16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our father;
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 Why, O LORD, do you make us stray from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.
18 Your holy people took possession for a little while;
but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We have long been like those whom you do not rule,
like those not called by your name.
Isaiah 63:16 NRSV
To allude to H. Richard Niebuhr, in Christ and Culture, the Christian faith can do a few things related to the way it interacts with the culture in which it is planted. We can become “counter-cultural,” and transform the culture from within, we can openly engage it with the gospel and call for its transformation, or we can be transformed by it. There are many articles appearing in various media venues that more and more Americans are saying that they “have no religion,” perhaps meaning organized religion, perhaps meaning, no religious faith. What are some of the practical things we can do to address this dynamic?
The text from Isaiah 63 portrays a profound sense of abandonment by God and an immense sense of loss due to the loss of the sanctuary in 586 BCE. Are we living in a time, where we are becoming “strangers in a strange land?” Or, are we beginning to realize that while American has had a cultural veneer of Christianity, those of us who believe really are “strangers and exiles” on their way to the New Jerusalem and the City of God, Mount Zion?
How can we connect with our culture and share the gospel message with the special cultural dynamics of our time?
Your thoughts would be appreciated.