to both the written Law (Torah) and the oral law. They separated themselves from both the Roman/Hellenistic culture and any Jew who didn’t follow their particular practice of tradition.
Into that milieu of expressions came Jesus, the Christ. He didn’t fit into any of the above. He demonstrated a different expression He called the kingdom which He described in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7).
So today, how do we live a lifestyle that is both counter-cultural and relevant?
As I reflect on growing up in America, I didn’t anticipate that there would be much difference between kingdom values and my own country’s values. By in-large the culture of my immediate surroundings was similar to the kingdom values I found in Scripture. To be sure, the culture didn’t always live by those values but at least they were acknowledged as valuable.
Today, much like the first century Christians living under Roman rule, I am increasingly aware that to follow Christ is to live counter-culturally. I should not be surprised but I thought that it would only happen “to them” or “out there” …whatever that means.
As I wrestle with how to think and behave as a citizen of God’s kingdom while living in the world’s kingdom, I have to start by asking which kingdom has priority. One is permanent and invisible while the other is temporal and tangible. It takes the lens of faith to hold to what is real yet unseen even though the tangible seems more “modern and scientific”.
In the early centuries of Christianity, Christ followers were often viewed as detrimental to the glory of Rome. They were disloyal citizens since they claimed allegiance to another God, refused to participate in pagan civic rituals, and talked of a life in another realm. As a tiny minority they were often marginalized and at times persecuted for living counter-culturally.
However, when they eventually became the majority, the new challenge was to live Christ’s kingdom values from a platform of power and influence. Unfortunately, history tells us they did not do it well. There was hypocrisy, coercion, and persecution. Too often there was little difference between the culture of the dominate empire and the dominate church…accept they dressed differently.
Sadly we do not do it well either. I am embarrassed by my failure and the failure of my fellow Christians to live out His kingdom values. In addition, all too often we condemn others by a standard we ourselves fail to keep. Jesus warned us about removing the log from our own eyes before trying to remove the splinter from the eyes of others. Duplicity undermines credibility.
The challenge of discipleship in our current country is to live a counter cultural kingdom lifestyle courageously, humbly, and persistently without having a position of authority, majority rule, or even appreciation and affirmation.
Questions for reflection
1. Which of the four Jewish expressions above do you more closely align?
2. How do you see Jesus demonstrating aspects of each one?
I think there’s a time and a place for most of the four expressions–voting, home school, becoming all things to all men that we may win some, and guarding our hearts from dangerous friendships…but we can use them all wrongly too. But I do see people who are trying to reach others lovingly and living well…not that they are approved of by everyone, but still…