Christ and Culture

Today I was reminded of a class I had at APU. In this class we read Christ and Culture by Niebuhr. This book goes through many different ways to view culture and engage with it. In another post I will go through these varying ways to think about culture, but today I want to focus on the view of Christ against Culture.

One thing I picked up in youth ministry is that I need to be a student of culture and know what is going on for the youth, families, parents, and children. To do this I will talk with parents and kids, ask questions, watch media, and read about things that are impacting these groups online. Today I looked into what youth workers were saying about culture. I was a little shocked with what I saw.

I went on to a youth ministry site (youth specialties I believe) and started reading some posts about what is going on in culture. I quickly noticed a theme. They were constantly condemning, complaining, and chastising. Everything was an outrage. Everything was too sexual. Everything demanded a talk with "your" students in the youth group.

Yes, I would agree that there are issues out there right now. Many that the teens that youth workers engage with on a daily basis are facing; from cheating, sexting, to music lyrics, and movie messages. If that is all we focus on this generation we are just creating an us v.s. them. Instead, I think all of us need to be asking the questions of why are these things important to teens. Why are these becoming their values? Address the deeper issues instead of the surface symptoms. Now the problem here is that we have to get to know the teens better and actually practice this thing called relational ministry. It takes more time, energy, and effort, but can actually change students lives. One condemning group talk is going to achieve nothing. Instead we must get involved and change the culture.

How do we do that? That will have to wait for another part 2 :)