With apologies to Scott Daniels, Brian Zahnd and Walter Brueggemann (all who have written on the western Christian experience in the 21^st century with the Israelite Babylonian captivity period in the 6^th century BC), I am wondering if our experience is more like the children of Israel in the Exodus story. We aren’t strangers in a foreign land, instead we are quite comfortable and view life through a cultural lens of things foreign to God. Caution: whenever you begin a paragraph “with apologies” to the above theological heavy weights, you are probably in dangerous territory. 

It’s not totally my idea. The more I get into the Book of Exodus, the more I’ve been thinking about this (the Flint Central congregation is going through the book of Exodus this summer). Additionally, I was at a workshop where Olivet Nazarene University professor, Jeff Stark, threw this notion out to the group. I had to leave half way through the seminar, so please don’t blame Jeff for the rest of these thoughts. But his introduction further cultivated my imagination: Are we more like the Jews fresh out of Egypt? 

Maybe we are.

In 1607, Englishmen arrived in Jamestown. Likewise, the Jews were in Egypt for 430 years. Both USA citizens and the Israelites coming out of Egypt had been heavily influenced by the prevailing culture for 400 years. I’ve told our congregation several times, it was harder getting Egypt out of the people than getting the children of Israel out of Egypt (you will recall– It wasn’t easy getting the former slaves out of Egypt. It took ten plagues and a miraculous crossing of the Red Sea). Then 40 years later, on a journey that should have taken 11 days, the people were ready to enter the Promised Land. It took forty years of wandering in the wilderness to exorcise the Egyptian culture out of the people (a case could be made that the way of the Egyptians was never fully exorcised from them). Sometimes I wonder if we will ever escape the cultural influences upon us.

Our culture is diverse but strong. A drift away from God, regardless of one’s cultural influences, is seen in how one interprets Micah’s understanding of what God requires of people: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). On the one hand there are those who think (but might not say): “Justice? Yes, but not social justice—that’s socialism; Mercy? Sure, but that only goes so far; Humble? Of course, but my way of thinking is the only way.” On the other hand, are those who think (but might not say): “God requires? The only thing that is “required” is love. There’s no need to “Act” (justly or otherwise) or “Walk” (humbly or otherwise), just love. Love. Love. Love. Period. End of Story. No condemnation. No judgement. No anything. Just “love” (mercy or otherwise).” 

I want to say, “Ugh…” to both sides of that misguided coin.

Moreover, too often people today, like the folks in Exodus, are constantly complaining; wanting to go back to their old ways (even though that was slavery); grumbling against leadership (is this the grumbliest generation ever?); looking for other gods at the first sign of God’s silence; and are mostly a mess. But mostly like the people coming out of Egypt, we have miles to go to move away from the heavy cultural forces upon us. Keeping God front and CENTER was the way then and it’s the way now. The Israelites had trouble doing that, it seems we do too.