In his pivotal new book
Culture Making (a basic must-read for any Christian interested in issues of church and culture), Andy Crouch makes the case that throughout the scriptural story, culture is presented as "God's original plan for humanity - and God's original gift to humanity, both duty and grace." At the culmination of his assessment of the biblical story, he observes how far askew our view of disembodied heaven truly is.
In Revelation's description of the New Jerusalem (a city, incidentally, not a cloud bank), the citizens are drawn from "every tribe and language and people and nation" (5:9). And "the kings of the earth" shall bring into the city "the glory and honor of the nations" (21:23-36). The question is, what could it mean for the kings of the earth to bring their splendor, and the glory and honor of nations into heaven?
Crouch finds guidance in another prophetic passage about the redeemed Jerusalem, Isaiah 60. There are strong parallels between the passage, which the author of Revelation clearly had in mind during his writing. For instance, they both make reference to the fact that the city will never close its gates (this city never sleeps), which is made possible because light sources are unnecessary—"the Lord will be your everlasting light," Isaiah says, and in Revelation, "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp."
The Isaiah passage also makes reference to the kings of the earth bringing in the honor and glory of the nations, in terms of cultural artifacts. Specifically mentioned are the camels of Midian, refined gold and spices, the ships of Tarshish (regarded then as the highest quality vessels in the world), as well as cypress and pine from Lebanon. In short, according to Crouch, "The streets of Isaiah's city too are teeming with cultural goods—not just from Israel's culture but from the nations that surrounded her. Domesticated animals, ships, precious minerals and jewels and timber all appear in the city."
Richard Muow wrote a short book on the way the biblical authors viewed culture eschatalogically. He commented on Isaiah 60,
The contents of the City will be more akin to our usual cultural patterns than is usually acknowledged in discussions of the afterlife. Isaiah pictures the Holy City as a center of commerce, a place that receives the vessels, goods, and currency of commercial activity... Isaiah is, in contemporary jargon, interested in the future of "corporate structures" and "cultural patterns." And his vision leads him to what are for many of us very surprising observations about the future destiny of many items of "pagan culture." He sees these items as being gathered into the Holy City to be put to good use there.
So in a section called 'Furnishing the New Jerusalem', Crouch summarizes that "Culture is the furniture of heaven." Which, to my mind, makes heaven a much more interesting place than simply singing verse 10,001 of Amazing Grace. Crouch goes into more detail:
So it's a fascinating exercise to ask about any cultural artifact: can we imagine this making it into the new Jerusalem? What cultural goods represent the "glory and honor" of the many cultural traditions we know? We already have biblical assurance that the ships of Tarshish will be there; perhaps they will share a harbor with an Americas' Cup yacht and a lovingly carved birch bark canoe. My own personal list of "the glory and honor of the nations" would surely include Bach's B Minor Mass, Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue,' and Arvo Pärt's "Spiegel im Speigel"; green-tea Crème brûlée, fish tacos and bulgogi; Moby-Dick and the Odyssey; the iPod and the Mini Cooper... They are part of the glorious best that human beings have made of the twelve-tone scale, the flavors of the natural world, language, the microchip and the internal combustion engine.
Crouch has a caveat, of course, noting that he doesn't expect any of them to appear without being suitably purified and redeemed, any more than he expects his own resurrected body to be just another unimproved version of his present one.
Finally, Crouch observes that the biblical portrait of the afterlife implies a range of life and activities much more, well, life-like than our common view of disembodied harp playing. We've all heard from zealous worship leaders that "worship is the only eternal thing we do," or that "we'd better practice singing now, because it's all we'll be doing in heaven," which are both very flattering ideas when you're a worship leader. But while such worship is surely a part of the biblical portrait, it is not all-encompassing.
According to Crouch, it seems "that our eternal life in God's recreated world will be the fulfillment of what God originally asked us to do: cultivating and creating in full and lasting relationship with our Creator. This time, of course, we will not just be tending a garden; we will be sustaining the life of a city, a harmonious human society that has developed all the potentialities hidden in the original creation to their fullest. Culture—redeemed, transformed and permeated by the presence of God—will be the activity of eternity."
Does that sound like heaven to you? How does this view vary from your view of heaven? What cultural items would make your list of the "glory and honor of nations"? -NDSR
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Comments (18)
I know for me I have matured in my faith over the years to accepting the fact that
A) God created work and it was good; work is NOT the result of the fall, work was already around
B) God designed mankind to work and to enjoy working
and C) God's design will be made perfect when our earth-bound jobs are over.
All that has led me to believe that we won't be sitting around telling stories in heaven or standing in some eternal choir. I do believe we will be worshipping Him for eternity, but worship is not confined to song. I believe we will be worshipping as we do our WORK in heaven. I believe it's an active place, where everybody has a job to do and is able to do their job perfectly, with joy, experiencing the constant pleasure of God.
So basically, yeah, that reminds me a bit of what I think heaven is like.
~V
Heaven is a cheese burger with fries.
@Kikelations@xanga - Amen! (but in my case, it's a vegan burger, haha.)
I think human culture isn't fit for heaven. At least not all of it. Only the things that give God full glory is fit in heaven. The things not of God will not be in heaven. Many are starting to think that we are in the endtimes. In some ways, I'm excited and in some ways scared.
This is a great subject. It sounds accurate. Downtown here there is a store called Yesteryear Tobacconists. There are tobaccos of many different kinds. The variety of aromas are similar to the pleasure of smelling flowers. Many years ago a friend and I spent many nights drinking coffee, brandy or soda and listening to music and smoking together. He was a Catholic and I was Baptist. We didn't talk much. While listening to Gregorian chants with bells once I felt like the doors of Heaven were opening and we were going home. I made the comment once that I think Heaven will be a lot like it is "now" but without all the pain and death. It was during that time when I got serious about reading the Bible.
@Faerie_In_Combat_Boots@xanga - blaspheme!
I honestly don't think it about it much. I do think even the best of our desires are skewed and lacking, and the best images our minds can come up with can't do any justice in describing what God has for us. Whatever is there will be perfect.Even if we were told exactly what it will be like, we aren't even capable of appreciating it now..in fact, in our fallen state we probably wouldn't approve of it. But us along with our desires, senses and perceptions will be made perfect, and that only will enable us to appreciate the world of true perfection that we will live in.
...assuming heaven is even a literal place.
@TheMarriedFreshman@xanga - I think you're exactly right.
This rings true for me .....it's too bad that there is such a boring view of heaven by so many people who think it wil only be one long worship service. Along with some of this earth's culture being refined and present on the New Earth, think also of what we as redeemed perfected humans will be able to achieve in Heaven for God's glory! Think of what we can do and explore and achieve.
@SirNickDon@xanga - you should read the book "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn. I think I'lll try and find a copy of the book you're writing about!
I'm pretty sure heaven is a halfpipe...
The 90's never lie.
All human culture is imperfect. Having only shadows of what is to come. Like the body and the soul and the world, Christ will restore human culture to its perfected form (one form, that is--all cultures seen now have hints at perfected culture). Now what this will look like, no one knows, because no one really knows what it will be like in Heaven (the Scriptures are sparse on descriptions). But I think human culture will be something having to do with our real purpose, our created purpose, as perfect worshipper of God and perfect lover of other people.
If John's vision in Revelation is any indication language will could make the cut as well as food. I am not sure immaterial spirits eat but anything is possible. Those images could be metaphoric in nature but I am not so sure they are. I think language in its essence is divine and once in the second body becomes a vehicle through which worship comes.
p
I was involved with international activities at my university for 2 years, & went on mission trips to 3 countries with my Christian group, Chi Alpha. Also, my fiance is Korean & I live in Seoul, as a missionary. So culture is very interesting to me!
Good post - it definitely gets me thinking.
It's hard not to picture heaven on a bunch of golden clouds. That's why I made heaven in the Sims... Unfortunately, it didn't have anything listed above, or walls of gold with every precious stone embedded in it.
Whatever, God came to Earth. He knows what we like!
@designandart@xanga - I like this moment you describe. C.S. Lewis talks about these moments--times when you feel like you can almost see or smell the heavenly beauty. For me they are about greenery and bird sounds.
SirNick, I really appreciate this post. I think about the heavenly culture a lot, because I know that the good things I'm missing here on earth may be abundant to me in perfection. I have mostly thought of it as science, philosophy and the arts, though, so this picture of commerce in heaven is really new and powerful. My husband makes it as part of his life's work to teach people about the goodness and godliness of commerce, so it's wonderful to have a picture of it perfected. It sounds like Andy Crouch has it right.
I also predict, though, that either this discussion won't get many comments, or you'll get a fair amount of scolding for suggeting that commerce can be godly. This is just not how Christians are accustomed to thinking and talking.
So what this tells me is that I learned to play the harp for nothing!
Ok I never really learned to play the harp.
I think it's a good take on heaven. I believe we are constantly polishing our lives, learning from our mistakes, maturing, however slowly, as we move toward ever more enlightened states of being. I believe that as we look outside of ourselves and interact, each with our own individual environments, the kingdom of heaven does indeed lay within each one of us. We need each other to share experiences and sometimes the harshest experiences are the ones that teach us the most. I also strongly believe that true friendship is the most important thing in life as friends not only teach us as we view their lives but they support us in those harsh times. I believe this book is an attempt to show a world wherein we live together in mutual respect, compassion, empathy and a deep understanding of the value of life itself. I don't see it as being a city in some geographical point on a map. The holy land is anywhere a holy person stands, looking out at the world, eyes beaming with compassion toward all, and I believe each one of you can be that person.