Saved From The World And For The World

As we think about culture, we will realize that in the Christian worldview were not just to save from the world.

The world was saved for the world. This is family policymakers with NC family Pres. John Weston thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters today were going to discuss a wonderful new book that is full of practical insights for parents, teachers, and anyone who desires to help young people successfully navigate today's complex culture while staying focused on those things that are truly important and that really have any eternal significance. Our guest today is Brett Kunkel who is the co-author along with chuckles and centers John Stonestreet of a new book entitled a practical guide to culture, hoping the next generation navigate today's world, Brett Kunkel. Welcome to family policy magistrate had known the show had love talk about the thing so it is a privilege to be on family policy matters. As we begin our conversation. Let's start come from a big picture perspective. How do you define culture in this book and how does culture relate to individuals and the communities in which they live. Yeah, this is a very important question actually how we begin the book because it's essential to define culture know what were talking about a printed develop the kind of discernment. We need to help our kids navigate this culture. I think often times Christians reduce culture to all the bad stuff is kind of out out there right but we would want to say that the culture consist of more than all the bad stuff out there such as all the bad stuff of pop culture all the bad ideas because on that view. Think about what her posture is going to be if that's our view of culture really constantly be against anything and everything in the culture. But this view fails to recognize that where the weight we find culture where ever we find human beings so you can't just reduce it all the stuff that's out there.

Culture is simply what human beings make of the world. So this includes all of our ideas. It includes our institutions includes habits includes structures includes all those things that we embrace to live life together and so there are very good aspects of culture.

There are very bad aspects of culture but where to find culture wherever we find human beings and so I think as we think about culture, we will realize that in the Christian worldview were not just saved from the world but were also saved for the world and so that that gives a completely different perspective on on culture certainly does not know that you write that many Christians today are reactionary, often overreacting to things in the culture and often times people also under react to things that really are important. How can we help young people maintain a balance in their lives in be intentional about working to positively shape the culture rather than having the culture shaped them. Whether the number of things to say here. I think one of things we gotta do to help our young people not beset by culture is to realize that culture is undergirded by a worldview rights of the underneath culture. There are ideas that shape how we build culture and so that will underline worldview is can express itself in different institutions in different cultural patterns in in in different ideas.

So one of the things that we can do is help our young people develop a worldview that takes into account all of the things that that ground them that they actually take to be true, and so will we help them develop a a Christian worldview that accounts for all of reality.

That's one way develop will be equipped to navigate the culture because then it is courses which we step back hearing and realize the Christian worldview is is the true worldview is just one of many options we are saying the Christian worldview is actually true. Objectively true, actually true. Whether you believe it or not there, therefore this worldview is a source of knowledge about reality and I think that's one thing we gotta do what we talk to our kids about these kind of things is that we needed. We need to talk about in these kinds of ways. We need to use cognitive language at what I mean by that is we need to talk about the rationality of the Christian faith. We need to talk about the evidence of the Christian faith.

We need to help them connect the Christian worldview in the Christian faith with the different things that they're studying. Day in and day out there studying all these different areas of knowledge and often for many of them because they had. They don't have a good Christian worldview Christianity. Their fate is compartmentalized. It's cut off from all of these other areas, and so then what happens is we of course we all intend this but what'll happen is that then Christianity simply becomes irrelevant to much of life for these young people so I think one of the things we start with is a vet helping them develop a worldview that they understand to be true and that makes sense and touches every single area of life. Christianity had something to say to every one of these important aspects of life. So troops I know in the book that you talk about a new sort of theology seems to have sprung up as of late, called moralistic therapeutic deism.

What is moralistic therapeutic deism, and what role does it play in understanding the current cultural crisis that were we seem to be in the August term of this phrase comes from a sociologist and Christian Smith and that he released his book is finding in a book called soul-searching that had to do with religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers and what he basically said after doing his research on American teenagers. He said we can describe their basic needs and this was across the board so it didn't matter whether they were Christian or Roman Catholic or a Jewish kid or Muslim or secular kid, basically across the board. There was this view that he termed moralistic therapeutic deism.

This is how they describe and understand religion, spirituality, and here's what gotta boil down to release teenagers faith was about being nice. It was about being happy and that God was there. He existed in Ezio is a nice guy but he is there to make you happy and to help you when you need him so essentially, students are are kind of the you know they believe the gods real, but you visit the world when you know how to serve their agenda and in he's there to come to help make a euro make him good about themselves along the way, help get out from anything, but there is no real clear connection between this God and the rest of life. In fact what the researcher said in that book is they said that God religion faith really operated in the background of every day living by. So there's this you know it's against that religion compartment is in the background of life and when I need it.

You know I go to church on Sunday were quite do my quiet times are upon you in Sunday school or youth group will I bring that compartment out and I can open up that box and then it's relevant, but really for the rest of life.

I just cut it back in it in the background of life and just take out the next Sunday when I need it. We have a whole generation who this is their dominant view about God and faith in religion was listening to policy matters of resource to listen to our radio show online enter more resources that will be a voice of persuasion in US community website and see family.org. You also at one point in the book argue that the old heresy of Gnosticism has reappeared today are particularly when it comes to jobs in ministry. Talk about that for a minute if you would likely look at the offices of tenant throughout the history of the church, takes reality and divided the two parts. You got the physical, which is evil in the spiritual which is good, and so therefore you're supposed drive for the spiritual things what we might call the sacred and you will avoid as much is possible that which is physical or what we might call secular. The way this plays out a little bit in in our culture are setting in the church. Is that what we do is will elevate some jobs as ministry, while other jobs are not there. For example, let's say you're a student wants to be a youth pastor or pastor or they want to go into ministry or foreign missionary missions on the pastoral duties. These are considered full-time Christian service and you know what everyone else the nurse, the doctor, the lawyer, the businessman welder you will get stuck.

Secular work, you know, at that if you were at best way to make money to support the people who are in ministry or to support the local church all in those kind of things and and so that's kind of how I think this is an plays out in our churches and our people will we look at the Bible. The Bible describes it will be very differently. The world is both physical and spiritual in both are good because they been created by God right and so you don't have this this division between the physical, which is bad in the spiritual which is good, but the division is between the really the biblical worldview of the division between the cratering to create the created guidance of the creator is good when you initially create create everything that's good and it's true the fall we we have a a corruption of that good creation.

But still, even with in that that corrupted a fallen creation there still gotta still proclaiming his his existence is his goodness and kindness your human activity should all of it should be seen as God's work. So if you're a businessman or businesswoman that you when you have a Christian will view this, you understand that the activity itself. The enterprise itself is busy. It relates to Christianity and it's not that well you just beginning a week. You start with prayer or something like that but it's that the enterprise of business itself can relate to Christianity forever. Shoemakers with practical, for instance, we know that we are called in this world as followers of Jesus Christ to be servants business is a great opportunity to let that play out right. We as business owners.

We have customers we need to look at them as people that we serve and we serve them with goods or services, and we meet people's needs, and we care about the customer because they are made in the image of God and what we want to meet their their physical needs, and ultimately the spiritual needs, but we have a Christian view of business and it's not just simply the secular enterprise while on the one area that can often be a challenge for not only young people but also adult is that of technology. Now you dedicate an entire chapter of the book. A practical guide to culture on technology and one thing that really struck me was the fact that many young people today have never known a quiet world. In other words, there often unfamiliar and uncomfortable with just simply being silent. Silence is very rare in our culture wanted to point out what you think about a significant way we dress us in part to the event beginning the bouquet I will use an analogy I can. I live in Southern California on the server and when I go out to my local search break. I gotta navigate the waves right but I also have to be aware what's going on underneath the surface there are powerful recurrent that can drag you out the cute little boy into dangerous places, and so I have to wait out the undercurrent that are not as easily detectable and that sometimes you're not even aware of them until it's too late and you find yourself in trouble and so I think technology is the kind of thing that we we really have to be careful of the qualities undercurrent that is not quite as visible give you an example.

I was recently with my 4 x 4 kids were still at home. We I took him out of frozen yogurt at a local place and we're sitting there enjoying our yoga together and there was a mom and daughter walked in after they got there yogurt when they play with that down right next to us as soon as I sat down I noticed that the mom is that which soon as she set she had been wanting a ship frozen yogurt. Then in her other hand she immediately pulled out her smartphone and her daughter was probably 556 years old, and the entire time. Mom was looking at the smartphone and the daughter was cut a look at mom looking around eating her frozen yogurt but they were absolutely silent. There was not a single word exchange between them and it really is that there's a book by Sherry Terkel called alone together addresses this issue, technology, and I thought that seeing in that little yogurt store captured by a mom and a daughter who were alone together and this is a huge concern because of the one anything about a cup. In one another. It harms our relationships and our our our connection with each other. So this is something that we have to think very carefully about whether that's a great place for us to end our discussion today and we are out of town but I want to thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters for sharing your valuable insights with us and I was thinking for maternity on listening family policy matters a production of NZ family to listen to our radio show online, and for more valuable resources and information about issues important to families in North Carolina go to my website and see family.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook