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Monday
Jeremiah 29 v 4 – 7
Our reading today describes how God wanted the people of Israel to conduct themselves
in the pagan city and culture where they found themselves living. Over the next few days
we will consider how to live in the world that is.
In the history of Israel covered by the Bible, there were periods during which the
Israelites lived as believers in a pluralistic, pagan environment among people with vastly
different worldviews. For example, when they reached Canaan, they failed to drive out the
idol-worshiping people and, instead, settled in among them. Also, when Nebuchadnezzar
defeated Jerusalem, he carried most of the Israelites off to live in the city and environs of
Babylon. In both situations, believers did not live in a believing culture, where the
government, the arts, and the cultural institutions were committed to the Lord and his
Word and will. They lived in an environment where the dominant culture was pagan and
the dominant worldview dissimilar to their own.
There are many ways Christians can relate to and live in an unbelieving, dominant culture.
Timothy Keller has collected and formulated some “attitudes” which Christians very often
adopt when relating to the environment in which they live. Read them as they appear over
the next few daysand contemplate them.
(Pleasenote that the “attitudes” discussed are not perfectly distinct categories.)
Attitude 1 — Assimilating the City
Christians simply give in and adopt the pagan culture’s values and worldview.
The goal is to blend in and lose any distinct identity. Judges gives us many examples of
this. By the time of Samson (Judges 14 – 16), the Israelites were so accommodated to
Philistine culture that they were within a generation of losing all distinct identity.
Attitude 2 — Reflecting the City
Christians keep some aspects of Christian faith and practice, but they adopt the more
fundamental values and worldviews of the dominant culture. Faith is for Sunday services
and does not shape the way they actually live. Their lifestyle is fundamentally no different
from those around them. Thus they are just a subset of the dominant culture. The story of
Micah and his mother in Judges 17 – 18 is a great example.
Challenge Point: Read Judges 14 – 18 and spot the two attitudes mentioned above in these
stories.