Canon Bruce Grainger

writes

This week I’ve found myself reflecting on Christian religious culture, perhaps sparked off by a debate taken up by the Prime Minister about national culture and multiculturalism in our society.

Historically, churches went out from this country to plant Christianity in foreign lands, as St Paul in the Bible had done around the first century Mediterranean world.

There was a debate then, as there is now, about how far you should be exporting your own culture, in St Paul’s case Jewish culture, because Jesus was a Jew, and how far you should expect your religion to fit into the local culture of places where he was taking it.

It is recorded that St Paul won that argument. Ever since those early days, the Church has usually understood that the Christian gospel doesn’t set out to make all Christ’s followers into one huge monochrome race, it should be judging and fulfilling the world’s races and cultures and then bringing them together under the reign of Christ.

It looks to me as if Christian identity is meant to be reflected through what important cultural treasures each nation holds.

In the New Testament, the final chapter of the book of Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem where, “the glory and honour of the nations” are part of it.

I suppose this means that we should be able to recognise a culture for each nation to treasure and to be proud of.