The Spiritual Nature of the Culture War

Most Christians are keenly aware of the culture war that exists in today’s society. It is obvious in the societal battles over abortion, homosexual marriage, “right to die,” sexual promiscuity, Christian symbols on public property, prayer in schools, public officials invoking God, “separation of church and state” and the like.

But while the outward expressions of the war play out in society, the real battle is spiritual. These battles are not merely skirmishes over the preferences of individuals in society, they are rooted in spiritual realities which are literally at war with one another. As God and Satan interact with humanity, the followers of each are pursuing activities and lifestyles which reflect their masters. Since these activities and lifestyles literally contradict one another, it is inevitable that the culture wars will be expressed in society.

All people base their lives on a set of assumptions about what is real and true. This is their worldview. Christians assume that the God of the Bible is a real person and that his revelation in the Bible is an expression of his character which he wants humanity to receive and follow. Non-Christians assume that the God of the Bible is not an expression of ultimate reality or they misunderstand and misrepresent him. Either way, they end up with a set of worldview assumptions which run contrary to what the Bible teaches and express their beliefs in ways which conflict with God’s revelation of himself. All of these beliefs play out in society in ways which are seen in the world’s culture wars.

As Christians, it is critical that we truly buy into our Christian faith to the point that we become active in expressing it in the world. Many, if not most, Christians believe that they can simply ignore the culture war battles and not be affected by them. After all, abortion, homosexual marriage, the removal of the 10 commandments from the courthouse walls and the sexual promiscuity of others doesn’t personally affect me, right?

If that is what you think, you are totally wrong!!! The overall flow of a culture directly affects you, and those you care about, by lowering the value of human life and by creating an environment where your freedoms are taken away. The desensitization of our nation to the mass murder of millions of preborn infants under the pro-abortion notion of “choice for women” has also made it legitimate to denigrate other arenas of human life – like the elderly and the handicapped. If it is okay to kill preborn babies who are inconvenient or create economic difficulty, why not already born babies, or people who have become “unproductive” due to aging, or children who “can’t have good a quality of life” due to Down Syndrome or some other birth defect? If homosexual marriage is okay, why not polygamous marriage? (This is already being tested in American courts, by the way.) If the 10 commandments can be removed from the public square because it is a “religious” (faith) expression, what other expressions can be removed because some group doesn’t like them? (Remember, every worldview is a faith expression, and all we have here is one faith seeking to exchange an already established one with their own.) And if a Christian understanding of sexual morality is going to be eliminated, what moral standard will take its place? Will sexual relations with children or animals become okay?

The fact is, some moral standard will dominate society. Those who point to Christianity and say we need to eliminate religion from the public square are not looking to substitute it with a non-religious expression. The acceptance of abortion, homosexual marriage, removal of the 10 commandments and sexual promiscuity is simply advocacy for a different religious (faith) expression.

The question is: Which expression is true? There is such a thing as truth – the way reality is actually structured. Either there is a God who has revealed himself to us or there is not. If the Bible truly does represent the truth, it is incumbent on Christians to stand strong in that truth. That means we must do more than merely give lip service to our belief in the Bible. It means that we must express our belief to the extent that we actively engage the culture war.

To do this rightly, though, means that we must do more than simply fight to win the day regarding various issues – like abortion or homosexual marriage. We must do that, but first and foremost we must be active in sharing the truth of the gospel with those who don’t know Christ. The worldview foundation must be in place before the expressions can ever take hold.

As Christians, we must do more than merely give lip service to our belief in Christ. We must profoundly equip ourselves by understanding worldview, train ourselves in our Christian worldview and become active in fighting the culture war in society based on our solid Christian worldview foundation. We must deal in the spiritual as well as in the physical realms if we want to be successful in our calling.