Why "Cultivating Life?"

The inspiration for this little ol' blog came from the book "Culture Making" by Andy Crouch. Did you know that you are involved in making culture everyday?

"Culture is what we make of the world. Culture is, first of all the name for our relentless, restless, human effort to take the world as it's given to us and make something else (pg. 23)," and "The only way to change culture is to make more of it" (pg. 67).

I think a great example of this right now is the Slow Food Movement. A culture of fast and convenient food was created, and as a response to this fast food, the slow food movement was introduced. More people have jumped on the band wagon of shopping at local markets and eating at restaurants that cook with only local foods. A group of people looked at a piece of the culture and with relentless effort have worked to change this.

Adam and Eve made culture. They were placed in the garden and given the creation around them to make something of it.

Genesis 2:15

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

We have to use our imagination for this and dream about what Adam did with the materials that God had given him. The same is true for us today. Everyday you walk into your kitchen, look in your refrigerator, and create something for dinner. You then set the table, pour the wine, and maybe light a candle or two. You, my friend, are creating culture. You are displaying to those around you what you value, love, and adore.

Drew and I have felt challenged by these ideas. Crouch uses the word "cultivate" many times in his book and I really like this word. It reflects being active and makes me think of tilling the soil in a garden. This is what we want our life and ministry to look like. A constant tilling of the soil that is in front of us; seeing the creation that God has put before us, and engaging the process of making something with it. How Drew and I interact as husband and wife, the kind of foods that we buy, how we take care of our bodies, the way we read books and reflect on how they change us, the way we view our emotional health, the way we treat our neighbors. This is our life and the creation around us is God's gift to us. We want to cultivate it well. The reality of this life is that because of mankind's sin, there are weeds in the soil. We want to cultivate the healthy life offered by Christ in the soil that is before us by helping to bring redemption to all things - i.e. creating a culture!

Crouch says in speaking about Adam and Eve, "Without this gracious carving out of space, they would never be able to fulfill their destiny as divine image-bearers; without the gift of a garden protected from the full wild wonder of the teeming earth and waters, they would be overwhelmed. God's first and best gift to humanity is culture, the realm in which human beings themselves will be the cultivators and creators, ultimately contributing to the cosmic purposes of the Cultivator and Creator of the natural world" (pg. 110).

So, again we invite you to join us as we document our adventures of cultivating and creating this life before us and doing it all to the glory and honor of the Great Cultivator and Creator!

- Lindsey

P.S. One final irresistible quote!

"In the kingdom of God a new kinds of life and a new kind of culture becomes possible - not by abandoning the old but by transforming it. Even the cross, the worst that culture can do, is transformed into a sign of the kingdom of God - the realm of forgiveness, mercy, love and indestructible life" (pg. 146).