Found these words (and picture) on Matt Stone's blog:
You can't make a difference
to the world
If you're no different
from the world.
to the world
If you're no different
from the world.
Seems that in our excitement to be "relevant" to the culture around us we often forget that our relevance actually lies in our peculiarity.
AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!
There is truth in this. But of course, it is more complex than that, as I’m sure you are aware.
Peculiarity for Peculiarity’s sake is not the point. Where culture is singing the tune of the Creator, we don’t glide vocally onto arbitrary paths simply so that we won’t be singing in unison with culture. There are also important themes of the Incarnation to consider, and even the type of Incarnation that was manifested to us: not a God-man with a blanket disregard for anything “of culture,” but a God-man who openly associated himself with sinners, and whose disciples were reckoned by some as gluttons and drunkards.
Neither ‘peculiarity’ nor ‘relevance’ are the goal, ultimately. But the model we are given in Christ is one that negotiates between those extremes.
Yes, you’ll see from my other posts I try to strike the balance between purity and proximity, immanence and transcendance, being in the world but not of the world.
I blog about getting up close and personal to culture but every now and then I like to make the point that the difference between hard core contectualization and mere syncretism is the difference we offer.