There is little doubt to anyone that our nation is heavily divided along socio-political lines. Some have argued that we may be more divided than we have ever been. While such a claim is one for the historians to determine, I certainly can state that I have never seen such animosity amongst opposing worldviews in my lifetime. It is no longer characteristic of our culture to have well informed debates over cultural topics. In times past we would lay out our case, making specific points to be heard and understood. We would have listened to our opponents, taking in what they said, and making counter points for consideration. Today, it is rare if such give and take occurs. Rather than seeking to win converts to our thinking through sound argumentaion, we seek their utter domination.

We now engage in debates with a winner take all mentality. No longer do we seek to hear the voices of those who disagree with us. In fact, to allow them to speak at all is considered tantamount to treason. After all, if they stand in opposition to what we believe, they cannot possibly have anything meaningful to say. Thus, rather than allow them a platform where their beliefs can be discussed, we seek to shut down any and all avenues where they can be heard. And if we cannot keep them from speaking, we must utterly destroy their character. For, if one is considered to be the most vile form of life, then there is no need to hear what they have to say. In fact, their worldview is to be considered so worthless that we claim to hold to it is to be mentally ill.

There is much that can be lain at the feet of this development in our culture. The philosophy of post-modernism, the idea that all truth is valid truth, certainly has its part to play. If truth is what I determine it to be, then no one can ever have a point that is counter to my own. If I can dismiss your argument by simply claiming it is your truth and not my own, then I never have to be challenged in my thinking.

Likewise, the increased use of the virtual world of social media has removed almost all traces of humanity in our discussions. When we talk to someone who is represented by pixels on a screen, we have no sense of real presence. Even when we use our real names and pictures (often a rarity in social media) there is still a sense of anonymity. If I can’t see you, then you don’t really exist as a person. With that, it becomes much easier to speak in a manner that is less than polite to someone. I don’t have to listen to nuances and tone, I don’t have watch body language, and I don’t have to use all my senses to fully understand what you are communicating. Therefore, I am free to assume what you mean and can dismiss any effort on your part to clarify. I can judge you as mean, intolerant, judgmental, etc. and not take anything you say with sincerity.

Thanks to these issues and many others, our culture is no longer engaging in civil dialogue. There is little to no effort being made to understand all sides of an issue. We simply adopt the socio-political stance of the side we identify with and take up our arms. We listen to the generals of respective parties (news, celebrities, talk radio, etc) and we go to war at their command. It is a tragic state of affairs that our nation is engaged in a virtual civil war and we trumpet it as progress.

This is the world in which we as Christians currently find ourselves. While the professing Christian church in America has a broad spectrum of views, the conservative evangelical branch aligns closely with the socio-political conservative movement. Now let me clarify what I mean by professing church. In America, you can find churches on almost every street in every city. These buildings house congregations which contain almost every conceivable type of teaching you can think of. There are liberal churches, conservative churches, seeker friendly churches, and holy roller churches. There are so many types of churches, it could almost be impossible to classify them all.

Within the walls of these churches, you will find people who identify as Christians. They will profess to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and they will have some kind of testimony regarding their professed faith. These are professing churches. They claim to follow Christ. But a mere profession alone does not a Christian make.

A true Christian is one who confesses his or her sin before God, admitting they are deserving of His wrath, repenting from those sins, and putting their faith in the finished work of Christ alone at the cross. This person has been made a new creation in Christ and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He or she desires to pursue of a life of holiness, rejecting the temptations of the world. They see the Bible as God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible, and all sufficient Word. They seek to live to live their lives according to its teachings and not the vain philosophies of the world. Among the professing churches in America, the true, invisible church are those who make this kind of profession and have been supernaturally changed.

It is this kind of church, the biblical church, which will often times find itself more aligned with the political right of our nation. By the simple fact that the “right” tends to be more inclined to support moral issues, biblical Christians will often involve themselves in this socio-political stream. However, given the nature of how our political divisions are faring these days, it is my observation that many within the biblical church are adopting weapons of warfare that are far more of the world than they are of God.

When Christ ascended to His father, He left instructions for the apostles to follow. Those same instructions are the marching orders of every Christian who names Christ as his or her Lord. Jesus commanded that we were to go out into all nations, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and command them to obey all that He taught. This means that our primary mission in this world is the evangelization and discipleship of every person God has put us in contact with. This even includes those persons with whom we have major political differences.

Therefore, the true disciple of Christ is first and foremost concerned with bringing lost souls to the only means of salvation, the cross. We do so because we understand that no matter how good we thought we were, we were wretched rebels deserving of condemnation. Yet, God in His mercy, sent someone to us who shared the gospel message. The Holy Spirit invaded our lives, regenerated our dead hearts, and cause us to repent and profess faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Knowing how much mercy was poured out on us, we seek to bring others to that same place of redemption.

At least, that is what should happen. In our current culture, there are those who profess to follow biblical Christianity who, being so focused on the tragic state of immorality in our nation, seek to win people to morality alone. Upon looking at a culture that has plunged headlong into the morass of moral decay, there is tendency to believe that we must stop people from openly engaging in and celebrating sin. That the most important thing we can do is correct people’s outward behavior and bring them into a semblance of upright moral character. As such, many professing Christians have looked to the political system, which imposes laws to curb behavior, as the means by which this may be accomplished. They look back nostalgically to a time when people were more “well behaved” and believe that can be accomplished by restoring morality through legislation.

As much as this sounds like a noble pursuit, it neglects the fact that the human heart is desperately wicked of its own accord. People behave immorally, not because laws do not exist to prevent them from doing so, but because they are immoral at their core. Laws can have a curbing effect when consequences are swift and consistent. But, laws can do nothing to change the wickedness that resides in us all from birth. When a person behaves sinfully, all they are doing is revealing what already exists within them.

Therefore, in the last few decades, as our nation turned further and further from a Christian ethos, the curbing effect of moral legislation has lessened. We have seen our culture question the very nature of morality and trumpet as progress the overturning of traditional understandings of right and wrong. It was inevitable that the nation would regress back to a state of depravity once “freed” from a Christian worldview. Yet, despite all the evidence that the issue is one of the sin hardened heart, some still seek to restore things back to the “good ole days” through moral legislation.

As I noted above, all sides of our modern culture no longer seek to engage in civil dialogue. Even the culturally conservative movement has sought to demonize the opposing side as evil, mentally ill, and worthless. Christians, seeking to rescue the country back to God have also engaged in this emotionally charged war of words. Rather than remember that those persons who oppose us are dead in their sins, they see them as an enemy to all that is right and good. Such professing Christians are not content with engaging these persons with the gospel to bring about heart change. They seem to want to defeat liberal and progressive ideology altogether.

This is in direct opposition to the message of the gospel. The good news tells us that sin and immorality cannot be eradicated by any work of man. This is because man himself is spiritually and morally enslaved to depravity. One can no more cause the culture to become morally pure than one can defy gravity by simply wishing to do so. Yet, by engaging in the cultural civil war, we are actually rejecting the truth of God’s Word. Likewise, we have now declared war on the very people to whom we are to bring the message of salvation.

God’s plan for mankind is superior in all ways to the the methods of this world. Christians in America must step back from the evening news and talk radio, however, in order to see it. We must once again become immersed in His Word, understanding who and what we are outside of Jesus Christ. We must once again fall in love with the Savior, because He was so kind and merciful to redeem us. Christians must become reacquainted with the gospel itself, remembering the message that once called us from death to life.

Only in doing this can we once again begin to see that we cannot win the moral war through our own efforts. We cannot expect depraved hearts to act morally pure. We could not be obedient to God for three minutes outside Christ, so we cannot expect a nation to become godly for a lifetime simply by changing its political leanings. We must stop our unjust anger for the lost and, like our Savior, have great compassion for them, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. Anger, vitriol, and political rhetoric can never overcome a sinful and dead heart. But the glorious gospel can bring the dead to life, one soul at a time.

Christians, stop looking at the opposition as an enemy to be vanquished. But for Christ, you were once as wicked as they are, no matter your moral and political leanings. Christ in His mercy redeemed you from that evil. Why then seek to dominate those who are rebels against our great King? Will He not judge them Himself at the end of time? Does God need you to be enforcer on this Earth? Rather, speak the truth in love to those in desperate need.

We need not fear hearing the views of those in opposition to us. In fact, by allowing the other people speak, we actually gain ground where we can preach the gospel. By rightly understanding what someone believes, we can engage them in dialogue helping them to see where their beliefs contradict the Word of God. It is actually possible to gain a better hearing with an opponent in showing them love and respect by representing their views rightly. Though they may never agree with us, or even repent of their sins, they will know our love for them because we did not mischaracterize them.

Preach the law of God, not as a means of morality, but as exposing the sinful heart. Preach the cross of Christ as the only means of redemption for transgressors. Remember the love shown to you on the day of your salvation and pour that same love out on those who oppose you. Then let God do the rest.