Prophetic minister Dutch Sheets recently wrote a piece encouraging Christians to "win the culture war." Predictably, Sheets views a primary battlefield of the culture war as politics, questioning President Obama's contention that America is not a "Christian nation" and citing statements from the founding fathers that reflect their religious fervor.
(Sidenote: Not to question our founders' faith, but I picture historians 300 years from now reading campaign speeches from the 2008 election and inferring from them similar levels of evangelical enthusiasm.)
Has any Christian community ever "won" the culture war in a nation? If it did, what did it look like? Did sinners stop sinning? Did gay men start getting married ... to women? Did abortion rates decline? Did they allow/enforce prayer in schools? Did they ditch Darwin and start teaching seven-day creationism? Did the government finally give Christians the respect they deserve and start passing laws to make it more convenient to serve God?
In my opinion, nothing good has come of the "culture war," except a combative relationship between evangelicals and a broader secular culture that fears (perhaps legitimately) that a Christian minority aspires to reach the highest echelons of society, where it intends to enforce its puritanical code on an unbelieving majority.
In an interesting profile in the May Christianity Today, South Florida pastor (and grandson of Billy Graham) Tullian Tchividjian has an insightful view of the role of politics in the culture war:
"It's super important for us to understand that politics are reflective, not directive. That is, the political arena is the place where policies are made which reflect the values of our culture--the habits of heart and mind--that are being shaped by other, more strategic arenas."
More on this tomorrow, wherein I propose that the church has lost the art of subversion, the key to lasting cultural change.
4 comments:
Is that guy's name really Dutch Sheets? Anyway...
I think Christians don't know what they would be getting themselves into if we "won." Christians might actually have to act like Christians.
Hey Matt,
I think that looking back didn't the Puritans have a "Christian Culture" when they started up the Mass. Bay Colony and the Pilgrims at Plymoth Rock.
We have seen both the "top down" and the "bottom up" versions in the arena of ideas. Both definitely have their drawbacks. But, looking from the Bible's perspective, the lasting impression was built when we went for one soul at a time. One difficulty though is that the church at that time did not have the "right" to voice their opposition via the ballot box.
The problem here in the US stems back to the era of prohibition. Christianity had never had as much influence since that time and since then has been reeling from that error.
Just some food for thought!
Wow. I just read his article... well, the first page was enough for me. I tried googling the first quote that is simply cited from "The Supreme Court" and only found references on Christian websites using the quote. This, for me, is not evidence.
If we're to use quotations from things, how about the Bible? Like this one: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Matt. 6:1)
"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:31-34)
"He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'" (Mark 4:40)
I don't know. That's just me. I'm pretty sure that Jesus was counter-culture during his life. He sure seemed to preach that. Pay your taxes, and follow me.
And, you know, the people of Jesus' lifetime didn't get it either. They still wanted him to conquer the nation and be the king like they had always known. A conquering, visually victorious king. Not a sacrifice. Not a lamb. They wanted the lion.
Home run, Matt! Christians are so fearful about becoming a minority that is "persecuted" for its beliefs. What is so strange about the church being persecuted for its beliefs. That's how we grow, both individually and as His body, and Jesus said to REJOICE when this happens.
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