Culture Thought #2 - Defining It

Before I start blogging even more about culture and the oh-so-fun things I'm learning and discovering, allow me to define culture. This definition comes from Dr. Mark Young, missions pastor at my church, Stonebriar Community Church. He is also professor of missions at Dallas Theological Seminary. He taught our culture class this past Sunday.

On a personal note, I had the privilege to travel to India on mission trip with Mark's wife, Priscilla. I have a huge respect for them and their love and commitment to missions. Every time I talk to Priscilla she challenges me, and my chat with her on Sunday was no different. More on that later.

Culture is a way of life marked by shared beliefs, shared values, shared behaviors, and shared structures.

Society is a higher structure which encompasses more than one culture.

For example, take the United States. We are all a society in that we share the same President, same federal laws, currency, interstates, basic educational structure, flag, etc.

However, under the American society, there are many cultures. El Paso, Texas has a different way of life than New York City. People up north call the fizzy drink "pop." In the south it's "soda" or "coke" (even if it's Dr. Pepper!). A rural farmer from Iowa and a businessman from Los Angeles both live in the same society, but live in completely different cultures.

Why is this important? It affects how believers think about culture and how to appropriately live in it. In my next post, I'll talk about how Paul talks about culture and three ways how believers can live in their own culture and others.

For now, I love this quote. Food for thought.

“God hasn’t called us to be culture haters. We hate the
world system, not the culture. God actually celebrates
culture – speaking of men and women from every tongue,
tribe, and nation. Preaching against culture – as we often
do – is like preaching against someone’s house. It is just
where they live. There is good in it, and there is bad in it –
preach discernment, not culture condemnation.”
Ed Stetzer