Christians and Culture

It has become fashionable for some Christian ministers to refrain from engaging in cultural battles.  I am sure they are well-intentioned, believing that taking stands on controversial issues can drive away the very people we are trying to draw toward Christ.  There is indeed a fine line between fighting against the detrimental impact sin can have on a society and being perceived as too judgmental or worse yet, hypocritical.

One thing that should be clear is that Jesus did set a precedent for confronting the culture of his day.  Too many people focus on his fellowship with sinners and outcasts and mistakenly think that he either condoned what some might think of as the worst aspects of his culture, or at least was willing to tolerate them.  The truth is, he held a different opinion of what the worst aspects of his culture were. 

A corruption had taken hold in the priesthood.  The leaders to whom the people looked for spiritual guidance had become hypocrites and abusers of power.  They had so lost sight of God that they couldn’t even recognize his son when he stood before them.  The fact that there were so many sinners for Jesus to associate with was an indictment on their spiritual leadership.

I would submit that the current state of our society is an indictment on the spiritual leadership of our age.  Before we talk about protesting a Drag Queen Story Hour event or boycotting a channel for showing a commercial with a gay wedding, we need to ask ourselves how did we get to this point?  How did a country that had a vast majority of Christians when this slide began, and continues to have a majority, end up at a point where we have men dressed up as hyper-sexualized women holding court in our public libraries reading stories to our children?  How did we end up with an infinite number of genders, “men” who get pregnant, and advocacy for abortion up to the very moment of birth (and in some cases after)?

None of this could have reached the level of normalization it has without the considerable participation of Christians.  This begs the question, where were Christian leaders - from televangelists to local pastors - when Christians were making these decisions that have so devastatingly shaped our culture?  I have my suspicions.  I suspect they were preaching a prosperity gospel – a give and get rich and healthy scheme.  Or perhaps they were busy guiding their congregation through yet another 5-part self-help clinic disguised as a sermon.

I am not against providing sound Christian counseling to help Christians get through the problems they confront in their lives.  But that is not what the pulpit is for.  Such topics should be reserved for one-on-one sessions, or small groups.  More prominent Christian leaders can and have written books on such topics.

The pulpit is the place where a minister should be engaged in two things: 1. Educating the congregation on the word of God and 2. Revealing what God’s word says about how Christians should navigate the world in which they live.  Too many ministers these days wrongly assume that their congregations are all diligently reading their Bibles and have a divine revelation as to how it all should play out in their lives.  The Bible can be complicated.  It can raise as many questions as it answers.  People need guidance and not everyone is going to take the time to attend a Bible study or adult Sunday School class.  A pastor needs to take advantage of the little time he has in front of his congregation to maximize the advancement of God’s will.  This means properly anchoring Christians in their faith and equipping them to effectively share their faith with others.

A pastor does not need to use his sermon to rally his congregation to march in front of an abortion clinic.  But a pastor does need to tell his congregation in no uncertain terms that abortion is wrong and that a Christian must not support it in any form.  A pastor doesn’t need to lead a protest in front of a library hosting Drag Queen Story hour.  But a pastor does need to tell his congregation that such an event is not something that Christians should participate in.

The fact is, there are too many Christians in positions of power that are making decisions from a position of Biblical ignorance.  Every day there are Christian women walking into abortion clinics.  Christians performing abortions.  Christian politicians voting to fund abortion clinics.  Christian voters voting for pro-abortion candidates.  Many of these Christians may go to church most Sundays.  Are they hearing anything there that pricks their conscience?  Most likely not.  It is easier to tell your congregation what God can do for them than it is to tell them what is expected of them, and for a Christian that means a rather lofty standard of conduct.  None of us can consistently meet that standard and that is ok.  That is why Jesus died to save us from our sins.  But we as Christians need to hold each other accountable – not in a condemning way, but in a way that reinforces each other and strengthens us when we feel week.  And if we should fall, we help each other up.

What we cannot do is enable each other and society at large.  And that starts at the pulpit.  Pastors need to be very aware that there is a vast marketing network that is at odds with Christian values.  Most Christians spend at most an hour or so in a church setting.  The rest of the time they are immersed in the world.  The pressure to fit in is enormous.  And when sin is deceitfully cloaked in love and compassion it is easy to find oneself on the wrong side of a moral issue.  It is the duty of Christian leaders to provide clarity.  Not so that their congregations can go out into the world and tell people how to lead their lives, but so that the members of their congregation know how to properly lead their own lives.
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If a Christian truly works to live a life that lines up with the will of God and works to lead others to Christ (in a graceful and unjudging way) society will be better for it.  But it starts with understanding what it means to lead a Christian life.  And that starts at the pulpit, with ministers who are willing to speak the truth to their congregations, even if it causes an uncomfortable confrontation with the culture of our time.