Many of us have found ourselves absolutely disgusted by what is going on in the culture around us. Things that the Bible clearly calls sin have crept in from the world’s back alleys and dark corners and have come out into the bright daylight with the full approval of the masses.
What is a Christian supposed to do? Can we change a country by making laws to stop sin? What should a Christian’s involvement in the political process be? While I am not here to give a definitive opinion of that question, I do have a few thoughts about it.
First, I would like to suggest that we remember that this world is not our home. We are aliens traveling in a foreign land. That being the case, things around us are not going to generally feel comfortable for us (Hebrews 11:13-16). We are going to be mocked and scorned and persecuted (Matthew 5:11; John 15:20; 1 Corinthians 4:12). When this is talked about in scripture, it is not an “if” but a “will be”. We will be persecuted. If we are trying to make our culture resemble heaven we are not in clear understanding of our place here in this world.
Second, many of us have forgotten just what is important in this fight for our culture. As believers, what are we fighting for? Clearly in scripture, our battle is for the souls of the lost. We are to love them, reach out to them with the Truth of God’s Word, and to spread the wonderful, glorious news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Sometimes we lose our focus and instead become entangled in a battle for the culture. I have news for you: that battle is already lost. That battle was lost the instant Adam sinned. We will never win the culture for Christ. But souls? Yes! Praise God that is a different thing altogether! God is still saving souls and changing lives all across this world in wonderful, miraculous ways! And sometimes He uses those souls to bring about some positive change in a culture. But that should never be our ultimate goal. Let’s remember that sharing the Gospel with lost souls and bringing God glory are our ultimate goals as believers.
And, third, by the methods we use to fight cultural battles, we often turn our mission field into our enemies. Think about how tragic that is for a moment. We have a whole world in front of us that needs to know Christ and because we are so caught up in the law-making and the politics, we turn those who need Him most into our enemies. Instead of insults and accusations thrown at those who blindly stand in opposition to God, our hearts should be filled with compassion at their lost and blinded state. We need to stand for what is right, but always with great love and mercy. It is only by doing this that we will make any difference for the cause of Christ.
No matter where we find ourselves in the battle for the culture, let’s practice aggressive goodness and compassion. Let’s fight with integrity, with genuine love for lost souls, and with kindness. And let’s never lose sight of our ultimate goal as believers: to give God glory and to share our message of hope with the world.
Most of these thoughts come from Part 1 of a series by John MacArthur entitled “The Christian’s Duty in a Pagan Society”. If this topic is of interest to you, I would highly recommend listening to it. Here is the link:
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/56-23/the-christians-responsibility-in-a-pagan-society-part-1