Is culture overrated?

What does the shuttle Columbia, Heineken, and General Motors have in common?

“The destruction of space shuttle Columbia and the death of its seven astronauts
were caused by a NASA culture driven by schedule, starved for funds, and
burdened with an eroded, insufficient safety program."   Aug 26, 2003

“To over come these challenges, Ruys (CEO) is pushing Heineken to break out of
its play-it-safe corporate culture."     Sept 8, 2003

“CEO Henderson understands he needs to take a wrecking ball to the
automaker’s rigid culture”    June 29,2009

All share the issue of culture as a constraint to success. For this reason, culture receives quite a bit of attention as the reason people do what they do. Culture becomes the main focus of how diversity challenges harmony in communities and organizations. Culture becomes the rationale for someone's worldview, which is the source of perspective behind behavioral choices.

While culture has significant influence on behavior, its possible that it is not the primary factor we should consider. Culture basically is comprised of two factors shared by members of the culture: values and norms. Values are "what is important" and norms are "what is expected." These do vary from culture to culture affecting what people eat, how they view time, how formal communication is, and so forth. I contend that these are more styles of behavior associated with context and not the core characteristics of behavior, such as being selfish or greedy, or getting angry, or using power to subject others to your will.

People across organizations and demographics are actually more alike than different. The similarities are found in their core assumptions. People everywhere are obsessed with justice and reward/punishment systems. People everywhere desire to make inferences from observable data than from faith in something they cannot prove. People everywhere wish truth to be relative. not absolute, and generally bias their view of information to confirm what they already believe to be true. People everywhere wish to determine truth by the rationale of their inferences about an object rather than knowing the originator of the object. These core tendencies are part of human nature and make the major contribution to how people think, feel and act.

While its helpful to understand culture when trying to communicate with each other more effectively, it is not best to see culture as the main determinant of people's perspectives and behavior. More time spent on core assumptions that flow not only from the individual's social identity, but also their personal and natural identity, will provide a more abundant and virtuous life.

BUT, more importantly, when our carnal or human identity is transformed and our core assumptions flow from our spiritual identity, we have access to all of the privileges and provision of THE KINGDOM.

If you don't ponder this regularly, your should .....

the "timeless truth in our heart" will not be known, unless ...

The events of our world can lead us to feel that our world is completely out of control. It seems that evil is winning and that chaos is the norm. Yet our heart feels that there is "timeless truth" that can and must prevail. That darkness does not reign over light, and that good wins in the end. It seems that the narrative of the media, government, education, religion, and society as a whole cannot pacify these longings of our heart. How will truth be known? How will truth prevail? How will truth restore peace and liberty? 

We see revenge as the major force at work in the world. We know that this "Hatfield & McCoy" revenge that dominates is not pretty. Revenge is not helpful, not welcome by those whose heart yearns for peace.

While revenge is not hopeful for mankind, revenge is justice. Revenge is the basic notion that we get what we deserve, reciprocity, "an eye for an eye." But revenge produces so much evil. How can justice be evil? Our hearts yearn for the timeless truth of justice, but yet justice by definition brings revenge. 

The "timeless truth" we must all embrace is that administering justice belongs to God. God has ordained civil institutions to enact justice through objective, lawful punishment to maintain order in society. But justice in the hands of individuals' revenge motive stems from humans taking on God's role in satisfying justice. When individuals desire justice, they cannot escape hatred.

The "timeless truth" is that justice is God's business. He has taken care of justice for us so we can act in the liberty of grace towards one another. We can respond to offense not in reciprocity, but in unmerited favor, which is first granted to us by the author of all life. 

Dividing up sides and enacting "justice" on each other is a tribal mindset that is sourced in our human flaws of social categorization and attraction. 

There is futility in ignoring the diversity among us. The "timeless truth" of justice is not found in the eye saying to the arm, "I don't need you," or vice versa. The "timeless truth" of justice is that in Jesus, we are individually members of one another.  

So, the "timeless truth in our heart" will not be known until ....

we trust it

we say it

we act on it

we share it

Looking elsewhere for the solution to peace and liberty is also futile ....

"liberty in law"

A line in the song "America the Beautiful" ends with the words, "thy liberty in law." Millions sing this song every year, especially at the July 4th holiday like we did today. People sing the words, rarely stopping to ponder them. Isn't there irony in the words "liberty in law?"

Doesn't "law" mean to many people rules that constrain what you can do? I can drive only so fast. I must pay taxes to the government, giving up choice on how to use some of my money. We have State and Federal elected officials who spend hours passing legislation that controls what people and businesses can do. We are in a time of regulation on the loose. How does law produce liberty? What did our founding Fathers have in mind?


Laws are seen as objective wishes of society that maintain order by influencing what citizens should do or not do. Laws establish the guidelines for how punishment is dispersed within a society. Because laws are developed by elected representatives of society. they exist to apply rules to everyone WITHOUT preferences of people in power.

The Founding Fathers were wise to off load the power to punish away from kings, tyrants, and despots and to objective laws. This objective application of rules gave citizens a freedom from punishment that is unjust. Knowing what is right and wrong gives citizens the liberty to choose in ways that benefits them. Therefore, there is liberty in law.

This is why it is so important to protect the Constitution. When the "liberty of law" is subject to the whims of power, then citizens are in bondage to the wishes of select people who seek to gain power. This raises the value of power and increases the contest for it. Sound familiar? The current disregard for law to pander to the cultural winds of progressives (i.e. Sanctuary cities, abuse of the IRS, and political messaging to manipulate voters during elections (Benghazi)) destroys liberty. Law is designed to protect citizens from those who seek to consolidate power for personal gain.

Our Founding Fathers were so wise to see "liberty in law" as opposed to bondage in tyranny.

But, there is even a greater "liberty in law." Liberty provided to us by someone way wiser than our Founding Fathers. For in civil law, justice prevails. We all are subject to punishment as we violate the law. Therefore, we live in some level of fear of the law because of its power to harm us. We long for justice but are at the same time oppressed by its terms of reciprocity.

So God, in His infinite wisdom, takes "liberty in law" one step further. He recognizes that failure to follow the law is condemnation, a sense of guilt that builds a tension with liberty, which comes from objective application of justice. When we realize we cannot fully obey the law at all times in every way, we are then in bondage to the law. "Law in liberty" is just a nice line in a song to sing.
 

Good news comes when we trust that God took care of our inability to obey the law. "Liberty in law" becomes a reality when we have the law satisfied on our behalf by someone who loves us completely. Having objective law to condemn us has liberty until we violate the law. Then law condemns and liberty only comes from the Cross, grace bestowed on us to satisfy the law. "Liberty in law" becomes freedom from the fear of just application of the law.



The liberty we have been given by our Founding Fathers has great benefit to temporary, finite living in this world without fear of unjust punishment. The liberty we have been given by the work of Christ has great benefit to eternal living without the fear of just punishment. In both cases "law" provides the basis of "liberty". That is why we should joyfully sing "thy liberty in law" this July 4th and every other day too.

Certainly worth pondering...