Christ and Culture Revisited, ch. 5

I both appreciated and was frustrated by this chapter. Carson does an exhaustive and incredible job of helping a Christian understand the relationship between Church and State. I found this to be immensely helpful in many regards. Where I was frustrated is that he delegates our discussion of "Christ and Culture" to "Church and State" as if the two are the same. He does so by claiming that, when most people are talking "Christ and Culture" they really mean "Church and State". That is not what I mean at all. I want a more comprehensive view which treats art, sports, language, values, media, etc. Government and law is certainly part of culture (arguably the most important expression of culture), but is by no means the whole. It felt a bit like I was being told to get dressed, and then handed only a pair of sox and shoes.

I did have some helpful takeaways. He seems to emphasize the difference between a Christian's activity in government and "the Church as church". I thought this was helpful, although, I would have appreciated him unpacking this a bit more. Perhaps this is where chapter six will head. It seems we can rely on the church to do sacraments, teach the Word, evangelize, equip, pray, disciple and have offices (pastor, elder, deacon) and hold people accountable for their adherence to these. Christians are to have a voice in culture (including government), be distinctively Christian in culture, and active in culture (he indicates starting non-profits, caring for the poor and the hurting as well as serving).

One takeaway that I had was, when thinking of government in America, we must not think "us" vs. "them" because we are them and must participate and have a voice at every level of government that we can. Yet, our voice and participation is always done under the Lordship of Christ. We must also maintain that our voice/participation be distinctively Christian otherwise we promote a climate in which the Christian voice/participation is not allowed.