Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). While the world in which one engages or rejects Jesus is constantly in flux, he never adjusts his purpose; never changes his plan. Does that mean Christians should ignore their culture? Or should they somehow engage with the changes going on around them?
Pendulum Swings, Big and Small
The right-to-left division in American society appears to be a massive separation of cultural thought, yet Tim Keller sheds light on a much bigger shift, which has taken place over thousands of years.
Chris Brauns, reflecting on Keller’s book Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism, says that Christian thought actually made the way for modern individualism. Before Christ, Greeks emphasized the power of an “impersonal force” over all life.
They believed there was a power outside of themselves, which controlled the universe and affected daily life. Individuals placed more emphasis on the value of family, society, and a nation.
Christ told his disciples that God wanted to have a relationship with his people individually and corporately.
Although this engagement was supposed to be rooted in the Body of Christ and a greater love, which puts other people first, Western society (especially in the past century) has used that premise to devise a picture of “sovereign self.”
Any paradigm, which threatens individual autonomy is regarded with suspicion, even scorn.
Today “it’s difficult for [modern Westerners] to understand the basic doctrines of original sin and union in Christ. Americans imbibe expressive individualism with their mother’s milk no matter where they live.”
This is true of individuals on either side of the left-right cultural divide in America, including Christians.
The view that human beings were created in the image of God has given rise to extreme individualism; even a belief among some people that there is a bit of the divine inside of everyone, but in the pantheistic sense.
As Brauns says, Americans eagerly proclaim that they were uniquely created while simultaneously rejecting their Creator (Ibid.).
Recent Cultural Contradictions
The average adult can point to shifts, both good and bad, which took place during their lives. Laws about abortion and same-sex marriage have changed. Divorce and co-habitation are common.
One alarming recent trend is “cancel culture” in which “it seems like the people most likely to insult others are the first to be offended by even the smallest expressions of opposition to what they believe,” says Karl Vaters.
Vaters outlines seven contradictions within modern society. Sometimes, he says, a person will express belief in both atheism and spirituality simultaneously.
An individual might promote personal autonomy and the ability to both create and realize one’s own destiny, while also believing in conspiracy theories that “tell us that the entire game is fixed by invisible powers beyond our control” (Ibid.). Again, one will often adhere to both opinions at the same time.
The views represented in these contradictions are not new, but they are more prevalent today than ever before.
They demonstrate that the pendulum of Western culture has perhaps swung so far towards individualism that the individuals within that wider culture are finding their beliefs ineffective in helping them understand and cope with personal, social, and global realities in satisfying and hopeful ways.
The contradictions within their non-religious paradigm cause confusion if they stop to think about life after death for example, or when they ask, “Why is there so much suffering in the world?”
Addressing the Pendulum Swings
In order to address these swings in a way, which reflects Christ, Christians need to be clear about a few things:
1. Asking questions is not a sin.
2. Some tenets of Christianity are essential to the definition of Christian faith; others are not.
3. Confrontation can be good; Jesus demonstrates how to confront lovingly.
1. Asking questions. Sin is treason against God’s commands. Gay marriage is a sin; so is violence against gay people and pastors who will not marry them within the church. Laws should protect both parties.
Both parties should be able to discuss their positions reasonably, without physical or emotional violence, which includes “cancelling” because this is hatred.
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:17).
The Lord promotes reasonable discussion, and the Psalmist feels safe to ask God “why” multiple times.
2. What are core tenets? One can discuss the relative merits of evolutionary theory or female pastors and still be a faithful disciple of Christ. However, certain beliefs are essential if one is going to identify as “Christian:”
Christ is One with the Triune God; He died on a cross and rose from the grave; we are saved by believing in him alone for salvation, by grace and not by works.
These are essential features of biblical belief, which do not change as the culture pendulum swings.
3. Believers are called upon to model healthy methods of and reasons for confrontation. When he met the woman at the well, Jesus was both truthful and gracious.
The woman said, ‘“I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband;” for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband’” (John 4:17-18).
Jesus couched blunt truthfulness between grace and hope. He invited her to drink from a well, which would never run dry, unlike the temporary relief of a sexual relationship. He offered her “living water” (v.10) and told her he was the Messiah she had been waiting for (v.26).
The woman at the well belonged to a group known as the Samaritans, who held many of the same beliefs as mainstream Jews of the day; however, the Samaritans “did not accept any scriptural texts beyond the Pentateuch.”
Samaritan people represented a departure from the Jewish beliefs Jesus was raised with and of which he was the fulfillment.
Their pendulum had swung away from the Jewish practices of Jerusalem, but Jesus was less interested in what made this woman different from other Jews and more interested in what she had in common with every person he spoke to: sin, and the need for a Savior.
His purpose was not to have an argument, but to bring salvation and to glorify God. She took the good news to her neighbors; her reality and theirs was transformed in an instant because Jesus confronted sin with truth and love.
A Biblical Approach to Confronting the Pendulum Swing
Vaters offers some useful ideas to Christians engaging with the prevailing culture. First of all, acknowledge the good changes such as when more people speak up against sexual abuse in any context.
Grasp at opportunities to build “a bridge of communication and respect that might open up an opportunity to share Christ”.
Secondly, he argues that Christians can “reaffirm principles” without “demand[ing] them of others.”
When common ground is identified, use it, do not be swayed into agreeing, but do not push an agenda. “If we compromise our core values we’ll have nothing to offer a world that’s as compromised as it’s ever been.” This is also an opening to bring tangible support to those who are suffering.
A third point is that winning is not the objective but learning what comes between an individual and saving faith. “It’s always better, for ourselves and for the sake of the gospel, to take the hard path of creating long-term opportunities to make friends that we can influence, than to build short-term barriers that create winners, losers and enemies.”
One of the richest testimonies the Christian gives to the watching world is the gift of grace. To hear an opposing opinion and not lose one’s temper takes not only self-control, but a spirit, which is being refined by Christ.
“When we respond to anger with anger, we’re actually responding to pain with more pain. Grace is different. Grace heals. And grace will draw more people to repentance than anger ever will.”
Vater recommends digging into the Word of God in order to base one’s approach to prevailing culture on what the Lord says rather than on personal opinion. Let Scripture provide courage to handle the hard questions about suffering and sin.
These are real, prevalent issues; wondering about them out loud is healthy and fruitful as compared with mulling over them in isolation.
Christians Always Stand Out
Finally, Christians need to live like they believe what they preach, and genuine believers have always stood out. This is not a matter of behavior modification but of heart transformation.
The believer with his or her eyes fixed on the Savior will “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
Confronting cultural contradictions and changes is hard enough, but “some of the paradoxes and contradictions that non-believers have the hardest time with are not in the Bible, they’re in the lives of Christians.”
For further reading:
How Can We Read the Bible as Culture Changes?
How Many Bible Characters Would Be Canceled Today?
Why We Cannot Ignore False Teaching
How Can Believers Avoid Becoming White-Washed Christians?
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