Christmas and the sacred cow of culture

A few weeks’ ago, animal rights activists sought a court injunction that would have prevented a traditional Zulu ceremony from taking place. The ceremony involved the killing of a bull by a group of impis, or traditional warriors, using only their bare hands. The animal rights activists claimed that this traditional practice amounted to gross cruelty to the animal concerned that was quite unacceptable in this day and age. Those opposing the court application claimed that the ceremonial killing of the bull was an important cultural practice that was part of a time-honoured tradition. To prevent it from happening would have been an insult to the Zulu King and to the entire Zulu nation.

In the end, the court ruled that the ceremony could proceed – a decision which was greeted with joy by all those involved in the proceedings (except the bull, of course!)

Without getting caught up in the specific details of this particular case, it does raise an interesting question about the weight given to cultural claims over our lives. How often is the phrase heard, ‘But it’s my culture!’ to justify a certain behaviour or attitude that otherwise could not be justified?

Of course culture is important. Distinctive cultural practices and traditions are an essential part of the rich diversity of humanity. They add to the rich tapestry of life in this world. They can help to create a deep sense of identity and belonging. They can speak eloquently of the heart and soul of a people and can provide a framework for what is acceptable behaviour. And so it’s no surprise that the claims of culture can be weighty indeed, and can be very difficult to oppose, even when those claims are clearly no longer life-giving.

Which makes me wonder whether culture has become a sacred cow.

The Christmas story has much to say to this issue! Because in coming into the world, Christ Jesus was born into a very specific cultural context – a cultural context that shaped his identity and much of his behaviour, and left a deep imprint on the kind of person he was. However, and this is the crucial point, Jesus never hid behind his culture, and was never afraid to challenge any cultural norm that diminished the fullness of life that he came to bring. One just has to think of Jesus’ radically inclusive, counter-cultural attitudes towards women, children, lepers, outcasts and the poor. Or his subversion of many of the religious cultural practices of his day that had missed the whole point of who God really was and what God really required.

Yes, Jesus lived and died as a Jew – which shaped his identity in significant ways. But for him there was a more fundamental identity that went way deeper than the distinctions of nationality, race or ethnicity. It was the identity that was his as the Son of God, and as a member of the human race. Overtures of this ringing truth could already be heard at his birth when Magi from a distant land knelt in homage before him, revealing that the claims that he made would never be bound by the particularities of any specific culture.

And so the Christmas story invites us to reflect on the cultural context in which we find ourselves – to embrace the heritage that has been entrusted to us, but also to scrutinize the claims that our culture makes on us in the light of what we see revealed in Jesus. And anything within our culture that diminishes life must be surrendered to the higher claims of Christ and his Kingdom.

This includes, of course, any family cultural practices around the celebration of Christmas. My hope and prayer is that whatever those family cultural practices may be, that they would be life-giving for all who are affected by them. And if they no longer bring life, may you find the courage and grace this Christmas to relinquish them.

May you have a very happy Christmas tomorrow!

CHRISTMAS SERVICES AT MRMC

For those of you in the Durban area, you are warmly invited to attend the Christmas services at Manning Road Methodist Church, on the corner of Manning & Moore Rds in Glenwood. The details are as follows:

Thursday 24 December 11:15pm Christmas Eve Communion Service

Friday 25 December 7.30am & 9.00am Christmas Day Services