When God Speaks Through Culture

Throughout Scripture, God demonstrates a holy freedom in how He communicates. He is not confined to sacred spaces, religious vocabulary, or approved vessels. He speaks through burning bushes, foreign kings, donkeys, pagan poets, fishermen, and shepherds.

Not to elevate the vessel. But to deliver the truth.

This is where many believers stumble—not because God is unclear, but because He is unexpected.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” — John 3:8

God’s voice is sovereign. He will use whatever arrests attention long enough to redirect it toward Him.

Scripture is explicit:

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they continue …spiritually discerned” — 1 Corinthians 2:14

The limitation is not intelligence.

It is orientation.

The natural mind evaluates everything through familiarity, preference, memory, and emotion. The spiritual mind listens for initiative—for moments when God interrupts ordinary patterns with uncommon clarity.

This is why two people can encounter the same cultural artifact—music, literature, history, art—and only one recognizes that something else is happening. One hears nostalgia. The other hears an invitation.

The difference is not taste.

The difference is discernment.

God does not require uniformity of experience to communicate truth. He meets people within the vocabulary He Himself has stewarded over their lifetime.

Jesus spoke in agriculture because His listeners lived among fields and seed. Paul quoted Greek poets because his audience thought in philosophy (Acts 17:28). Neither was endorsing the culture. They were redeeming attention.

In the same way, God often speaks through the language a person understands:

• For some, music
• For others, literature or history
• For others, craftsmanship, mechanics, or building
• For others, athletics, competition, or strategy

This does not mean the interest becomes holy.

It means God temporarily borrows a familiar channel to deliver an unfamiliar truth.

The Spirit is not sanctifying the medium.

He is interrupting the listener.

A crucial distinction must be made:

When God speaks through culture, He does not endorse the entire work. He highlights a fragment.

This matters deeply.

The Spirit isolates a phrase.
A line.
A moment.
A symbol.

Not the worldview.
Not the lifestyle.
Not the creator.
Not the message as a whole.

This is how God preserves humility and discernment.

If the whole work were affirmed, imagination would run ahead. By highlighting a fragment, the Spirit forces the listener to stop, return to Scripture, and ask, “Lord, what are You saying?”

The authority never resides in the song, the book, or the image. It resides in what the Spirit reveals beyond it.

Most of these moments do not happen in noise. They happen in stillness.

Often in dreams.

Sometimes in early morning prayer.

Occasionally during quiet reflection when the mind is not striving.

A phrase surfaces with unusual clarity.
A line repeats without effort.
A symbol appears detached from its original context.

These are not emotional memories or mental loops. They are divine interruptions.

Their purpose is not to entertain the imagination, but to summon attention.

And the proper response is never interpretation alone—but inquiry:

• “Lord, what are You showing me?”
• “Where does this lead in Scripture?”
• “What obedience does this require?”

Not every thought is revelation.

Not every lyric is a message.

Not every symbol is spiritual.

Discernment guards against confusion.

When the Spirit speaks:

• The moment carries weight, not excitement
• The meaning unfolds slowly, not impulsively
• Scripture confirms the insight, not contradicts it
• Obedience is invited, not ego inflated

This is why God uses fragments. It keeps revelation anchored.

Anything that flatters pride, bypasses Scripture, or replaces obedience is not from Him.

Through dreams and prayer, I have learned that rolling stones consistently symbolize resurrection.

Jesus’ resurrection was announced by a rolled-away stone. Lazarus was called forth after the stone was moved. The obstacle to life was removed before life emerged.

Once this symbol was established biblically, it became a lens—not a doctrine, but a pattern.

Is it coincidence that:

• One of the most influential rock bands is named The Rolling Stones?
• One of the most iconic songs is titled Like a Rolling Stone?
• The most influential music magazine for decades was called Rolling Stone?

The question is not whether culture intended meaning. The question is whether God can repurpose symbols to speak resurrection language to someone trained to hear Him that way.

The meaning did not come from the music.

It came from Scripture.

The culture provided the symbol. God provided the interpretation.

To the natural mind, this sounds like coincidence.

To the spiritual mind, it is continuity.

“God… speaks in many times and in many ways.” — Hebrews 1:1

The natural man demands control over the method.

The spiritual man submits to the Speaker.

One mocks patterns.

The other watches for them.

One dismisses fragments.

The other weighs them prayerfully.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” — Matthew 11:15

Not everyone has ears. Not because God is silent, but because discernment has not been trained.

Every authentic encounter must lead back to the Word of God.

Culture may capture attention.

Scripture anchors truth.

If the insight:

• Expands understanding of Christ
• Deepens reverence
• Clarifies obedience
• Sharpens holiness
• Strengthens humility

It may be from the Spirit.

If it replaces Scripture, elevates self, or confuses authority—it is not.

God never contradicts Himself.

God is speaking—far more often and far more clearly than we assume. But He speaks in ways that require humility, stillness, and discernment.

He will borrow fragments from culture, language, memory, and history— not to validate them, but to redirect attention toward eternal truth.

The natural man hears noise.

The spiritual man hears summons.

The difference is not creativity.

It is submission.