TRANSFORMING CULTURE, BY SHERWOOD LINGENFELTER | BOOK REVIEW

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough.

Sherwood Lingenfelter is a well known author in the field of Church and culture. In his book Transforming Culture, he writes about “social and cultural systems” which exert “powerful pressure” both on the Church and on unredeemed society. These are “prisons of disobedience” of which Christians may often be largely unaware. Therefore we are called upon to “see clearly”, so that we may “unlock the chains of our cultural habits and the gates to our cultural walls”.

The book contains several illuminating examples of Christians who do run into such cultural “walls” – among them a missionary whose entire inventory is “borrowed” the moment he sets foot on foreign sands, and a mission society which recruits translators who have little or no endorsement from their elders. In each of several cases, Lingenfelter shows how Christians have been, or might have been, impeded in their witness by cultural barriers.

HOW DOES LINGENFELTER IDENTIFY CULTURAL WALLS?

For the purpose of identifying and recognising “prisons of disobedience”, Lingenfelter employs a simple sociological model which originated in secular form with social anthropologist Mary Douglas. He uses this to “decipher the unique features of a social game and understand its social order”. This draws out any one of five basic social games, which in turn should enable the Christian to submit to an existing social order “for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God”.

He sees the Christian as a “pilgrim”, who “engages society through any and all of the five social games”, thus becoming “a player” in the social games of culture, in the interests of his or her witness within that culture.

In terms of the model, Lingenfelter employs the concepts of “grid” and “group” to highlight individual characteristics of a given social order. Stated simply, the concept of “grid” focuses on the extent to which individual players are CATEGORISED in a social game, while the concept of “group” focuses on the amount of COHESION that the group imposes in a social game. By combining these characteristics, one identifies any one of four basic social games – individualistic, authoritarian, hierarchical, and egalitarian – with autonomy being a fifth, separate possibility. These games are played out in the various arenas of labour, exchange, family, and community.

IS LINGENFELTER’S MODEL APPLICABLE TO THE CHURCH?

Lingenfelter’s touchstone for interpreting and transforming culture is the sociological model described above. This has a number of implications, not all of which I am able to comment on without reserve. Most importantly, instead of viewing Church and culture primarily in terms of one’s relationship with Christ, he analyses these primarily in terms of his model.

As an example, he describes how a missionary badly lost his sense of priority due to his “social values”. In another example, a man displays serious racial (or cultural) bias, “perhaps motivated by […] values”. However, none of Lingenfelter’s various case studies is described in terms of one’s relationship with Christ. We are “motivated by” social values, and “the issue is […] the values that lie behind our attitudes”. The question for Lingenfelter is, “What values compel us?”

I would offer by way of contrast that many Bible characters were compelled by a vision of the glory of the Lord. We serve a God of glory, power, and majesty, and as we give Him pre-eminence in our lives, all other things lose their primary value. This is sustained, in turn, through worship. It would be important, therefore, to maintain a distinction between worship and obedience. This I found wanting in Lingenfelter’s writing.

Lingenfelter offers that the solution to a skewed value system is that a person should not “be enslaved to the values of his or her social game”. In short, this translates to obedience to God’s commandments. In fact, even his references to “fear of the Lord”, “submission to Jesus”, and “faith in God” would appear to be interpreted merely in terms of social values and obedience.

WHAT IS LINGENFELTER’S VIEW OF CULTURE?

Lingenfelter states plainly, “I reject the notion that culture or worldview is neutral”, and that “the view of culture presented here is a low view, that of culture inextricably infected by sin”. An “inextricable” infection, in my analysis, would be one from which no culture may be extricated or disentangled. He further states that culture, economy, and state “have been given to Satan”.

With this in mind, it would seem puzzling that the Christian should nonetheless become “a player in the social games of culture”, and that Lingenfelter advocates “submission” to culture for the sake of the gospel. At any rate, this could do with some further elucidation.

What constitutes sin? If culture is so deeply pervaded by sin, why does the book not refer to repentance? How should one distinguish between those aspects of culture in which one may be “a player”, and those in which one may not? Does Lingenfelter’s notion of contextualizing the truth within culture imply the embodiment of truth in culture after all? And finally, how would Lingenfelter’s model relate to classic game theory, in terms of which “to evaluate strategies directly […] is conspicuously perverse” (The Cambridge Dictionary Of Philosophy). By “strategies”, may we read “Scriptural principles”? How would the choice of such a model influence Lingenfelter’s hermeneutics?

Lingenfelter does, however, make some profound suggestions. He proposes that, as “pilgrims”, we should disengage ourselves from prevailing cultural norms. We should be “subject to a higher priority” – and in so doing, should “live within that context in a unique and different way”. Supposedly, therefore, as relationships are redeemed from within, this would find its reflection in culture in time. However, what would seem to be lacking in the book is the comfortable integration of such insights into the subject matter as a whole.

SYNTHESIS.

I found myself asking of the book, “What are Lingenfelter’s primary values?” It would seem that this might be largely unstated – yet I believe we have some clues. He outlines basic “pilgrim principles” which focus heavily on the restoration of relationships and the management of conflict. Further, his case studies would suggest that the highest desired outcome where cultures meet is the avoidance of conflict or tension. In one case study, where I consider that Lingenfelter himself was seriously abused, all we read is that “I tried to apologise”.

In this regard, one wonders about his interpretation of the imitatio Christi, which he appeals to. Bearing in mind the need to make amends where possible, one need only think of Christ and the pharisees, not to speak of the apostles and their many adversaries, to discover that many relationships are not finally restored.

While Lingenfelter’s model serves to make his subject matter interesting, uncomplicated, and accessible to the reader, and highlights some important issues of which the Christian should be aware, nonetheless I found this a disturbing book – in the sense that it was “so near and yet so far”. There are too many unresolved issues which muddy the waters, and above all, Lingenfelter’s thinking would not seem to escape or transcend culture and values.

CITATION OF REFERENCES.

Lingenfelter, Sherwood. Transforming Culture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1998.

Audi, Robert (Editor). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge, England: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995.

Rev. Thomas Scarborough is the minister of an Evangelical Congregational Church in Cape Town, South Africa. During the course of a Master’s degree through Fuller Theological Seminary, he needs to read and reflect on some 100 books – hence this review!