Thoughts following the Election

Here are some thoughts following the election.

I sat on this for a while, to make sure it aged okay, instead doing the hot take, right-after reaction...

a. Our culture is less Christian than 10 years ago.

It will no longer do to say that pro-life or conservative messaging is the problem.  We need to face the fact that the majority of people no longer share our Christian worldview.  We see this in the rabid defense of abortion in several states, including ours, in the Ligonier "State of Theology" survey, and the leftward drift of our society to tolerate and embrace sexual perversion, even to be displayed and indoctrinated in children.  

Aaron Renn described this change well here:

• "Positive World (Pre-1994): Society at large retains a mostly positive view of Christianity. To be known as a good, churchgoing man remains part of being an upstanding citizen. Publicly being a Christian is a status-enhancer. Christian moral norms are the basic moral norms of society and violating them can bring negative consequences.
• Neutral World (1994–2014): Society takes a neutral stance toward Christianity. Christianity no longer has privileged status but is not disfavored. Being publicly known as a Christian has neither a positive nor a negative impact on one’s social status. Christianity is a valid option within a pluralistic public square. Christian moral norms retain some residual effect.
• Negative World (2014–Present): Society has come to have a negative view of Christianity. Being known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the elite domains of ­society. Christian morality is expressly repudiated and seen as a threat to the public good and the new public moral order. Subscribing to Christian moral views or violating the secular moral order brings negative consequences."

b. We are not coping well with this decline

It is harder for us to cope with this decline, than Christians of previous centuries.  They could take for granted that they were strangers in a strange land (1 Peter 2:11).  But WE are losing a precious Christian heritage and culture that Christians in ancient Rome never had.  Our temptation is to despair and surrender, doing nothing.  Or to anger and over-reactionary ideologies that mimic the left's identity politics.  (I believe the rise of asserting white identity, and Christian Nationalism fits this trend.)

c. We must not tie our spiritual or emotional life so closely to the state of our culture.

I remain convinced that the Gospel should permeate every aspect of society - "every square inch" of the cosmos belongs to King Jesus, as Kuyper said.  It is also true that we do not yet see everything subjected to Him (Hebrews 2:8).  This is not necessarily directly our fault.  But it should prod us to more intense efforts at evangelism and apologetics.  We should build and fight for Christian community and culture, without looking to how plausible it looks to succeed from an earthly or political calculation.  We should also be wise to pursue achievable goals, and not pursue Quixotic quests to have a Christian nation next Tuesday.  This is going to take TIME.  And/or a great revival by God's Spirit in our midst.