Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Thursday, 09 January 2025 10:00

How much should culture influence the church?

by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

We live in a world that is constantly changing, and those changes seem to leave nothing untouched. But a reasonable person should ask the question, “How much should the church be changing? How much influence should an ever-changing culture have on the church?” There is definitely some cultural influence that makes its way into the church that is not necessarily bad.
Several years ago while on a mission trip to Rwanda, I spent the Lord’s Day worshipping our Lord in a very poor area. The only thing they were able to do in the way of musical instruments was to stretch a dried deer skin over a wooden frame and use it to keep time while they sang songs of praise. And their songs were like no other I have ever heard! They simply sang Scripture – seems like a novel idea. Their language and dialect was so wonderfully melodic; it produced an incredible sound.

When the interpreter began to relate the words to me and I recognized that it was from Scripture, I was in awe. God’s grace has certainly equipped people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation to worship Him. They had also choreographed a particular dance to go with each song allowing for complete participation of the congregation. The women dressed very modestly in dresses that covered the neck all the way down touching the floor and the movements of the congregation in dance was very modest… I don’t want you to get some weird and inappropriate depiction. They are certainly a people marked by modesty and appropriateness, unlike what we often see in the western world. In fact, I was told if I didn’t come in a suit and tie, I would not be allowed to preach. Needless to say, I had very few tears left in my eyes after that wonderful day of worship. Of course, if you do not favor the use of musical instruments or appropriate dancing in the church, you probably do not agree with my assessment, but it is a good example of how sometimes culture can influence certain elements of a worship service. At least it should stimulate a good conversation about what elements of culture should be allowed to influence the church.

However, in the church at Corinth, the influences of culture were entirely detrimental to the purposes of God. What were those influences?
Anytime you try to determine historical context with a particular portion of Scripture, you have to be very careful. Unfaithful preachers often “create” a context that will allow them to twist Scripture according to their own system of beliefs. But in the case of 1 Corinthians, the historical context is well established since much of it is recorded for us in Acts 18. Paul came into the city of Corinth by way of the city of Athens – a 50 mile journey. Paul’s success in preaching the Gospel in Athens did not go well. They were polytheists who had recently found fascination with philosophy and rhetoric. We know this because of Acts 17:18. We also know that all the Athenians were caught up in this latest cultural trend of men’s ability to expound new philosophies with impressive rhetorical skill (Acts 17:21). This latest cultural fascination had made its way into the pulpit at Corinth.

The reason you can draw this conclusion is because of three telling phrases found in 1 Corinthians 1:17, 2:1 and 2:4. Paul refers to this cultural influence as “cleverness of speech,” “superiority of speech,” and “persuasive words of wisdom,” (NASB). Because the church leaders at Corinth had allowed “pop-culture” into the church, they had effectively made preaching void of any kind of real spiritual power (1 Corinthians 1:17-18). Instead it merely sounded impressive and kept the congregation entertained. Understanding what was going on at Corinth should cause all church leaders and especially preachers to examine what goes on in the worship service very closely and ask the question, “Are we looking more like the world around us or do we look like a people who have been set apart from the world for the purpose of worship and service of our great God?” Next week, Paul will fix the pulpit at Corinth and set straight how preachers should approach the task of preaching.