In this message I am especially burdened to point out the fact that we all have a self-made and self-imposed culture. This culture is a substitute for Christ. Probably you do not realize how strong your self-made culture is. This culture separates us from others and keeps us from being built up with them. Our culture may be like a steel cell, in which we are confined. We all have such a strong self-made and self-imposed culture. Certain saints may be excellent and very precious. Nevertheless, they are full of self-made culture. For example, a certain brother may be frank and not at all political. This frankness, however, may be a matter of culture, not of Christ. Others may be very kind and gentle; they never offend anyone. This also may be an aspect of their culture. We all have our own culture. If others live according to our culture, we are happy. But if they do not live according to our culture, we may be offended.
A brother and his wife may have difficulty living in oneness because they have different cultures. The brother expects his wife to live according to his culture, and the wife hopes that her husband will live according to her culture. This difference of cultures becomes a source of trouble in their married life. As one with more than fifty years’ experience in married life, I can testify that the happiest married life comes about when neither one expects the other to live according to his culture. But when each party makes demands on the other, there will be difficulty. Thus, the problem is that we all have our own culture and expect others to live by it. This self-made culture is a great frustration to the experience of Christ. The most hidden and subtle substitute for Christ is our culture.
In the past I have often spoken of the problems caused in the church life by opinions. Recently I heard that in a certain place some sisters were strongly opposed to the piano, but equally strong in favor of guitars. Such opinions come from our culture. Culture is the source of opinion. If our culture has been dealt with, we shall not have opinions about pianos or guitars. We shall care only for Christ. To be without opinion means to be without culture. If you hold on to your culture, it will be very difficult not to be opinionated. Your culture causes you to be opinionated. I am one very strong in my opinion. But throughout the years I have been dealt with by the Lord. Now it does not matter to me whether we have a piano, guitars, neither, or both. Likewise, it does not matter to me what kind of food the saints eat. However, if we have culture instead of Christ, surely we shall care much about this kind of thing. How we need the Lord’s salvation! The most hidden and subtle frustration to living Christ is our culture. This stronghold of culture within us must be torn down by the Lord. Then we shall have no culture, only Christ. In various situations and circumstances we shall no longer have opinions according to our culture; we shall care only for Christ. If others want to play the piano or guitar, we shall not have any feeling about it. If they do not use any instruments, we shall have no feeling about that either. Because we have been rescued from our culture, we shall care only for Christ and for living Christ.
The way to be free from our self-made and self-imposed culture is not to deliberately try to drop our culture. If we do this, our efforts to drop our culture will become another kind of culture, an anti-culture culture. We need to see that the way to be free from culture is simply to continually live Christ in spirit. We all have been constituted with culture according to our race and nationality and even according to the church life. The church life now plays an important role in our culture. We must condemn any culture that replaces Christ. Our need is to live Christ, to live by this all-inclusive Person in our spirit.