(with apologies to Robert T. Kiyosaki, who wrote the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad)
I saw a documentary about a certain tribe of people and the comment was made that they had a "rich culture". Naturally, this got me thinking about what would make one culture rich and another culture poor. And would Christian culture be counted as rich or poor?
The makers of the documentary, I believe, thought the particular culture was rich because it had colourful rituals that conveyed a powerful heritage to each new generation. Every item of ceremonial clothing, each movement, each musical instrument, pointed to an ancient story that defined life for these people. Their hero ancestors lived on in the cultural memory of the people.
I concluded that a rich culture must have an abundance of art, music, ceremony and ritual, deeply connected to an underlying worldview. An impoverished culture would be one where the heritage had been lost or disconnected from daily life. Or simply where traditions had been watered down to the point of meaninglessness.
A rich culture would have genuine depth, whereas a poor culture would focus on trivialities. A rich culture would find meaning in death, pain and suffering, whereas a poor culture would gloss over the harshness of life in its quest for material riches and fun. A rich culture would be holistic, bringing all the pieces of life together, but a poor culture would lead to fragmentation and confusion.
So, on that line of thinking, is Christianity rich culture or poor culture?
I believe it depends on how well Christians hold firm to their foundations. There is no richer heritage than the art, music, architecture, literature and customs of Christendom. But these things must be linked to the revelation of God in Scripture and the reality of the coming and ongoing presence of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. In other words, Jesus Himself must be at the very heart of our culture.
The modern Christian Church relies on its charitable work to uphold its image and reputation. But what would happen if we promoted the richness, the connectedness, and the beauty of our culture in Christ?
The world doesn't need Christianity as a religion, it needs Christianity as a culture, an alternative way of life, one that is holistic, righteous, powerful and rich.
