The Danger of Cultural Christianity.

The Danger of Cultural Christianity
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

Some years back, I was listening to a radio talk-show host. He got an interesting call from a listener. For simplicity’s sake, we will refer to the two people as Host and Caller. To give you some background, the Host claimed to be a Christian. I don’t say it that way to suggest he was not. He certainly could have been. I only say that to provide perspective for the conversation and for our discussion on this topic. It is also germane to this discussion to include a very important personal aspect of the Host because this information is important to seeing the reason for the call he took in the first place.

The Host absolutely idolized his grandfather. He talked about him all the time. You would not have to listen long to the Host before hearing the love and admiration he had for his grandfather. And one of the things the host would talk about in this vein was his grandfathers’ love, wit, intellect, steadfastness, kindness…which he would attribute to hos grandfather’s faith. The Host would not hesitate to mention that his grandfather was a Christian and that this faith played a huge role in his life. Again, I mention this only to provide context for the call he took related to this subject.

The Caller, who was obviously and older gentleman, happened to be a longtime friend of the Host’s grandfather. He had know him for years. And after hearing the Host refer to his grandfathers’ faith, called in to ask the Host an interesting question. Apparently the Caller knew of the grandfather’s journey of faith and how he came to know the Lord. So, he wanted to know if the Host knew that story. This is the question he asked: “Do you know when your grandfather became a Christian?” Without so much as a hesitation…without even taking a moment to ponder the question…the host replied: “From birth. He was born a Christian.” The silence from the Caller was palpable. But, being a polite caller…he let that statement pass without asking for any clarity or expressing any incredulity.

Now, assuming this was not a misstatement or some kind of euphemism, I can say this without hesitation. His grandfather was not born a Christian. I know that because the Scripture tells us that no one is born a Christian. Christians are not born. They are born again. The Host probably meant that his grandfather was born into a “Christian” family (however that may be defined) that held to a Judeo-Christian worldview in middle America. All of those things do not make us a Christian. What it does do is expose us to the idea of Christianity and that is the point of this conversation we are having.

There 315,000 Protestant churches in this country. The US has the largest Christian population in the world. More than 20 million Bibles are sold in the US every year. Another 115,000 Bibles are given away in this nation every day. God’s name is on our currency. The 10 Commandments are displayed in a multitude of places around the country. It is not hyperbole to say that the average person living in this nation has had the most exposure and access to Christianity than any nation that has ever existed. There are Christian tv stations, Christian songs, Christian movies, Christian novels, Christian cartoons, Christian videos all over YouTube. The average household in this nation owns 4.3 Bibles. I’m still trying to figure out what .3 of a Bible is. Christian/Biblical themes influenced the Founding Fathers and the founding documents. People in this nation have been extremely exposed to Christianity in a way that is unsurpassed by any other nation in history. And don’t get me wrong…that is not a bad thing. But (you knew there was a “but” coming) there is always a second side to a coin.

What that unparalleled exposure has led to, many times, is this idea that just because we “know” the idea of Christianity…live in a country that has been called (dubiously I add) a “Christian nation”, that we are in fact, a Christian. The term often used to describe this phenomenon is referred to as “Cultural Christianity”. In other words, because we may have a rudimentary understanding of some of the basics of Christian tenets and because we were born in this Christian culture and because of course we believe in God and Jesus and know something of the Crucifixion and go to church every now and then and are really big fans of Jesus…that we are ok. But is that the case?

Paul struggled with this very idea in Romans. During the opening chapter and a half of this amazing letter Paul focuses on the unbelieving Gentiles who had not had access to God’s Word but are nevertheless “on the hook” for their sin (Romans 1:18-20). But halfway through the 2nd chapter he changes directions a bit (Romans 2:17-24). He begins to address his own people. The extremely religious people who been exposed to the tenets of the faith for their entire lives. His fellow Jews. From childhood they had been exposed to God’s Word, His commandments, His Truth. It was a culture bathed in Biblical tradition. It defined them. And how did that work out?

When John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing in preparation for the Messiah, he had this to say to the religious leadership. “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). The religious leadership (and the people they led) had gotten to the point where they felt that they were all good with God simply because they had been born. But as Jesus would tell another religious leader in John’s Gospel, “you must be born again” (John 3:3). These folks had gotten so used to being continuously exposed to the precepts of God…it was all around them…they had a certain affinity for them…that they believed themselves to be children of God. But they were not.

Paul specifically addresses this in Romans 2:17-24 when he began talking to his people. He tells them: You know some of this stuff…you even proclaim some of this stuff…you think you know all of this stuff…but you don’t. After showing them that they have been immeasurably exposed to God’s teaching…he then told them there was no change in their life. Paul points this out. He clearly states that even though they know, they don’t teach themselves. Even though they know stealing is wrong, they steal. Even though they know adultery is wrong, they commit adultery. Paul is not listing off a list of sins here as a checklist, what he is saying is that even though you believe yourself as good with God…saved…there is no external evidence of it at all. You cannot count on your cultural understanding and embracing certain aspects of Christianity to ascertain that you are, indeed, saved.

Cultural Christianity does not save. It may make you feel good about certain aspects of your life, but it is not the Christianity that saves. Being born in this religious culture does not save us. Only being born again saves us.  

-Dr. Danny Purvis