Redeeming Creation

  • Steve Tuten
  • Feb 15, 2007

"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.   We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."  - Romans 8:20-22 

Growing up in a conservative Christian family gave me a slightly sheltered world view. Every CD, movie, and TV show I every watched or listened to was censored by my parents. My mom always used to tell me, "garbage in, garbage out." This of course meaning that if I were to listen to music with explicit lyrics I may begin using those explicit words. This never sat well with me as a musician and as someone who appreciates music. Even at a young age I began to question my church's response to culture. For the record let me say I do not necessarily disagree with my parents theories on "garbage" for their kids. I do feel the Church's response to culture has been pathetic the last 25 years. There is a fine line of being "in the world but not of the world", but it really seems as though most churches never attempt to find the line. Rather, they create their own hybrid Christian culture. This is where I see a large void in the Church. There is a whole generation of Christians and non Christians that feel they don't fit in most churches.

All throughout my time at Trinity Christian College they beat into our heads their slogan "shaping lives and transforming culture." This idea of transforming culture has deep roots in reformed theology and the Reformed Church in America and can be seen in this passage from Romans 8. It is important to notice that when referencing "creation" the author is talking about all of creation (NIV notes). So the description of this fallen broken world is greater then just humans, the arts, or even nature. Paul starts to talk of God's promise to liberate creation and be "brought to a glorious freedom" which is later echoed in 2 Peter with talks of "a new heaven and a new earth." This is basically just a long way to say that as stewards of God's creation (Gen 1-2), His whole creation, and believing that all of creation will be made new, we find it is our responsibility as the body of Christ to carry out this redemptive work.

During college I met monthly with a group in the Wheaton area to discuss postmodernism, culture, and the Church. The meetings consisted of everyone from college students to pastors. The first few months were great to begin connecting with people that saw similar cultural voids in the Church. After several months of deconstructing the modern Church and its response to culture it became clear that everyone could point out what was wrong, but no one was willing to attempt to solve the culture issues. It just became a giant vent session. I left these meetings discouraged about the Church and spent the next few years after graduating college searching for a church home that felt real and authentic to someone in their twenties...Enter Missio Dei (Cue the Rocky theme song!)!

After joining Missio Dei I have a renewed faith in the Church's ability to address a postmodern culture. By deconstructing traditional Church structure and rebuilding with the center focused on Christ, Missio Dei has been able to produce a reformed Christian response to postmodernism that I had previously never been a part of. As I mentioned earlier there is fine line with being "in the world but not of the world", and Missio Dei is attempting to work towards that line while never compromising its core beliefs. As a reformed missional church we will be intentionally interacting with culture as we are serving our community and those around us. As we continually move forward please pray for Missio Dei as we attempt to redeem all of God's creation.