Christianity and Cultural Conflict

I Timothy 1:1-4

Both letters to Timothy are written to help Timothy in his ministry. He was a young man just beginning his ministry. He was from a Christian home, and is very dedicated to the Lord, but like many who’ve grown up in Christian homes, he was probably unaware of the effects of their culture on those who had been saved. Things that Timothy took for granted would not even be considered by those with no Christian background.

I was born on a small farm in eastern Colorado. Most of the population of the entire county knew my family because Mom’s family had been some of the earliest settlers, and my dad’s family had been in and out for several years, finally settling there permanently. Having never been anywhere else, I thought that was a typical place. When I was eight , we moved to Missouri for three years, and I realized that there was a totally different culture, even though we still lived in the country.

My sixth grade year was spent in Las Vegas, New Mexico. It was there I first experienced prejudice against myself. Las Vegas was largely a Mexican town with a few whites. Many of the Mexicans resented the whites, and while our friends were mostly Mexican, we were still seen as white. Having never lived in town before I was also a “hick”. I began to see differences in cultures, not being truly a part of either the local white culture or of the Mexican culture.

When I was twelve, we moved to the Navajo reservation. For the next six years, due to unresolved educational issues, I would alternate between reservation schools and schooling in Gallup, New Mexico. On the reservation, there were few who were not Navajo, and those were largely involved in helping Navajos get the system set up. As a result there was at the time little anti white prejudice. We were all just kids, except for a small white community that isolated itself from the Navajos. As we got to know some of them, we became a little anti-white ourselves.

Gallup, on the other hand, had large contingents of several races. It was a hot bed of racial and cultural tensions, and the years I went to school there were difficult. Kids were ostracized if seen associating with other races. Blacks only associated with blacks, whites with whites, Mexicans with Mexicans, Navajos with Navajos and Zunis with Zunis. Since I hardly knew anyone but Navajos, I didn’t associate much with anybody while we were at school. My Navajo friends had the same problem. Once we were outside town so nobody got in trouble, we could talk freely again. Each culture was convinced their way was right and opposed change.

When I went to college and observed the customs and practices there, I was forced to realize that many of the issues were cultural conflicts. Many standards were based on a culture rather than a biblical or universal standard of right and wrong, but those who were totally immersed in their own culture had no reason to question their standards. Paul warns both Timothy and Titus of this problem. Being Christian is about living a Godly life rather than adopting a “Christian” culture or lifestyle.

At the time of this letter, Timothy’s ministry is to continue and finish the work Paul started when he started the Church at Ephesus. One of the things he will have to deal with is conflicts between Christianity and Ephesian culture. On the one hand, it would be easy to try to adapt Christianity to their culture, or to try to eliminate their culture with one other Christians were more familiar with. The goal is to develop Christians, not to impose a “Christian” culture. This letter is given to advise Timothy as to how to best accomplish his job as set forth in the first four verses.

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.” (I Timothy 1:1-4)

The first thing is to instruct the believers not to teach other doctrine. Sometimes we become so wrapped up in something new we fail to check it’s validity. Secondly they are not to get caught up in traditions and family background as it has little to do with the present circumstances. Focusing on those things will cause confusion rather than building up the Christians in their faith. This is why Paul left him, and this is what Paul wants him to do.