This small seminar is a follow-up of several discussions on Lampung local wisdom ‘Piil Pasenggiri’, a philosophy of life that describes the attitude of life of Lampung people who uphold self-esteem in their lives. As church members as well as community members living in Lampung province, students also have an important role to give contribution for Lampung's development starting with simple concepts. The urge to do good things according to the values of the gospel teachings can be combined with local wisdom with any parties to develop Lampung. Stube HEMAT is here as a bridge so that the understanding of good news from the Bible can meet the cultural values of local wisdom.
Starting
with a short reflection by Yosi Nanda Pratama, a Computer Engineering student
in Bandar Lampung, this seminar had Retno Ambarsasi, S.Th, a Christian religion
teacher at a church-owned foundation school, the Klasis women's empowerment commission
in Pugungraharjo, as the source person (Sunday, 08 / 11/2020). Retno conveyed
that culture is a way of life that always develops, it is shared by a group of
people, and it is passed through from generation to generation. Culture is
formed by many elements, such as religion, politics, customs, language, tools,
clothing, buildings, or artworks. A culture that is stated in the Bible, was
originally and should have the aim to glorif God (vertical aspect).
Genesis 1:28 says, "God blessed them, and God said to them," Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and conquer it." The word "conquer" in Hebrew is 'kabash'. This term is used about fifteen times in the Old Testament which means to subdue an opponent or subdue an enemy. After human fell into sin, culture became an integral part of human sin. Human who manage culture are human who sin, so culture also falls into sin. For example: in the past, when people wanted to work in the fields they only relied on hoes, but in modern era humans have been facilitated by modern agricultural tools. The technological advances encourage more and more people to do ambitious actions that are likely to be destructive.
The presentation was followed by an in-depth discussion of the material by answering the following questions: What is your response to a culture based on the Bible text from Acts 16:21, Mark 7: 9, Matthew 15: 6, 2 Kings 17:33, 2 Kings 17:34, 1 Peter 1:18? How do the youth of the Christian church view to respond the developing culture today? What is the example?
The
group discussion attended by 25 participants (15 university students, 5
students, and 5 church activists) resulted in the following points:
- Jesus criticized the culture and traditions that were commonly practiced by human, whether they did it according to His Father's will.
- Some Bible passages teach that people should put God first in their life along with the culture in which they live.
- Encourage the Bible readers and believers to have a critical attitude towards the culture whether it leads to a good life attitude and to the truth of God's word. A culture that has the values of goodness and the truth of God's word is used by believers (students) to contribute to the sake of their regions development.
This
activity encourages Lampung Christian students to preserve culture and to care
for the earth of Lampung as their ancestral heritage. ***
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