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The Christian and Culture: Is All Culture Equally Healthy?

The Christian and Culture: Is All Culture Equally Healthy?

It is the Christmas season, and as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, God’s only Son, sent to save the world from sin, consider what that means. It means that Jesus came to win our hearts and minds back to trust, so that we will leave behind everything of this world that is out of harmony with heaven and trust Him and follow Him into a kingdom of love, truth, and eternal freedom.

The kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world are not the same. I am passionate about calling people out of the systems of this world and into God’s kingdom of love. Unfortunately, sometimes what I say is misunderstood. I recently received a letter (yes, an actual pen-and-paper letter), airmailed from the United Kingdom, expressing concern over some things I said during Come and Reason’s Bible study covering lesson nine of the fourth quarter 2020, entitled “The Church and Education.” The letter was sent anonymously with no return address, so I am unable to respond directly to whomever sent it. Therefore, I will respond here in hopes that the writer sees it and to clear up any misunderstanding.

From the letter:

We here in the U.K. have been watching your programme for some time now and we found it interesting and informative. The programme on education and the church we find very discouraging, shocking and hurtful for the following reasons: Jesus never taught Racial or National superiority, you are teaching that America as a white protestant nation, culture and civilization is SUPERIOR to all others. Jesus did not teach this neither did He encourage His disciples to do so.

Jesus never went around Palestine destroying non-Jewish culture and civilization…

The letter then details a long list of offenses of the USA; for instance, being number one in abortion; rape and abuse of children; gun crimes and homicide; drug abuse; number one spreader of COVID 19; and number one for false religion. The letter then goes on:

America is like its mother the Roman empire Vampire that went round the world in ancient times raping, pillaging, and murdering the native people for their land and resources, America like its mother is a PARASITE civilization and culture.

The forefathers who left here in the U.K. to America and to the rest of the world were fleeing religious persecution and yet they did the same thing to Black and Brown people all over the world… We implore you to stop teaching American nationalism, culture and white Protestant superiority. We here in the U.K. for the time being will no longer watch your programme or support your ministry.

I can’t tell you the sadness I felt reading this. Again, click here to find the lesson that this person is referencing, so you can listen to the lesson or read the notes. And below is the text of my prepared notes for the lesson. Before I respond to this person’s concerns, I want you to read the notes or listen to what I said. Then consider the concerns of this very hurt individual.

My notes from lesson 9:

From the bottom pink section, “What prejudices does your culture and society teach, either subtly or openly, that as a Christian, you must rise above?”

Do you believe it is righteous or unrighteous to seek to destroy another people’s culture?

And let’s define what I mean by culture – I am not talking about a culture of microorganisms in a lab, nor am I talking about manners or politeness, I am talking about:

a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period – the African culture, the American Indian culture, the Greek culture etc.

So, with that in mind, is it righteous or unrighteous to seek to destroy another people’s culture?

In our society today, would progressivism and leftism, want to destroy other cultures, or would progressivism want to validate all cultures and not eradicate other cultures?

When Jesus said to His followers,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” Matthew 28:18-20 NIV84,

was He instructing them to go out and eradicate paganism and all cultures based on false views about Him, to eradicate cultures based on the principles of this world, to establish a culture based on love for God and love for others, on truth, love and liberty?

So if we follow Jesus’ command will we seek to convert people to Christ? And will converting people to Christ simultaneously be destroying the following cultures?

So, can Christianity, if it fulfills the gospel commission to make people disciples of Jesus, really support the idea of protecting other culture?

Do you see why progressivism, leftism, which believes all cultures are equal and should be protected, works to obstruct via laws, via social pressure etc. the sharing of the gospel? It becomes illegal to try to convert people to Christ. Books like The Great Controversy, which exposes the abuses of the Roman church through history, are labelled as hate speech.

The principles of God are truth presented in love while leaving others free. If you have truth on your side, then you have nothing to fear by open speech, ideas being investigated, evidence being presented. But, if you have lies, then once your lies have been accepted you don’t want people investigating, you want to silence any voices that bring truth, because the truth will expose the lies.

So, do we agree that presenting the truth about Jesus will destroy the cultures based on Satan’s lies (2Cor 10:3-5)?

And do we agree that doing so by converting people is a good thing?

What about destroying other cultures through military might, by killing those who won’t join us – is this a good or bad thing for the world?

As Christians, we cannot advocate the methods of might and killing to advance our cause, but does that set us up to draw false conclusions about the results of those who do or have done so in the past?

For instance, there is an idea being propagated in our society today that America is evil because it was founded by war against the Native Americans and essentially wiped them out and destroyed their culture and this is bad. What do you think?

Would the world be better off if Cortez and the Spanish did not go to war with the Aztecs and destroy the Aztec culture? Would the world be better off if the Aztec culture continued in Mexico and we have ongoing human sacrifice and cannibalism practiced south of the US border?

Or are the people who have lived, since the Aztec culture was destroyed, better off without human sacrifice and cannibalism?

So, is the idea being pushed today, that all culture is equally valuable, healthy, good and all culture should be respected and protected, true? No, it is a lie and Christians should have the ability to discern the truth from lies and not buy into the leftism and collude with those who want to stop the gospel from going forward.

So, back to the question in the lesson, what prejudices does our culture or society teach that we must rise above?

Would it be movements that oppose Christianity – any movements that promote godlessness, would that include evolutionism? Humanism? Secularism? Leftism?

What saddened me about the letter is that the person who wrote it completely misrepresented what I was saying. Let’s break down the false conclusions:

  • The person alleges that I teach racial, national, and white superiority. This is false. You will not find this idea in my lesson or in any of my teachings. You will find the opposite, that I teach that in Christ there “is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NIV84), that racial differences are irrelevant and what matters is character. Sadly, this person’s letter reveals what he thought I was teaching, not what I actually teach.  
  • The person alleges that I teach that America, as white Protestant, is superior to all other cultures. This is false. I teach that Christianity – as Jesus taught and revealed it, as God designed for human beings to live with love for God and others, where every person is renewed in heart to be fully trustworthy, where God’s laws are written on the hearts of every citizen and people have genuine freedom – is a culture that is superior to every other.

Thus, I am not “defending” the USA. I have said over and over again that all human governments are described in Scripture as beasts and use the beastly methods of coercion to force their way. This includes the USA.

What I believe and teach is beautifully described in this quotation from the book Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 386:

No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan’s circle the poor souls who have been deluded by his deceptions. It places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise.

“In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. All are brought nigh by His precious blood.” (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:13.)

So we want to take forward the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of equality of all people as children of God, the message of love, which demolishes every wall of separation, including cultural walls that teach racial or national superiority, and all culture that promotes caste division, falsehoods about God, or any other culture built upon lies that enslave the minds of God’s children.

But “though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NIV84)

Yes, we are in a war, a war between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, and we are to demolish everything that interferes with the kingdom of God. But the weapons we use are not worldly. We do not use the weapons of physical might and force, but the weapons of truth, love, and freedom. We convert; we do not coerce. The beastly governments of the earth coerce. So we actively seek to advance the kingdom of love and truth which will demolish culture that values:

  • Entertainment and pleasure over achievement.
  • Physical appearance over character.
  • Immediate reward over delayed gratification.
  • Survival-of-the-fittest as a principle of living.
  • Demeaning and exploitation of one segment of society (sex, race, religion etc.)
  • Belief without reason.
  • Rules over principles.
  • Punishment rather than protection and discipline.
  • Lies rather than truth.

But as we advance God’s kingdom with truth and love, as we convert people, they will truly be changed – lies will be replaced by truth, fear with confidence, selfishness with love, superstitions with reality-based understanding. People will leave behind all culture that is out of harmony with God’s kingdom and enter into the only culture that matters: the culture of heaven.

So, writer from the U.K., I hope you will see this blog, reexamine what I have said, reconsider your concerns, as they are not representative of this ministry nor what I teach, and then join us in taking the gospel of Jesus to the world.

 

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Thank you and may God continue to bless you as you share with others the intricacies of how we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made”. I must share that you have opened a whole new world to me, and I have found tremendous healing through what you have shared in two of your books, “Could It Be This Simple?” and “The God Shaped Brain.” I praise God for what you shared, what I have learned, and how I have grown and healed! My prayer is that My Precious Jesus will be seen by others in the way I live, act, talk, etc. and they may be encouraged to know He is truly a GREAT God of LOVE, desiring that no one should perish! God Bless you in your continued endeavors to present Him as He really is!

Joleen H. GA, USA

 

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I was introduced to Come and Reason Ministries by accident, via a passing comment made in a bible study class we were visiting. I checked this website out and my life was changed. The understanding of the truth of God’s character, and how we apply it, is so right. The tricky part is consistently applying which “lens” to look through. As I began to understand, I started sharing the basics of this understanding with a discussion group I was leading and, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense that never used to. At the same time, I enjoyed an amazing opportunity. I was able to conduct a full bible study at WORK! What an amazing experience! It is such a joy to share the truth about God and to share how it all fits in the war between God and Satan. So many people benefit when we have a correct understanding about how God works and who He really is! Thank you for this transformational understanding. Keep up the good work! God Bless you!

Tony P., CA, USA

 

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J.B. ,Dalles, OR, USA

 

Testimony 60

Just watched watched lesson 10 in the 1st quarter 2021 bible study classs on Isaiah. I want to thank you for your intellectual spirituality; it’s not an oxymoron! From the point of view of a teacher I also enjoy seeing how much personal pleasure you clearly take in not just tasting, but feasting on God’s word – it reminds me of Jeremiah not being able to hold it in! It makes me smile that your cup is so full and overflowing that you make it to Tuesday’s lesson (on a good day). It just goes to show the richness of God’s Word.

God bless the Come and Reason Team from our church here in Great Britain.

Andrew H., Great Britain

 

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I’ve been very blessed by “The God Shaped Brain” and this ministry, through video and podcast, over the last few years. It’s truly opened up my eyes more to the truth about God and the importance of that truth in the present world. The message is so inviting, freeing and enlightening and MORE people need to know about it. I believe it is the last message that can truly, not only prepare a people for salvation and translation, but vindicate the character of God.

Michael V., Yonkers, NY, USA

 

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I’m a youth leader in South Africa. We as a youth group are currently using a lot of the material on the Come and Reason site. Since we’ve started using the material, our youth group has grown.

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It was very touching to hear the testimony of your class share how viewing God’s true character has changed their lives. My feelings are the same – there is so much freedom in knowing that God LOVES me – regardless of my… just, REGARDLESS! I’m still blown away by the true gospel, the fact that God is not ready to strike us when we fail. He is not arbitrary. He simply loves us and warns of the natural consequences because He can’t stand to see us suffer. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS GOD!!!

Ceil V.,  UT, USA

 

Testimony 61

I grew up in a prominent protestant church and had what I like to call religious anxiety. I’ve always had questions about God and Salvation that no one could seem to answer.  I didn’t know how to find resolution. During 2020, at the height of my anxiety, I fell to my knees and begged God to show me truth and light and to give me the hope that I’ve been longing for. Days later, I stumbled upon your online videos and it was like a veil was lifted and EVERYTHING made sense! For the first time in my almost 39 years of life, my religious/spiritual anxiety has lessened. I feel a sense of freedom and peace I’ve NEVER had before… and it’s all because my view of God has changed. Thank you!

Ashleighn C.

 

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The blessings of clarity and understanding you and your class inspire me to take from the word of God have impressed upon me so greatly the true, loving character of our Creator. I have found amazing freedom and joy through building a stronger, more intentional relationship with Him. What is new is that this is now a relationship built on love, reverence and respect rather than fear and obligation, and as such my eyes have been slammed OPEN as I am continually impressed by the manifestations of God’s true character in His provisions for fallen man.

T.E.H., Salt Lake City, UT, USA

 

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The message [of Come And Reason Ministries is] for all Christians (and those who may become Christians) and not just Adventists or any other group. It is difficult to imagine why any [anyone] with intellectual and spiritual honesty could find fault with the way you explained the healing substitution concepts and the truth about God’s character, though I know some will reject and criticize. On behalf of those in our group near Tacoma, WA, thank you and your staff for all of the hard work and for sharing the Gospel in this manner. God’s message of healing love will be carried to the whole world and then Jesus will come – He promised it.

Terry U., Tacoma, WA, USA

 

Testimony 30

God lead me to your book “The God-Shaped Brain” while I was searching for another book about the brain and then to your interview about your book on HeartWise Ministries [where] I found out about [Come And Reason Ministries]. I’m now devouring the webcasts of your Bible studies. I have been so greatly blessed and I thank God so much for your courage to speak the Truth in love no matter what. Listening to you contrast the two opposing systems (laws) and digging deep to unearth the hidden treasures in the Bible makes me so incredibly happy and I feel very blessed to be part of your Bible Study Group although I live far away. I am just so excited that there is a group of people that is spreading the Truth about the character of God and it saddens me how few realize what our Father in Heaven is really like.

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M.T., USA

 

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K.C., OH, USA