A Cultural Analysis—Pop, Folk, & High Culture
When it comes to an analysis of the culture today, we’re going to touch on higher-level cultural influences: pop, folk, and high culture.
Pop Culture
What is pop culture? “A culture of people that is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities: styles of dress, the use of slang, greeting rituals and the foods that people eat. It is easy to understand and entertaining and short-lived and tenuous.” The thrust of pop culture is consumption, i.e., an insatiable desire for something new or fresh.[1]
In essence, pop culture is a black hole. It swallows its followers as soon as the next participant ascends its mountains of success. It’s quite a mystery, and the problem is what defines success, according to pop culture? We don’t know, as it is a moving target. It’s like mob-rule. One day it’s one thing and another day it’s the next.
Folk Culture
On the other hand, another influence within a culture is what is known as folk culture. This is a culture that represents the traditional way of doing things. It’s the pursuit of a simpler lifestyle that is generally conservative, largely self-sufficient, and often characteristic of rural life. It is local in orientation and non-commercial. The thrust of folk culture is that it promises stability.[2]
With folk culture, we’re not talking about political conservatism, but conservation as a philosophy of life. The Amish would be a quintessential example of the maintaining and perpetuation of folk culture. What folk culture is trying to do is pass down, maintain the old ways, and hold sway over those within their local proximity.
High Culture
Our next idea of influences within a cultural is high culture. This is an influence that belongs to the social elite, the fine arts, opera, theatre, and high intellectualism. It often requires extensive experience, training, education, or reflection to be appreciated. The thrust of high culture is that it is the self-consciousness of a society.[3]
With high culture we get the striving toward order and standards. It rewards those who are willing and able to invest considerable resources into its practice, which results in its longevity within cultures. Just as pop culture comes and goes with a whim, high culture stays and remains like an ancient tree. Like an ancient tree, it takes longer to grow, but when its heights are reached it keeps its followers long into the future. It’s why we still celebrate Beethoven and Bach’s birthdays. Their influence in music reached beyond their geographic boundaries because it transcended these borders with remarkable universally appreciated skill and exactitude.
In each of these three culturally influential ideas there are pros and cons and transcendent implications. One way to understand their influence is by a Venn diagram. Each of these three aspects have standalone influence, but at some point, they also overlap. Both pop culture and high culture may impact a person in equal ways, while folk culture may have a predominant impact in shaping the way a person views the world.
Thus, the purpose of examining how culture is influenced through these three aspects is that it helps us understand the meaning of artifacts, beliefs, etc. that have shaped us, as well as the purpose behind these aspects that hold sway over the cultures and influences within the cultures in which we reside.
The Telos of Culture
Having previously looked at a general definition of culture, and now three key influences within a culture, we now turn our attention to understanding a biblical vision for culture.
What is the point of culture? To put it another way, “Where is culture headed?” We look to God’s Word to understand this answer:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,
“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”[4]
The universal telos or purpose of culture is that myriad voices unite in praise to God. That is to say, the goal of culture is that every nation, tongue, tribe, and people cry out with one voice, “saying, ‘Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’”[5]
When we look around, it’s obvious that this is not occurring universally. However, it was at one point in time. We look again to God’s Word.
In Genesis 1:27-28, we see the first man and woman created for praise to God. Their purpose was clear: cultivate, keep, multiply, and populate the earth. The universal heart-song of this first couple would be the heart-song of every couple thenceforth: “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’”[6] Adam and Eve were the first—the original seed—of heart-singers of praise to God.
Unfortunately, their hearts took on a different song, which led to the dissolution of unadulterated fellowship with God. Accordingly, the spiral of sin led to the judgment of mankind and the saving of one family who were to sing–in a unified voice–praises to their God.
From them came the nations: Shem, Japheth, and Ham. These three families populated and multiplied on the earth until finally the climax of a unified self-song voice at Babel became a dispersed and diversified voice thenceforth.
The languages took shape, the cultures were uniquely established, and one man (Gen. 12) was selected among all the myriad nations to be the father of the nations whose progeny would be the priests to all individuals within comprising the various nations (Ex. 19).
Looking again at the universal telos (purpose) of culture, we see a diverse choir—as it were—singing a heart-song of praise to God (Rev. 7:9-12). However, the first couple, subsequent family of eight, and all the nations that came from them failed to sing in one unified voice a heart-song of praise to God.
Throughout history, the various nations sang their own self-songs to their own manufactured deities. God’s judgment fell until finally—in the fullness of time—He sent forth His Son (Gal. 4:4-5) to redeem (buy back) His nations and turn their hearts to a song of unified praise.
God did this because He loved the world (John 3:16). He will accomplish His purpose (Rev. 7:9-12) for culture, and it will be in His time.
However, in the meantime, He provides an intermittent purpose as He accomplishes His universal purpose. Within every culture, He provides instructions. In John 17:15, Jesus prays to God on our behalf, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” His prayer for His followers was that within any culture they abide unsullied from the enemy.
Secondly, the apostle Paul teaches in Romans 12:1-2, that each member of Christ’s family is to “present” themselves as living sacrifices as an act of worship, while at the same time not being conformed to the culture’s worldly patterns. In so doing, there is a renewal of the mind that proves God’s will.
One of the ways each member within various cultures lives this out is by speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). This means different things for different contexts, but ultimately, it implies that truth is to be known—that is from God—and love is to be the means of its communication.
Finally, the practice of God’s members within the Christian family is to live a quiet life and attend to their own business and work with their hands, so that there is a proper behavior toward the world and an ability to meet their own needs (1 Thess. 4:11-12). What the apostle Paul was teaching the Thessalonians is applicable to us today.
Thus, a biblical vision for the culture is one where each member flourishes quietly within their culture without being conformed by it as they present themselves in service to the culture with truth spoken through love and accompanied with hard work, so that they meet their own needs and maintain a good reputation with those within the culture, because God died for this to occur.
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[1] Tim Delaney, “Philosophy Now: A Magazine of Ideas,” 2007, https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview.
[2] Delaney.
[3] Delaney.
[4] New American Standard Bible, v. Revelation 7:9-12.
[5] New American Standard Bible, v. Revelation 7:12.
[6] New American Standard Bible, v. Revelation 7:12.
— February 3, 2022