We have begun an elective class entitled “This Cultural Moment” on Sunday mornings with two goals:

1. To understand the culture in which we live.

2. To explore how we live faithfully as Christians in our world today.

One of the foundational concepts we need to establish is a definition of “culture”. What does this word mean and why is it important? Understanding culture requires that we know what culture is and how it is formed.

On Sunday, January 19, we explored this question during our elective class. Pastor Brent proposed a definition of “culture” that is based on the work of sociologist Philip Rieff.

Rieff defines culture as: the translation of sacred order into social order.

Let’s break this down:

1. Sacred Order = eternal realities, divine truths, and the design for creation. Sacred Order is unchanging and universal. It is determined by God and his purposes.

2. Social Order = the structures and expressions of human society. Social Order changes based on the time, place, and people group. It is the human institutions, governments, ideas, ethics, arts, and interactions that make up a society.

3. Translation = (this is where it all comes together) human beings make “culture” when they translate the eternal sacred realities into temporal human structures and ideas. Translating requires that we come to know the revealed truth of God and his design for his creation, then contextualize these truths into our time, place, and people group.

One example is the justice system. The system of courts and judges is based on a larger reality of “justice” and “truth” that is rooted in the character and nature of God. We have taken these grander realities and designed a process of executing justice in our society that is fair and truthful (ideally). The rules in place and the expectations of the justice system reflect the Sacred Order from which it is translated. Every human society has a concept of fairness and truthfulness. These social realities have consistency across different societies because of the enduring sacred reality of justice.

But here’s the catch: Philip Rieff says that the modern western world is attempting to do Social Order without Sacred Order. Our culture is trying to eliminate the notion of eternal and unchanging truths, thus cutting God out of the equation. The world around us is building a case for what it means to be human, what justice is, how to express sexuality and gender, and how to have purpose and meaning by ONLY using human ideas.

Philip Rieff says that this kind of effort is an “anti-culture” and is unmoored from any anchor point to guide social interactions. Truth is now relative, right/wrong are re-definable, and the highest good comes from what “feels right.” Philip Rieff’s prognosis for this kind of culture is pretty bad: he calls it a “deathworks.” A culture without an anchor in the eternal realities that God designed will inevitably implode.

Join us for more discussion on this topic at our next session of “This Cultural Moment” on Sunday, February 2, immediately following our regular worship service.

*Material adapted from Philip Rieff’s books Triumph of the Therapeutic and My Life Among the Deathworks.