The Cultural Narrative
I wrote in an earlier post that culture is a way that we express our shared narrative. The elements we often think of when we talk about culture -- music, sports, art, food, technology, and the like -- are in themselves not culture. They are, rather, a way that we give a voice to the narrative that that hold a group of people together.
But what is the narrative? What do I mean when I link culture to a narrative? A story often holds in tension what is, and what ought to be. Stories offer windows into the world as the author wishes it to be, or they hold up mirrors, exposing what is missing in the world as we experience it. Virtues -- courage, sacrifice, love -- are often held in tension with what is: fear, selfishness, rejection. The conflict of the narrative raises the question: What ought the world to look like? Will righteousness win, or will evil triumph? How will the wounds of that world be healed?
So too, we must make sense of the world around us -- and this becomes our cultural story. Luc Ferry, in his excellent book, A Brief History of Thought argues that all philosophies from Greek Stoicism & Gnosticism, through the Humanism of Kant & Descartes, to the Postmodernism of Nietzsche are an effort to, as he puts it, "to rescue us from the peril of death." Understand though, that Ferry isn't merely referring to what happens to us when we breathe our last breath. To quote him again, "everything that is not repeatable belongs in death's ledger." Simply put, we as human beings must come to grips with not only our own mortality, but the finiteness and limits of this world. How do we make sense of why we are here? What can give our lives meaning, and purpose in that limited span? What can help us live well, such that we overcome our natural fear of death? These are the questions that major philosophies attempt to answer.
These are also basic worldview questions. Ravi Zacharias, a well-known Christian philosopher and apologist simplifies these questions by stating that every worldview must account for four basic questions: Where did we come from (origin)? Why are we here (purpose)? How do we determine what is right (morality)? Where are we going (Destiny)?
It is in answering these questions that we give shape to our cultural narrative. Whether through our poetry, our theatre, our sports, our science, our technology, our food, our historical monuments and museums, or in a myriad of other arenas, we are knitting together our shared sense of who we are, of why we are here, of what is wrong with the world, and of what can fix it. However imperfectly we may do it, and however incomplete our cultural artifacts may be, we are telling the story of why we are here.
This also begins to fashion an answer to my previous question -- "What is the something better?" What is the best way for Christians to engage the world around us? What is the best way to influence public life? I argued in this earlier post that the effort at mandating Judeo-Christian values in public life may not be the most effective way to shape culture. The way that we answer -- and give expression to -- these questions gives a faithful Christian a means by which they may shape the culture around them.
In many ways, I suggest that the greatest opportunity we have to pursue this is through our daily work. We spend 20, 30, 40 hours or more engaged in the art studio in the classroom, in the boardroom, in the halls of government, and in fire stations, police departments, and in hospitals. In the way we fulfill our daily labors, we tell a story - and the story we tell, and the way we tell it gives meaning to our life in common.
This puts a whole new spin on even the most mundane of activities. When seen this way, then everything -- doing laundry, flipping burgers, buying & selling stock, painting houses -- everything can be seen as a way to shape our culture in a way that honors the God of culture. In my next post, I want to explore this theme a bit more -- what qualifies as appropriate shaping of culture? To what end do we shape it? Stay tuned -- more on Monday!
These are also basic worldview questions. Ravi Zacharias, a well-known Christian philosopher and apologist simplifies these questions by stating that every worldview must account for four basic questions: Where did we come from (origin)? Why are we here (purpose)? How do we determine what is right (morality)? Where are we going (Destiny)?
It is in answering these questions that we give shape to our cultural narrative. Whether through our poetry, our theatre, our sports, our science, our technology, our food, our historical monuments and museums, or in a myriad of other arenas, we are knitting together our shared sense of who we are, of why we are here, of what is wrong with the world, and of what can fix it. However imperfectly we may do it, and however incomplete our cultural artifacts may be, we are telling the story of why we are here.
This also begins to fashion an answer to my previous question -- "What is the something better?" What is the best way for Christians to engage the world around us? What is the best way to influence public life? I argued in this earlier post that the effort at mandating Judeo-Christian values in public life may not be the most effective way to shape culture. The way that we answer -- and give expression to -- these questions gives a faithful Christian a means by which they may shape the culture around them.
In many ways, I suggest that the greatest opportunity we have to pursue this is through our daily work. We spend 20, 30, 40 hours or more engaged in the art studio in the classroom, in the boardroom, in the halls of government, and in fire stations, police departments, and in hospitals. In the way we fulfill our daily labors, we tell a story - and the story we tell, and the way we tell it gives meaning to our life in common.
This puts a whole new spin on even the most mundane of activities. When seen this way, then everything -- doing laundry, flipping burgers, buying & selling stock, painting houses -- everything can be seen as a way to shape our culture in a way that honors the God of culture. In my next post, I want to explore this theme a bit more -- what qualifies as appropriate shaping of culture? To what end do we shape it? Stay tuned -- more on Monday!
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