The Clash of Cultures

"Do not love the world or anything in the world...The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."- 1 John 2:15, 17

William Tubman was President of Liberia at the same time he served as President of the World Baptist Alliance. During his term of office, which came to a violent end as he was gunned down by rebels, he was interviewed by a television team for CBS’s "Sixty Minutes". The reporter who interviewed Mr. Tubman reminded the President that he was a Baptist minister as well as the head of state, then said, "Mr. President, it is said that you have fathered children by several different wives. How do you account for that?" Tubman smiled as he replied, "It’s our custom here; it’s perfectly acceptable!"

We are shocked by Tubman’s attitude, but in scores of places I have inquired about questionable practices to find individuals have excused them by saying, "It’s our culture!" What a powerful force culture is to cause one mother to sacrifice her baby to a pagan god while encour-aging another to raise a baby in the nurture and instruction of the Lord!

Anthropologists often approach culture as something sacrosanct which should never be challenged or changed. Yet when culture produces ignorance, fear and superstition, when it produces human suffering and threatens the very existence of the family, culture needs to be challenged.

Though cultures of various nations differ, there are some negative forces today which are impacting families all over the world. These forces are: (1) an obsession with sex, (2) a materialism which has produced a passionate thirst for things, and (3) an emphasis on personal gratification, or an emphasis on the individual as opposed to the group.

Have we become a sex-saturated society emphasizing beauty as opposed to self-worth? Dr. Pitirim Sorokin, the late chairman of the Department of Sociology at Harvard University, wrote, "Our civilization has become so preoccupied with sex that it now oozes from all pores of our national life. We’re completely surrounded by the rising tide of sex, which is flooding every compartment of our culture, every section of our social life."

Have we become obsessed with a thirst for material things as opposed to recognizing the importance of people? The display of consumer goods which fill our homes is endless. The more you have, the more you want, and the more you want, the more you strive to get.

Has our culture shifted emphasis from the group to the individual? Has the "me first" mentality gripped society today? Check with your pastor to see how many positions for service in your church are unfilled. Our culture demands instant gratification, absolute happiness, and little involvement in the lives of other people. The cult of the "me first" is overwhelming. But it can be different.

Resource Reading: Genesis 19:30-37