A Balanced View:
Revive the Cultural Mandate !
The Cultural Mandate:
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Gen 1:28)
The Christian Worldview should impact every facet of life, both public and private, social, economic, political and personal. We believe and teach that God has appointed mankind as stewards of the Earth, and that we are responsible for the environment as well as the culture In which we live.
In Genesis, God gives what we might call the first job description:
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” The first phrase, “be fruitful and multiply” means to develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws. The second phrase, “subdue the earth,” means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music. This passage is sometimes called the Cultural Mandate because it tells us that our original purpose was to create cultures, build civilizations-nothing less. Our calling is not just to go to heaven, but also to cultivate the earth, not just to save souls, but also to serve God through our work. For God himself is engaged not only in the work of salvation buts also in the work of preserving and developing His creation. When we obey the Cultural Mandate, we participate in the work of God himself, as agents of His common grace”. — Nancy Pearcey in “Total Truth”.
See Also Romans 8:19-22:
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
NOTE:
1. Obey state except where contrary to God’s law. (Acts 4:19-20; Romans 13:1
2. Influence through “salt and light” culture and laws to be in sync with God’s law. (Matthew 5:13-15)
3. Lawful protest OK. Christians and churches have duty to debate in public square. In the USA this right is protected by the Constitution.
4. Do not use physical force except in accordance with Augustine’s principle of a “just war”. He believed that the only just reason to go to war was the desire for peace. We do not seek peace in order to be at war, but we go to war that we may have peace. Be peaceful, therefore, in warring, so that you may vanquish those whom you war against, and bring them to the prosperity of peace.
