Cult, Culture, and Christ

Artwork Credit: Society in the Park (20th century) by Wilhelm Geissler.
Via Artvee.com.

    In the Philippines, many of us grow up doing mano as a sign of respect. Here in India, I see many younger people touch the feet of older people for the same reason. Different customs, yet both hold the same value. We learn them as early as toddlers until they feel natural to us growing unto adulthood.

    That is often how culture works. It passes through family life, common gestures and speech, shared expectations. Because of that, we receive its claims without ever weighing them, until they start to secretly teach us what to praise, what not to question. 

    When we hear of cults, we often think of false teachers controlling their pack, and doctrines that isolate people from reality. Culture does not appear in that form, because it lives so much closer to us, lurking in homes, churches, neighborhoods, customs, and ordinary relationships. Cultures are undoubtedly embraced. They dictate us what is proper, what is shameful, who deserves honor, and who must keep his place. Tragically, however, once they take on moral force, they become very close to the power a cult.

    I am not suggesting that all cultures are harmful. I even consider some to be very good. However, if we do not question them, they may take on another form altogether, and from where error may start to intensify.

    A cult is not only known by what it teaches but by how it keeps its people from asking questions.  Culture may do the same. It may shame and punish those who ask and resist, and honor the one who conforms. Over time, the fear of dishonor grows stronger than the desire to be right.

    Even among believers, the traditions we have received can slowly take the place of truth, never necessarily because they are wrong in themselves, but because we never examine them in light of Scripture. They become familiar to us, and for that reason alone, we trust them. However, Scripture calls us to test all things (1 Thess. 5:21), to search the Word (Acts 17:11), to examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5), and to hold fast what is good (Rom. 12:9).

    Our Lord exposed this danger in His own day. He revealed them when they became a burden to the people (Matt. 23:4).

    Culture tells us this is how things are. A cult insists this is how things must be. There seems to be a very strong contrast, but when our hearts become used to following without discerning, the distance between the two becomes very slim.

    This is why the renewing of the mind matters so much. Paul calls us away from the pattern of this world and toward the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2). Scripture stands over culture as its lamp and its measure. And Christ Himself gives us the clearest standard. He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7). He came to serve rather than to be served (Matt. 20:28). He rebuked those who prized outward religion while they neglected justice, love, mercy, and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23-28). He did not bow to social expectation when social expectation stood against the will of His Father.

    Culture often holds tightly to what has been passed down, and so it finds comfort in repetition. Christ, however, does not require that something be long practiced before it is called good. Culture may prefer agreement for the sake of peace, but Christ calls for truth, even when it divides. What culture hesitates to expose, Christ brings into the light. He never came to preserve what has always been done, but to do the will of the Father.

    When we allow culture to take the seat of conscience, it becomes our standard. This makes it hard to admit fault and hard to allow questions or changes. However, Christ does not call us to defend what is unexamined; He calls us to follow Him. And following Him will always lead us beyond what is merely cultural.

    If what we preserve causes others fear, and if what we uphold makes it harder to approach Christ Himself, then, regardless of how long it has been practiced, it must be laid aside. This should lead us to examine how our gatherings and communities respond to tension. Can someone disagree and still be heard? Can a person step away from a tradition and still stay in fellowship? Can a woman raise a sincere question and still be treated nicely? If such things are no longer possible, then it may be that culture has assumed authority where only Christ is meant to rule.

    We are not exempt from the risk. Our thinking, our speech, our habits, and our ways of doing things may grow rigid over time. And what may have first appeared as our personal conviction may become an expectation imposed on others, even when God has not commanded it.

    It is not the cult alone that leads people into error. A culture that has never looked into the mirror of the Word may do the same thing.

    I write these because such things happen in real homes, among people who once trusted what they were taught. There are people and questions unheard and unanswered, which I consider burdens that come from cultural patterns that no one is allowed to question. This will not correct itself unless it is named, and unless those who see it begin to speak against it.

    Let us be slower to defend what has never been tested. Let us ask, with sincere hearts, whether Christ is truly at the center, or whether something else has been set in His place. If He is not the center, then whatever we preserve will not sanctify us; it will only bind us. This is not only a concern for those inside the church, but also for those outside who have long searched for truth and have found only walls built from tradition and fear. 

    Systems that refuse to be questioned cannot bring life. They only protect themselves. And whatever protects itself by avoiding the truth is not rooted in Christ. For He does not need to be sheltered from truthful questions, nor does He silence those who seek Him sincerely. If we cannot say that our customs draw people closer to His voice, then we ought not to treat them as sacred. And if what we defend cannot stand beside His words, then it is not Him we are defending. It is time to be honest about what we have allowed to take His name.