Today’s
Scripture Reading (March 8, 2012): Genesis 19
Culture spreads. A culture is never limited to one place. I am a
Canadian – and I am proud to be a Canadian. But as a Canadian I realize how
much our culture is a gift from our neighbours to the South. We might try to
pretend that it isn’t true, but in reality we are greatly influenced.
Most of the culture spread (although definitely not all) is because of
television. And I have to admit that when I was younger I could tell the
difference between Canadian and American television in a few minutes of
watching a show, but that difference is disappearing. And part of my belief is
that the cultural influence that at one point only seemed to travel one way –
from the United States into Canada – is now becoming a little more of a two way
street. (I would apologize for “Nickleback” but I kind of actually like them –
especially their early stuff.)
A couple of months ago I responded to an American friend on Twitter in
regard to the political situation in the United States. My intention was to
provide encouragement, but that was not the way that my Tweet was understood.
My friend thought that I was trying to say that my country was better than his,
and his response was that he was tired of British people sticking their
collective noses in the business of the United States. Now, I am not British, I
am Canadian – and if you want to back further I am Irish – so I am still not
too comfortable in being called British. Because the reality is that the Irish
part of me seems to rebel against the idea of being British as much as my
Canadian identity rebels against the idea of being American, and yet I can’t
deny the fact that culture spreads. And the part of me that made me want to
respond to my friend from the United States with encouragement was the part of
me that realizes that my country is heavily influenced by his. And everything
that happens in the United States – politically, economically, even spiritually
– will have an effect on my country.
God came to Abraham with a message. The outcry against Sodom and
Gomorrah has become great. Except that it didn’t just end with Sodom and
Gomorrah, because culture spreads. We think we have found the location of Sodom
and Gomorrah. The cities are located just off the Southern Coast of the Dead
Sea. And so far we have found five of them – all which suffered the same fate
at about the same time. It wasn’t just the two cities that were destroyed, but
God destroyed at least three others because the culture of the cities had spread.
Evidently, because of Lot’s request at least one town in the area wasn’t
destroyed, but the text seems to indicate that if Lot had not intervened it may
have been destroyed as well. Culture spreads. And in our global culture, we
have long since passed the days when one culture could be destroyed. We are too
interconnected. And that means that we need to learn to be like Lot and stand
in the gap between our culture and God – that forgiveness would reign where we
continually seem to fall short – and we avoid the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: Genesis 20
No comments:
Post a Comment