How to think theologically about culture
Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible. -Karl Barth
One of the goals of ministry, for me at least, is to facilitate conversations about how our faith intersects with our lives and our societies. I see people who claim to follow Jesus read the news as if the Bible has nothing to do with the contents. Then they read the Bible as if it makes no demands on their lives or how they interpret the news. I want to help us bridge that gap.
We are often discipled by news stations, Instagram influencers, celebrity Christians. We are taught in sound bites, snippets, 140 character tweets. This deficit in discipleship shows. It’s not solely the problem of the people in the pews either. Often the Bible is taught without showing the relevance to every cultural issue that we encounter. Churches aren’t talking enough about racial justice, creation care, stewarding sexuality, or economics. Our lives lack integration and congruence. We are ill-practiced at the slow works of critical thinking and imagination.
I’ve been asking a few questions of myself recently. How do we read the news theologically? How does our faith in the character and work of God shape how we interpret the news and participate in our societies? How does the kingdom of God show us a better way? What do we do when people claiming the name of Christ exploit the news and the Bible for their agenda?
I’ve been dabbling in studying public theology, which centers on issues of public concern. (And by dabbling, last quarter I wrote a final research paper on public theology and my professor told me that I had an outline of a book or dissertation in it.) One of my favorite parts about public theology is its insistence that God has something to say about every inch of our lives and our cultures. Everywhere we are, God is already there. In whatever situation we find ourselves, God is not blind. He sees it. He is responding to it and we are invited to participate in that response. Public theology is for you. It’s for me. Public theology is what we do when we comment on culture, claiming that we have a biblical viewpoint as we do so.
How to Think Theologically:
I didn’t realize until early in seminary that theology is different from biblical studies. Biblical studies is a close look at a certain text. What does this text tell us? What does it say? Why does it use those particular words? Theology takes a broader approach, looking at a topic across Scripture as a whole. Biblical studies would involve a deep dive in 2 John. Theology means an investigation of the trinity.
We cannot settle for slapping a Bible verse on a topic and calling it “thinking theologically.” (Even if we were going to claim it was “biblical studies,” context would still matter.) Instead, we have to investigate the whole story of Scripture and apply the principles and truths we uncover to the topic. This work requires a lot of thought and nuance. It’s not a tweet. It’s not even an Instagram post. It’s an ongoing work.
God’s Word does not tell us every single thing we might like to know. It does not answer every question we could ask. But it does equip us to think well about any part of our life or our modern world. I’m going to continue to insist that this ancient book is very relevant to the world we live in today. But we might have to learn to interact with it differently.
The Bible is a record of God’s work in the world. We study it to know God. Only in knowing God, specifically through Jesus, do we learn who we are supposed to be. Before we interact with ideas we disdain or people who disagree with us or news that horrifies us, we have to be grounded in who we are in Christ. Those other things do not shape us. They do not name us. They do not direct us. God alone does those things. We are not called to look like that Instagram influencer. We are not directed by a news station. We are not being conformed to a political party. (Are we?)
While there are many ways we could approach this, I want to simply offer three ways to approach thinking theologically. Take this and run with it. Develop three more ideas for every one of mine.
Think in Community
Reading the Bible is best done in groups. Justo Gonzalez compared reading the Bible from our own social locations to looking at a landscape with every person approaching from a different spot (Santa Biblia). You see something different if you’re behind a waterfall than you do if you’re coming from the ridge. To truly understand the landscape, you must hear everyone’s experience and perspective. If your geographic location puts you with people who look like you, bring others into the conversation via books and podcasts. When you discuss economics or abortion, have people from different social classes present. Your theology and your analysis of society will be better if you do it with others. Sit alone and read or think, but don’t stop there. Next, go and read or think with other people. Learn to listen. Practice reevaluating what you think you believe.
Pay attention
Thinking theologically about the world means paying attention to the Bible and paying attention to the world. Notice what is happening in the lives of your neighbors and your own life. Pay attention to how legislation and policy forms how you live. Take note of where influences in society are leading you. If you pay attention to headlines and social media chatter, you will start to see fears and anxieties and goals. Dig deeper from there. When you care about your world, remember that God cares more. You don’t have to convince God to care. Instead, you can start looking from God’s viewpoint. When you read the stories that God left in the Bible, pay attention. What does God care about? How does He act? What are His goals?
Interrogate your thinking
Most of the time when we think, we assume we are right. Often we claim we are thinking and actually we are just reinforcing what we already believe. Interrogate your own ideas. Ask endless questions of yourself. You can start collecting a list of questions if this does not come easily to you. “Is this true for a follower of Jesus anywhere in the world?” “Does this speak poorly of God’s character?” “Do I believe the gospel needs to be defended?” “Does this solution speak to the real problem or is it a shortcut that makes me feel better?” “Is this the position of the marginalized or the poor?” “Does everyone who holds this position look the same/exist in the same social class?” “What if this is not true?” “Where do we find this principle in the Bible?” “Does this reflect the way Jesus lived on earth?” “Am I protecting my own power?” “Am I counting on the end to justify these means?” “Do I think this is compatible with my ethics?” “Would I approve of this tactic in someone I disagreed with?” “Does this show God’s love to my neighbor?” That’s just a starting point if you need a list.
This is not comprehensive. Learning to think theologically about our world takes practice. I’m still practicing. The Order of Junia, the seminary cohort that I cofounded, is practicing these conversations in our monthly Zoom calls. We discussed abortion in our May meeting and I left with a post-it note full of different questions than I had been asking. Steep yourself in Scripture and remember that God cares about every single part of life. We are not stuck with the options we are presented by political parties or even some church circles. God’s way of living offers an alternate path. Winning is not our aim; following Jesus is.
Other Practical Ideas:
*Regularly read (listen to) the whole Scripture. Let it become ingrained in your heart and mind.
*Get your news from reputable sources and not algorithms.
*Regularly read something longform (or listen!) on a topic.
*Remember that you are not an expert because you read two long-form articles.
*Read from perspectives you disagree with and make notes on their arguments.
*Know people who are not like you.
*Remember there are people behind every issue and God loves them.