What should the cultural lens be for Christians? I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and this concept has been stewing in my brain, especially since I noticed the desire among many Bible-believing Christians for a moral society.
Allow me to say that I also want a moral society and morality directed by the Scriptures is the best way to judge it. Without an objective standard, which the Bible provides, we are left only with opinions. Having strong opinions and convictions isn’t bad. It’s a good thing to know what you believe and why you believe it. No arguments from me on this one.
My concern is how we get there.
First, where are we?
Every generation thinks theirs is the worst. I doubt we are an exception. And if you want to look around, it’s hard to argue this is a moral society with a good moral compass guiding people and the youth of the day. But isn’t this always the case? Consider the times less than a hundred years ago. Whether it knew it or not, our country was coming out of a World War and would be headed toward another. A war sparked by one man’s desire to take over the world and destroy an entire ethnicity in his path. That doesn’t seem very good to me.
I have a lot of gripes and complaints against people and groups of people. I’m angry at the injustice in the world. I see and hear about a lot of things I don’t like. I hear about the abuse coming out of places that should care for and heal people. But instead, they are causing incredible damage. Most who know me or have read anything I put on paper know that I’m not a fan of the patriarchy movement. I think it is destructive to families, women, and the church. It is producing a lot of spiritual abuse.
While claiming high theological ground, this movement plays fast and loose with a concept never meant to apply to the family. The father/husband is not a God to the family (Think Gothard’s Umbrella of Authority). His job is to protect and love, not rule and lord over. Husband and wife are one flesh and are both heirs of the family of God. The individual priesthood of the believer is a real thing. Husbands should love and cherish their wives, not be served as a king.
I’ve seen a trend in patriarchs who long for the good old days. If only the wife stayed home, the kids would be home-schooled, and maybe all the women could return to wearing dresses and skirts. If you are in the position, get a homestead. Everything could go back to the days of June and Ward. We can begin moving things toward that ideal society one family at a time.
I’m not against some of these things, by the way. We live in a different time and place. Was the Leave It to Beaver generation better? How about earlier times? Where do we draw lines? It’s complicated, right? We can’t go back, and it’s unlikely datpostmil is being ushered in soon. This whole thing lacks the most essential issue of all—the Gospel.
Times change, people change, and cultures change, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). He is unchanging. If all of society collapses around us, what difference does it make if we are in Christ? I don’t like how things are, but I shouldn’t be too comfortable in this world. We are not meant for this world, so how hard should we work to change it?
What’s needed is balance. Live in the world, but don’t be too much in the world. Serve the Lord, love the church, serve people, and do the right things. Stand against what is wrong.
A friend sent me an article asking me to read it. A Catholic apologist is writing a response to the Gospel Coalition’s article on why Protestants are converting to Catholicism. According to the Coalition article, one reason is that “Protestants are too busy fighting secularism to focus on their own doctrinal distinctive.”
The orthodox wing of Protestantism is indeed busy fighting against secularism, but I think that’s a laughable reason they are turning to Catholicism. I’m not arguing for Catholicism, but there’s a lot of battling going on in Protestantism that has little to do with the gospel, and perhaps those converting to Catholicism are sick of it. Maybe they see it as a more stable system. They’ve had their issues, that’s for sure, but the abuse in our circles is being exposed at a much higher level than in the past, and I’m thankful for it.
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast opened the floodgates. The Sons of Patriarchy podcast shows just how bad things are in the loosely “Reformed” world. We also have books written by prominent scholars, such as Michael Kruger’s Bully Pulpit and Sinclair Ferguson’s The Whole Christ, only to name a couple.
Everyone is angling for a position of power, whether it’s the patriarch dominating his wife or some pastor trying to be an internet star. Going back to Beaver isn’t going to save the culture, the church, or souls. The whole patriarch movement is an overreaction to cultural Christianity, effeminate Christianity, or any other label you want to put on weak-kneed Christianity as they believe it to be. Sure, that’s out there, but I’m not sure this pendulum swing is healthier. I’d argue it’s worse.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
Kevin
Uncommon Faith 