Genuine Culture Wars Rising Again in the West
For two centuries or more, Unbelief has triumphed in the West. We have been living in a post-Christian world. For most, Christianity is no more than a vague cultural memory, something that once was, but has now passed away.
But it will not stay that way forever. For the Lord is always at work smashing the idols in the minds of their subjects—one by one. The false gods of the Church leaders of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were broken by world wars. Yet Church leaders desperately clung on to them. They hardened their hearts. They still wanted to prove to the world that they, too, believed in the sovereignty of rational man. They preached a “compliant” god, who would always change and adapt and be whatever unbelieving scientific empirical research said he ought to be. Because of their treachery, Unbelief in the culture grew stronger and stronger. Why wouldn't it, when even the Church leaders disbelieved.
But gradually, the true Culture War has broken out again. It has become more overt. It is now far more clear that the issue of conflict is between those who believe in the sovereignty of the Risen Lord, and those who believe in Man as god. A growing army of Christian believers understand the issues and understand that their fathers were false prophets.
Moreover, there is no doubt whatsoever that the Risen Lord will win this battle. But how? The triumph of Jerusalem over Athens will not come by the sword or by force. It will come as large numbers of people repent of their sin and turn to the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. But what will lead them to come? The Scripture leaves us in no doubt.
Firstly, the false gods always end up being shattered. This means that there will emerge a widespread, growing conviction that man really is wicked and that the thoughts and intentions of his heart are only evil continually. It will become increasingly obvious that the ratiocinations of the mind of fallen Man are not to be trusted. People will realise that Unbelief is always grinding an axe. It always begs the question. It always has an agenda. It will become clear that Unbelief has always been deeply and bitterly prejudiced. Unbelief has always assumed from the outset that the God of the Bible does not exist. Unbelief may entertain the possibility that some gods may exist--and it will endeavour to tell us how, what, and when they do. But one thing it will always emphatically maintain is that the God revealed in the Scriptures most certainly does not exist.
As the rationalistic idols are shattered, more and more people will come to be epistemologically self-conscious. They will see Unbelief for what it is: the carefully nurtured cant of enmity against God Himself, cloaked with reasonableness. People will come to see this as sinuously serpentine, the deep subtlety of the Accuser of old. What particular means the Lord will use to bring this conviction upon any society in particular is not clear, but it always involves letting us see man as he really is, man in the fruit of his folly, man with his vain hopes dashed.
Our modern age has glorified Man as few have before. It is likely that the smashing of the idol will involve God showing us the ignobility of Man in new and extreme ways. Unbelief will be shown up to be foolishness, eventually becoming deeply offensive and distasteful as a consequence.
Secondly, the stronger wickedness and Unbelief become, the weaker they turn out to be. Evil is self-destroying, self-defeating, self-immolating. Abortion is an unmitigated evil. Yet it is the wicked who kill their own. They exercise vengeance upon their own seed, thereby culturally weakening Unbelief, cutting it off at its roots. Homosexuality is sinful. But it is sterile, unable to reproduce itself. Homosexuality is self-negating, self-destroying. Materialist man, swelling with pride in his technological prowess, becomes a global-warming obscurantist whose drive to protect material reality leads to enforced impoverishment and economic decline. Evil integrates into the void of cultural impotence.
Thirdly, as the idols are smashed, the sound of the Gospel preached will be heard once again. As bruised and battered souls seek refuge in churches they will hear once again of Christ the Lord, not through the treachery of a Fosdick, but the fidelity of a Spurgeon; not the false god of a Norman Vincent Peale, but the faithfulness of a Wesley. And people will look to Him and will be saved. This is how the Culture War will be won. There is no other way.
An imperative in this endeavour is that the Church must give up its fawning love-affair with this world. It must no longer seek respect in the Academy in the vain attempt that it will somehow win a favourable hearing. To be sure, the Academy needs to be spoken to, not ignored. But the method is to be apostolic; it is to bring the polite but firm confrontation of a Paul to the philosophes and intellectual magpies of the Areopagus.
A second imperative is that the Church must not persist with this constant craving to be liked and respected by the world of Unbelief. How this has damaged Jerusalem! How we all—believer and unbeliever alike—have paid for this folly! The Lord God said, “I will put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.” Many professing Christians retort, saying, “No thanks. I am going to remove that enmity so the seed of the serpent no longer dislikes me and other Christians.” Christ made it very clear: if we are not prepared patiently to endure the “scorn and mockery” of Unbelief which so troubled Brunner we are not fit to be His disciples. For He endured it and remained jealous for the Name of God. He expects nothing less of us.
Let us be clear upon this. There will always be Unbelief, no matter how tenuous it may become, prior to the Final Advent of our Lord. The best circumstances in which Unbelievers could possibly live in this life is in a world and culture which predominantly respects the Lord and His Word. Blessings upon blessings will be upon such a land, as indeed the Scripture promises.
In the blessing of God's people, Unbelievers shall also receive blessing. If we truly want Unbelief grudgingly to appreciate and respect the City of Jerusalem the only way forward is to stand unashamedly and unreservedly upon the rock of God's holy Word. For if we are ashamed of God, He will be ashamed of us. But if we honour Him, He will honour us.
If we have a true love for mankind, let us be sure of this: as God pours out His Spirit and blesses His people, Unbelief itself will increasingly share in the good gifts of God.
Thus, if there is to be any hope for the West, genuine Culture Wars must break out afresh. There are no short cuts. We must go back to the mistakes and sins of our fathers and repent of them and correct them. It will be a hard fight from here. But our Risen Lord is amongst us as Captain of the Lord's Host. In the end, Pharaoh and his riders He will cast into the sea.
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