Should Christians be Culture Warriors?
by David Robertson, AP:
‘I was wrong’. This is not a phrase I use a lot! At least when it comes to major subjects. Over the years I have been aware of significant changes in thinking that have had an enormous practical impact for me – baptism, Calvinism, the European Union, socialism, worship and environmentalism being the main ones I can think of. Recently I have been forced to change my view on the question of culture wars.
I often used to say that I did not want to get involved in culture wars and that it would be a mistake for the Church to do so. Recently I have been compelled to rethink. The trouble is that the term ‘culture wars’ is itself a product of the culture wars. Here in Australia, we look askance at some of the culture wars that are going on in the US, and most of us want nothing to do with them. It is a negative term associated with white nationalism, Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson, and suggests that Christians are some kind of political force whose mission in life is to combat the Left. No thanks. We want to influence the culture, to win the culture, not to fight it. Besides which if we engage in culture wars then won’t we alienate people from the Church and the message of the Gospel? Doesn’t the Scripture itself tells us that our weapons are not the weapons of this world?
I think those objections are valid – but like so much it all depends on what we mean. What is culture? I like this summary from the University of Boston: “Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society.” If that is the case, then surely Christians are interested in the way of life for an entire society – especially a society in which we live?
I’ve noticed that those who speak somewhat disparagingly of Christians being involved in the ‘culture wars’ are quite happy to speak of the culture wars of the past. We rightly glory in the fight of Wilberforce and others in the supreme culture war of their day – the abolition of slavery. So, what is the difference today? Would we say that Wilberforce and those who supported and campaigned for him, were wasting their time with “culture wars”…?
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