Stranger in a Strange Land

By Dr. Gene Edward Veith

"I have been a stranger in a strange land" (Ex. 2:22, KJV). So said Moses. Even though he was raised in Pharoah’s court as the son of Pharoah’s daughter, Moses never felt at home in Egypt.

Christians often feel that way too. The society we live in is "strange," bizarre, off, not as it should be and we feel like "strangers" in it, not fitting in, to the point that strange people find us strange.

Our social scene takes for granted sexual promiscuity, while Christians are called to chastity. In the midst of a pro-abortion, pro-genetic engineering, crueltyloving "culture of death," Christians are called to uphold life. In a materialistic, greedy, status-hungry world, Christians are charged to lay up treasures in heaven.

Someone has observed that if an alien from outer space were to study our world based on our TV shows, movies, music, and other cultural artifacts, they would get the impression that these people have no religious beliefs at all and that churches do not exist, and yet here we are.

Other Scriptures tell us that God loves the world, that He created and sustains all things. "Nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving," we are told, "For everything created by God is good" (1 Tim. 4:4). We are told that even nonbelievers have the Law of God inscribed on their hearts and that God works through secular institutions (Rom. 2:14-15; 13).

So which is it? Should Christians scorn the society around them—not associating with non-Christians, not learning about secular subjects, refusing to watch TV, refusing to listen to music unless it has Christian words—since it is all a mass of sin? Or should Christians Should Christians scorn the society around them— not associating with non - Christians, not learning about secular subjects, refusing to watch TV, refusing to listen to music unless it has Christian words—since it is all a mass of sin? conform to society so as to be popular, relevant, and comfortable? The answer, of course, is more complicated than either of those alternatives. Jesus Himself tells us that we are to be "in the world" without being "of the world" (John 17:14-18). In other words, we are to be strangers in a strange land.

Different religions have different theologies of culture which determine how their followers relate to the society as a whole. Liberal theology teaches that the church should just let the culture take the lead. Many Protestant denominations and churchgrowth evangelicals fit this pattern. When the culture changes, according to this way of thinking, Christianity should change accordingly. In an age of reason Christianity should jettison its supernatural doctrines; in an age of emotion, Christianity should become emotional. If extramarital sex and homosexuality become accepted by the culture, then the church needs to accept them too. Fans of pop culture get pop Christianity, organized around the values of entertainment, commercialism, and feel-good talk. Another option is for the church to lead the culture. The medieval papacy, the theonomist strain of Calvinism, and many political activists from both the Christian right and the Christian left agree that the purpose of Christianity is to rule the world. If the church could take over and impose the values of Christianity—whether construed as Biblical Law or the peace and love of the Sermon on the Mount—society would have no more problems; as if it were possible for us Christians to keep God’s Law, much less impose it on non-believers.

Another option is for the church and the culture to have nothing to do with each other. This is separatism—which can be seen in monasticism, Anabaptists such as Mennonites, the Amish, and Fundamentalists. Under this view, Christians do not associate with non-Christians, refuse to study subjects that are "secular," and do not listen to music unless it has Christian words.

Each of these positions has real problems from a Scriptural point of view. The Lutheran theology of culture, though, accounts for the whole range of Biblical teaching and shows how Christians can be "in the world" without being "of the world." The Lutheran doctrine of the Two Kingdoms teaches that God is King of both the spiritual realm (as known in the church) and the secular realm (as known in the culture). But He acts in them in different ways. In the church, He works through His Word and Sacraments—given through the vocation of the pastor—and He rules in people’s hearts by means of the Gospel. In the world, He works through His sustaining power and the natural laws He built into creation. He also works through "secular" vocations—families, the workplace, governments—to care for His creatures. This realm is ruled through the moral law (the first use, to restrain evil).

Christians are citizens of both kingdoms. As members of Christ’s church, we live a supernatural life in the freedom of the Gospel, plus we will live forever in our true home after this world passes away. But we are also members of our societies, called to be actively engaged in our cultures and to love and serve our neighbors in our vocations. A Christian, then, is free to enjoy the secular culture. Music, science, art, sports, politics do not have to be Christianized.

Even in all of their secularity, they are already God’s. And yet they remain under the moral law, so Christians will always have to battle the sin that is in the world. At the same time, a Christian is free from the pressure to conform to the world, knowing that his or her true identity is sealed with Christ in baptism, and that through Word and Sacrament we are being prepared for the fullness of life and community that we will only know after our resurrection. In the meantime, we can appreciate the marvelous strangeness of our world, as well as our own strangeness and the strangeness of others, as we are passing through.

Dr. Gene Edward Veith is the Executive Director of the Cranach Institute located at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana and is the Culture Editor of WORLD magazine.