How much does the culture you live in impact the way you believe and behave? Culture is hard to escape. From birth we are not just exposed we are indoctrinated to a particular way of viewing things. It becomes who we are. Be it America, Russian, from Nigeria or the Philippines, the culture you were reared in is intricately woven into how you think and often how you behave. For those who live in Europe and America we are the product of Greek thought. It is not something most of think about. However, that ingrained culture does touch who we are. For the most part this is pretty benign. The basis for much of our government is of Greek origin. As is much of our value structures and even some of our architecture. However, when it comes to matters of faith and belief in Yahweh and Messiah Jesus it has the potential to rob us of the relationships that the Lord has reveled to us in His Word.
I would guess that most of us have some admiration for people like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David and a whole series of Prophets. Their recorded lives show a relationship with God that we might long to know. As I have written before, it is easy for us to get things out of balance. It is not that what we hold to is necessarily wrong, just out of balance at the expense of other truths. Greek thought, from those like Aristotle and Plato, saw the divine as unknowable and unattainable. God was completely "other". We are mortal flesh bound entities with a plethora of limitations. God is a Spirit being removed from the confines of the physical and tangible. It is true that Yahweh is far greater than we are. He is Creator we are the created. His ways are beyond ours and the Apostle Paul tells us, in Romans 11, that His ways are past our understanding. There is no real argument there, yet have you really looked at the interaction between God and those folks we admire from the Scriptures?
God comes looking for Adam and Adam hides, then blames Eve and in essence God, (The woman You gave me) for the problem. Abraham negotiates with the Lord over the fate of Sodom. Moses, the friend of God, intervenes on behalf of the Israelites implying that his Friend, God, is acting rashly. God changes His mind based on the argument from Moses. David tells God to rescue him based on the idea that dead men cannot praise Him. The Prophets question God's directives be it Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel or Habakkuk. These men had no apparent problem calling God out on things that they didn't understand or disagreed with. They treat God as if on human terms. God was One who could be talked to, disagreed with, even challenged to reconsider something that seems out of line or an overreaction. The personal conversations recorded for us can seem pretty bold, perhaps even lacking reverence. After all His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts above ours. We do not have a right to question. Do we?
Have we made God so "other", like the Greek philosophers, that we have sacrificed this kind of intimacy and confidence in coming to the Lord with our brokenness, disappointments and questions. Have you ever told God, "You can't do this, it will diminish your Name before the nations". Or told God you will not let go until He blesses you. Do we keep God at an arms length out of respect or because our Greek culture tells us God is really not approachable? Does our cultural comfort level keep us from the same intimacy and friendship that we see in the lives of Abraham and David? I do not mean that we foster an attitude of arrogance or disrespect. However, if you have a very good and intimate friend you know that you have a lot of freedom to ask questions, question what they are doing and to seek counsel knowing they want the best for you. Isn't that something to be desired from the One Who is to be closer than a brother?
I often wonder what the nights were like around the campfire as Jesus and His disciples talked and joked about the days events. Those intimate times with the Master. The informal conversations that were just among friends. Times when questions could be asked away from the crowds and the business of the day. Shouldn't there be an element of that in our quiet times with the Lord? A closeness that says "I do not understand" or even, "You know Lord, your name is being down trodden because it seems You lack the will to act". Hezekiah takes that approach in 2 Kings 19. Judah is in trouble but Gid's name is at stake. Do we sacrifice that friendly relationship as we keep this completely "other" being in such a state of awe that He is somewhat unapproachable? Have we exchanged the God of the Bible for a colder more distant, more Greek, version of Who He really is and longs to be for us?
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