I think we all want our lives to matter to those around us. However we will only matter when we make an impact and we cannot impact our culture by being disconnected from it. No one will connect with every one but every one can connect with some one. This is clearly seen throughout the Bible, some places being more obvious than others. One place where it may not be so obvious at first glance is in the story of Boaz redeeming Ruth as her kinsman redeemer. This story is found in Ruth chapter four and is full of things that can only be understood from the view of Jewish culture.
To summarize, Boaz was very public in the way in which he helped restore the future of Ruth by marrying her following the death of her first husband. In the Jewish culture this meant that Boaz was her kinsman redeemer. The public nature of this event and the manner in which Boaz operated fit into the cultural norms however the impact was far from normal. Initially the people had some thing that prompted praise in a time for which there was little to give thanks. The far reaching impact was that Ruth became the grandma of King David. Reaching farther still, Ruth was a member if the lineage of Jesus as recorded in Matthew chapter one. Perhaps the largest impact of this story is that Boaz became a "type" of Jesus Christ in that he defined the role of redeemer.
If this is to mean anything to us we must without fear or arrogance engage in your cultural context.
I hope to see you at CONNECT each and every Saturday night at Apple Valley Church of the Nazarene. Enjoy the video below and understand that it is not an example of impacting your culture.
Trying to engage,
Paul
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