The Culture War:
We have focused on this topic for several months - and for good reason. In
order to ‘understand our times,’ we need to gain hold of the single-most
critical issue of our day: the conflict between left-leaning progressives and
traditional values conservatives. This is part of the half-century old ‘cultural
civil war’ or ‘culture war.’ Conservatives wants to preserve the good things of
western civilisation: rule of law, parliamentary democracy, constitutional
government, and, above all, Judeo-Christianity. Progressives wants to either
alter or destroy the West as we know it, all for the sake of ‘progress.’
We learned that this war is no longer strictly a
secular phenomena. Progressivism is now affecting Christian churches: liberal,
mainline, and even some evangelical. The process happens over time but some
constant trends include high emphasis on relevance to the world system and
culture. What we will see is that there is a concurrent de-emphasis on the Word
of God.
Here are some of the key warning signs:
Demotion
of Objective Truth
One of the hallmarks of ‘the Christian faith’ is its
proclamation of objective, universal, divine truth. This is God’s truth,
applicable to all people at all times. It’s the only truth worth embracing.
With the advent of postmodernism, relativism has warred against the notion of ‘one-sized
fits all truth.’ It’s objections do not change God’s truth but nevertheless
they have caused question marks - and doubts - to rise in people’s minds.
Since God’s Word abides forever (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew
24:35), we need to stand on it like a rock. Those who hear and obey will
withstand all of life’s storms (Matthew 7:24-25).
Yet, in the current times, people are floating away
from Bible-based sound doctrine and the truth it represents. II Timothy 4:3 warns
us of these things: For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears.
Part of how this will happen is the substitution of
opinions, feelings, and personal experiences - in other words, subjective
criterion - in the place of God’s objective truth. Yet, some Christians are
departing from clear teaching of Scripture to embrace abortion, marriage
redefinition, income redistribution, identity politics, and other items from
the progressive agenda. For example, some Christians take clear doctrines and ‘don’t
feel like’ they apply anymore in our times. Or ‘Jesus is love’ so how can
anyone be judged, let alone go to hell?
It is one thing to wonder, it is another thing to
depart from sound doctrine on the whim of the moment or to pander to a dying
culture. It we become disengaged to these eternal truths, we risk fulfilling Ephesians
4:14: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
A
Low View of Scripture
The church was built on the veracity of the Word of
God. If the Bible is not true or not the Word of God, then the church will fail
and fall. The Scriptures represents God’s liberating truth and to neglect or
ignore it brings bondage. Jesus had a very high view of Scripture: it must be
fulfilled, cannot be broken, and woe to anyone who adds or subtracts from its
timeless counsel (Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19).
The slide to progressivism subjects the Scriptures to
debate, even doubt. For example, if someone says ‘The Bible “contains” the Word
of God’ is enunciating a lower view of Scripture. What parts of the Bible are
the Word? What parts are not? This guessing game fosters doubt and unbelief,
whereas the purpose of Scripture is to inspire faith (Romans 10:17). Any
statement, especially from the pulpit, that shows disagreement or
dismissiveness to the clear teachings of Scripture, can be rightly seen as a
slide towards progressivism.
TO BE CONTINUED
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