Enculturation or Sin?

At the request of a friend, I’ve been pondering and writing on the subject of temptation on my blog, Kaleidoscope. I’m seeing a lot as I meditate on what the Scriptures have to say on the subject and I’ve been struck that a key element in our response to temptation is how we view the world around us. If we see the world, this present age, as friendly or even benign, it is likely that we will view many of its priorities and practices as friendly or benign; thus dulling our discernment of good and evil, right and wrong, righteousness and unrighteousness.

This has led me to consider a term that I’ve heard in the church, and often used myself, for at least three decades – “enculturation”. We speak of the church being enculturated by the world; that is, the church has imported the ethos of the world.

I think the word “enculturation” may be an euphemism for “worldliness” and “sin” in that it allows us to avoid the harsh reality that being a friend of the world makes us God’s enemies, and that if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15 – 17). We would rather say that we are enculturated than say we’re sinful. We would rather say that we are enculturated than say we need to repent. As I review the Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation, I can’t find the concept of enculturation but I do see the command to repent of sin in the church.

The fact that some Christians may use the term “worldliness” in a self-righteous and legalistic context, in which they compare themselves with others in a holier-than-thou fashion, should not mean that we do not consider the term in a Biblical context – the truth of the Bible is always being traduced one way or another by those who call themselves Christians.

When Israel and Judah built altars to idols throughout the land, and when the priests brought idols into the Temple in Jerusalem, I don’t think God called it enculturation. When Ezekiel was shown the idolatry rampant in Jerusalem and the Temple, I don’t see where God called it enculturation. When Jesus, in the Seven Letters, condemns spiritual and sexual promiscuity, lukewarmness toward Him, a lack of love for God – I don’t see Jesus calling these things enculturation. When Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude write and warn against false teaching and ungodly living, I don’t see them using the word enculturation or its conceptual equivalent.

Is “enculturation” a euphemism? What do you think?