The Church has been given two commissions, and both involve being "fruitful and multiplying." Genesis 1:28 states to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Similarly, in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands His followers to "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." These two commandments—one from the Old Testament and one from the New—should be viewed as two halves of the same whole. One does not negate the other, both work together in harmony, bringing God's will to bear "on earth as it is in heaven."
Yesterday, we began a discussion of the need for the Church to be "salt and light" through the ministry of cultural engagement. Far too often, when Christians think of the culture that surrounds them, they think in negative terms. In other words, the "culture" is something to be avoided, rather than something to be interacted with and engaged. The reasons for this are many, but suffice it to say that most times the "culture" is viewed as what happens "out there" in the big, bad world, where the pagans romp and play, i.e. the "real world" of sin and disobedience. This puritanical view of culture causes the Church to retreat when she should be advancing, to hide when she should be seeking.
The proper view of culture is given by Andy Crouch in his fantastic book, Culture Making. Crouch writes: "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." [1] Crouch's observation of "making something else" is very perceptive and serves as a large part of the thesis of the entire book. The two "great commissions" given to God's people are the very ways that we are to "make something else." Having and raising children, subduing the earth, and making disciples of all nations is the divine prescription for how to make something of the world. Work is a blessing, not a curse, especially when that work is fulfilling some aspect of the great commissions.
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