The Christian and the Culture War
In his essay on social change, Ronald Burwell suggested that societal shifts are the result of cultural shifts.[1] If culture is understood as the realm of values and ideas, and society as the realm of patterns and policies, then changes in what a group of people holds to be right will overtake the laws by which it abides. In other words, values dictate policy. If the way a group thinks can be changed, then the way they govern themselves will follow. This is textbook Weberian theory, and I heard it being pushed hard in a recent Conservative Book Club interview I stumbled across featuring Eric Metaxas.
Metaxas is probably best known for his biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled, Bonhoeffer: Prophet, Martyr, Spy. But in this particular interview, he was promoting and discussing his new children’s book, Donald Drains the Swamp (just click the hyperlink if you’re curious). The book was being highlighted because the focus of the interview was to address the so-called culture war raging in America right now.[2] One of Metaxas’ main points was that real social change cannot be accomplished through political means alone. If conservative values are really going to take root in America again, conservatives need to step onto the ideological battlegrounds of our culture and start producing artifacts that are going to promote their worldview. His rationale? Those who hold a more liberal and progressive value system seem to dominate the landscapes of academia, entertainment, and journalism. Thus, his children’s book.
There is a lot of truth to the notion that the way we collectively think will change the way we collectively live. Sometimes, we have no problem moving together on things. The cell phone is a good example. The cell phone completely transformed the way we communicated with one another as an American culture, and now we have new sets of patterns, laws, and modes of operation that revolve around it as a society.
But there are other issues that are not so benign. For example, our cultural embrace of homosexuality led to the societal redefinition of marriage. And we’re still not united on it, nor are we amicable in the way we disagree about it. All of it is making me see that American society is catering to multiple value systems at once, and I’m wondering how much longer it can continue.
But we cannot miss that this skewing of society is going in multiple directions. Conservatives may not like the recent societal shifts regarding marriage and family, but liberals do not like the current societal shifts regarding borders and economics. Metaxas’ interviewer highlighted the gap between American culture and society when he noted that, though the Republican party holds the majority in the Executive, Legislative, and now Judicial branches of American government, in many respects, the Left still seems to be shaping the cultural mold.
Who’s going to win? It seems we really are trapped in a war of ideologies and everyone is scrambling for the seats of power, so they can institutionalize what they believe to be right and stop what they believe to be wrong. What is the Church to do in all of this? Who do we side with?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and all my contemplation, reading, and listening only seem to highlight my ignorance. But I feel I’ve become clear on at least 2 principles that all Christians should be living by if they’re going to be on the “winning side” of our current culture war.
1. God has always been at war with human culture.
The story of Cain’s family line in Genesis 4:17–24 make this explicitly clear (if you’re willing to lay aside the question of who Cain married for a moment, this could prove very enriching). The most notable of Cain’s sons here is Lamech, who himself fathers three more sons. The sons of Lamech embody the rise of human power, ingenuity, and civilization.[3] Each one serves as the forebear of some aspect of civilization: Jabal is the father of shepherding (more broadly, agriculture), Jubal is the father of musicianship (more broadly, the arts), and Tubal-cain is the father of metallurgy (more broadly, industry). Each son shows us how mankind began to harness the resources of the earth in order to feed, entertain, and empower himself.
Everything falls apart, however, when their father, Lamech, returns to the scene in verse 23. He is presented to us as the first polygamist in Scripture, and his boastful poem in verses 23–24 indicates that he was an oppressive man; his wives were little more than chattel. The fact that his poem comes after Tubal-cain’s invention of iron tools is most likely not chronological, but thematic. That is, the author of Genesis is telling us that Lamech took the tools his son had invented and used them as weapons to avenge his wounded pride. What’s worse is that he is proud of his crime! And he threatens any would-be attackers with more violence if they dare tangle with him (verse 24).
It’s no accident that the focus is not on the sons but on their father and his use of what his sons had produced. In many ways, it reminds us that we are all Lamech. We are all capable of taking what we produce and using it selfishly, foolishly, and violently.
The moral of the story? As human civilization advances, so does human corruption. Because of sin, all of our progress is accompanied by moral decay. Somehow, we are the only creature that can move forward while simultaneously moving backward. Our scientific discoveries should make us fall on our knees in wonder at the Creator who put everything in place, but instead we blindly conclude that we’ve outgrown Him. Our technological advancements have increased our quality of life yet made the world more dangerous than ever before, as we can now eradicate both diseases and people with ease. Our hatred of oppression has taught us to value the lowly and dignify individual rights, but we have arrogantly labeled God an oppressor by choosing our sexual deviances over His image.
The culture war is nothing new. It’s been happening since Genesis. And the real combatants are never conservatives and liberals; the real combatants are God and arrogant humanity. One is the Creator, lovingly desiring to redeem His fallen creation, the other is the puny creature, thinking it can live apart from the One who made it. The fact is that every generation of Christians will face a culture war of some kind, and it will be their responsibility to discern between the values of their community and the values of their God. Why? Because biblical values transcend cultural values.[4] And sometimes there’s a galaxy of difference between the two.
2. “Not by politics nor by ideas, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.
That’s an adapted form of Zechariah 4:6. In a nutshell, the verse is reminding God’s people that everyone will face impossibilities that make them feel utterly powerless; but when you serve a God who cannot fail, your powerlessness is irrelevant. His Spirit hovered over the primordial waters of creation and brought light and life. He can hover over your situation and do the same. In that sense, I am neither Marxist or Weberian when it comes to social change theory. I am a Christian. Do I value my political freedoms as an American? Absolutely. I intend to vote today as a matter of fact. But my American freedoms do not and cannot produce spiritual transformation. Only the Holy Spirit through the Gospel can do that.
But isn’t the Gospel an idea? No. No, it isn’t. It’s a miracle. And there’s a massive difference between the two. Picketing and protesting can show people that I stand for something, whether they agree with it or not; but sharing the Good News about Jesus has real, supernatural power.
I believe the primary concern every Christian should have in engaging the culture war is the call to be distinct (1 Peter 2:9). From whom? The world. Distinct from liberals. Distinct from conservatives. We are not a political people, but a spiritual people. Think about how much “social change” the early Church created simply by the way they represented Jesus. The way they loved God and neighbor caused such seismic economic disruptions that riots were nearly commonplace. In Ephesus, so many people were converting to Christianity, that the magic, idolatry, and metallurgy “industries” were suffering to the point where riotous protest was breaking out (Acts 19:11–41). In Philippi, slaveowners who made good money off of a young girl’s demon-possession made havoc against the Christians in their community because the name of Jesus had set the girl free from her spiritual bondage.
And they did it without writing their senator, releasing a book, posting podcasts, or vying for political office.
The fact is, the Church must recognize that all our political efforts, exercises, and gains mean nothing if not paired with Spirit-empowered ministry to our communities. That’s how I want to implement real social change in my lifetime. I want to see people so powerfully transformed by the love of Jesus that the world can’t help but notice. If they are enlivened by what they see, praise God. If they are offended, so be it. The culture war is God’s war, and He will have the final word. I just want to make sure I’m on His side.
[1] Burwell, Ronald. “Social change.” Christian Perspectives on Sociology, edited by Stephen A. Grunlan and Milton Reimer, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001, pp. 385–400.
[2] Matthews, Bradley. “Ep. 43: Eric Metaxas Talks Culture Wars and Religious Liberty.” Conservative Book Club, Conservative Book Club, 31 Oct. 2018, www.conservativebookclub.com/35416/podcasts/eric-metaxas-culture-wars.
[3] Mathews, K. A. Genesis 1–11:26. Vol. 1A. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996. Print. The New American Commentary.
[4] Grunlan, Stephen A. “Biblical Authority and Cultural Relativity.” Christian Perspectives on Sociology, edited by Stephen A. Grunlan and Milton Reimer, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001, pp. 47–65.
