This is day two of the series of blog posts, “Boxes that Hold Group Members Captive.” As I’ve mentioned the last three days…There are three very important reasons that a small group leader needs to be aware of these boxes, 1) the only way they will be set free is if a small group leader knows what those boxes are and aids in freeing the small group member being held captive, 2) because we live in an age of very attainable information, many small group members will realize that some expectations are heaped upon them by someone other than God, and rebellion will rear its ugly head, 3) when a small group discusses some issues, a small group member may push back hard, and sometimes they should.
The Cultural Christian Box is a box that is instinctively known to those of us who have been church-types for any period of time. This box is overflowing with expectations created mostly by those who have lived their lives almost exclusively with other church types, churchgoers who seldom mingle with those outside the faith. Expectations in the cultural Christian box may be directives that over time were embraced and thought of as biblical expressions. These are most often born in Southern churches in the United States.
Responsibilities like attending Sunday night worship services, reading the King James Bible only, or dressing up for church services are illustrations of these.
But oftentimes, the things that fall into this category aren’t expectations; they are attitudes. For instance, passive aggressive behavior or ignoring a fellow Christ follower who said something that was attacking and hurtful rather than going to them to point out the statement and reconciling. The attitudes that drive these actions contradict Scripture, but they are not only accepted; they are culturally normal. They are culturally Christian and undoubtedly contradictory to the teachings of Jesus.