How to engage with culture as a ninja…
We live in Erskineville
in Sydney’s inner-west, a.k.a ‘cat town’. There are so many random cats who
potter along our back-fence and thud down on our roof. Two cats particularly
frequent our patch. We’ve named them Cougar (because he kind of looks like a
cougar) and Chester (because he’s white, like the white Tiger from the 90s, who my husband
never managed to see as a kid).
Today Cougar and
Chester had a face-off on our back fence. It seriously lasted for perhaps 10-15
minutes with ongoing meeeeeeoowwwwing from Cougar while Chester sat steadfast
in front of him on the fence with a posture that said: ‘thou shalt not paaaasss’,
Gandalf-style. We’re in stuvac so any distraction is welcome. Eventually, one
of them swung (not sure who), and a full-blown catfight ensued – at which point
we left the window, ran downstairs and out into the courtyard to try and scare
them away from each other.
Often as a Christian,
I’m the opposite of Chester. I’m a scaredy-cat. I can get all bold in
the right context (with my husband, with my friends). But put me in another
context (e.g. trying to stand out ethically as a Christian in a secular environment)
and at times my spine just seems to get replaced with Aeroplane Jelly. I give
in. I go along. I stay silent. But what else can I do? It seems like the only
alternative is to replace my spine with a steel rod. To put my foot down. To
pull out. To shout out. Whether it’s the office sweepstakes, Halloween, the
coffee-corner gossip, the constant consumerism, the kids-party comparison game,
whatever.
As followers of Christ
in a world which often doesn’t agree with us, is there a middle road between
catfight and scaredy-cat? Are there ways to retain my natural, firm but also
moveable spine (and swap it neither for jelly nor iron)?
According to Chapter 35
of Andrew Cameron’s Joined-Up Life,
there are. In this chapter Andrew outlines various strategies for negotiating
the tension of living in a fallen world as sin-freed people:
1) We can cooperate.
‘If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone’
(Rom 12:18). This is often a good option. But it can easily becomes only
response (p226). We need to keep being creative…
2) We can expose.
Blow the whistle. Rebuke them, challenge them. Shine a light on what they’re
doing. Melinda
Tankard Reist is a genuinely great model in this regard.
3) We can separate.
Walk away. Give up the job. Change the school. Leave the friendship.
4) We can also…subvert.
Not subvert in a sinister sense. But subvert by grace. I wish Andrew gave some
more examples of this. I guess it’s things like:
·
rather than walking away from the gossiping, showing
grace in the situation – saying what you really like about whoever is the
object of gossip.
·
rather than giving up on the P&C, going along and
suggesting ‘forgiveness’ as one of the school’s values (this is the example
Andrew gives).
·
changing the drinking culture of the 21st Century by providing amazing mocktails.
It’s proactive. It’s a
bit ninja. A bit alley cat. I’m sure you can think of better examples than me.
I guess each approach is good in its own moment. Sometimes we will be
able to subvert. Sometimes cooperation will be best. Sometimes it is more
honouring to Christ to suck-it-up and expose the issue or even make the sacrifice
and walk away. What’s your latest moral dilemma? Which approach will you
choose?