The Christian Temptation To Abandon The Culture Wars

Let's put politics aside for the moment and let's just focus on the culture (although politics and culture certainly intersect). There are times when it's tempting for Christians to think, "There's really nothing we can do about the culture. Let's just preach the gospel and forget the culture wars. Let's just tell people about Jesus, teach the Bible and live good, moral lives ourselves."

I understand the temptation, but it really cannot work. The gospel and culture are as interrelated as the rain and the lake. The one feeds into the other. And if we abandon the culture, we imperil our ability to preach the gospel freely.

Before I explain this, though, allow me to explain the nature of the temptation to abandon cultural issues and just concentrate on the gospel.

We reason to ourselves, "Look, things are only getting worse in the world around us, and all we're doing is trying to plug up the holes in a dam with our own hands. We're running out of fingers, and soon enough, the inevitable will happen and that dam will come crashing down. It's not a matter of 'if,' only of 'when.'"

So, we wonder, "Why waste our time fighting the culture wars? Why waste our time standing against abortion or LGBT activism? We only alienate more people -- they look at us as hateful and bigoted -- and in the end, we don't change anything. So, why bother? The best thing we can do is share our faith, love our neighbor, and make a difference in one life at a time. The culture will never get better anyway. But at least we can save some souls along the way."

As one who is actively involved in gospel work, traveling the globe to share the good news and reaching out to my Jewish people with the message of the Messiah, I don't trivialize this temptation.

And there is some truth to it, since the gospel is always our priority.

It's just that the reasoning is fatally flawed.

It's also unscriptural.

As for the faulty reasoning, what if we applied the same mentality to world hunger? "Well, people will also be starving, and we can't possibly feed them all. Why bother? Plus, the bigger issue is that they don't know Jesus. Better to concentrate on getting their souls saved. All of us will die eventually."

What true Christian would accept such misguided thinking. If we can help one hungry person, we do -- even we can't alleviate world hunger overnight. And whether things get better overall is not the issue. The issue is that we can help someone, and so we do.

As for preaching to the poor rather than feeding the poor, why not do both? The reality is that acts of love and words of love go hand in hand.

Of course, the Bible is filled with admonitions to care for the poor and the hungry (see, e.g., Matthew 25:31-46). But even without those admonitions, compassion calls us to help.

Let's also think about slavery.

What if our American (and British) forefathers said, "Slavery has been here for millennia, and it's not going away any time soon. Plus, our economies are built on it. The key thing is that we lead the slaves to Jesus so their souls will be saved."

What words would we have for that kind of thinking today?

Cruel? Immoral? Obscene?

It's true that that slavery still exists around the world and that we now have human sex trafficking in America.

But every person of conscience agrees that it was Christian to abolish the slave trade and to free the slaves. And we also realize that acts of oppression will drown out the message of spiritual freedom. Religious people who openly practice hypocrisy will not gain many converts to their faith.

And that brings us full circle to our day.

What do we do when our 12-year-old daughter comes home from school crying over the latest sex-ed class? I doubt that we say, "Honey, don't be upset. We live in a wicked world, and it's only going to get worse. Just try to tell your friends about Jesus."

Of course not. Instead, we comfort her, we reinforce her moral purity, and we talk to her teachers and administrators.

And what do we do when the courts require you to violate your biblical convictions to keep your job?

If we say, "No problem! I'll just compromise for the sake of my salary," then we're moral cowards.

If we say, "I guess I have to find another line of work," we're only making things worse for the next generation.

On a personal level, I cannot sit idly by while our society goes to hell, both literally and metaphorically. The same Spirit that moves me to share the good news also moves me to stand for righteousness.

The right thing to do is to stand for righteousness, regardless of the cost or consequence.

From a biblical perspective, we are called to make disciples, which means leading people to Jesus and helping them become like Him.

But that, in turn, leads to one simple question: How do disciples live? Are we not called to be salt and light? (Matthew 5:13-16) And didn't Jesus tell us that we would be persecuted for righteousness? (Matthew 5:10-12)

On a personal level, I cannot sit idly by while our society goes to hell, both literally and metaphorically. The same Spirit that moves me to share the good news also moves me to stand for righteousness.

Based on responses to our latest Consider This video, which asks the question, "Why Don't More Pastors Speak Out?", God's people have had it with this false dichotomy too. They believe in a gospel that impacts the culture, not escapes the culture.

That, in fact, is the only gospel there is.

Originally published at AskDrBrown.org - reposted with permission.