The Cultural War Rages
by Christopher Hendrix
Sometimes, while fighting, we need to stop to give God the glory for the merciful victories He gave to Christians. This past week, the election of Donald Trump has given us a reason to pause and thank the Lord for the reprieve He has provided. Why? This is not necessarily because Trump will wear a Superman cape and save the country. But, because the platform and people he places around him aim for religious liberty, space for Christians to bring the Gospel to bear upon our nation, and some measure of holiness in our country. For this alone, we ought to praise the Lord.
Listen to Pastor Chris teach on 2 Corinthians 4:13-18.
This small win doesn’t give us ultimate victory. Still, it provides another opportunity to freely spread the glory of God to our families, neighbors, fellow soldiers, co-workers, and our local, state, and federal government. Instead of spending resources and energy defending our liberties, which we would have done in a Harris administration, we can use these to focus on growing our families, loving our neighbors, and proclaiming the truth boldly.
However, the cultural war continues to rage. Many states that voted for Trump also voted to amend their constitutions to legalize abortion. States such as Missouri and Montana put laws in place to murder the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. People, and even those who claim to follow Christ, voted to let blood run in the streets. A significant disconnect exists between what people claim to believe and what they do. This means those of us who think rightly from Scripture have a charge to proclaim truth and see hearts changed by the Spirit.
Paul provides a great model of someone who proclaimed truth to Christians who were deceived and stuck in sin. 2 Corinthians 4:13–18 tells of Paul’s bold preaching, faithful serving, and severe suffering. Paul gave of himself to preach the Word to many people. He suffered greatly doing this. He could have focused on his retirement, financial status, or state of comfort, but instead, he strongly desired to see people come to the truth. What drove Paul to do this?
He gives several sources of this desire within these verses. Starting with his faith, he described his preaching comes from his faith. The object of his faith is Christ. So, his preaching is Christ. Faith without an object to it is meaningless. Someone can’t just have ‘more’ faith. Scripturally, faith also has an object, and that is Christ. Second, Paul’s source of his ministry comes from the resurrection of Christ. The resurrected Christ demonstrates a power like no other. He conquered death and is alive at the right hand of God. This power will also raise every Christian into a new body one day. This same power enables the Christian to war against the godless culture and bring the Gospel to bear upon it.
Next, the glory of God undergirds his motivation. His desire aims to worship the Lord and see His glory go forth. Worship drives Paul to fight through the wounds he receives, to toughen out the verbal beatings, and to persevere through the sleepless nights, hunger pains, and other irritants that would cause him to stumble. For us as Christians, this is one of the reasons why Sunday worship proves vital. This is where we come and are recharged, received from the Lord, and strengthened yet again to fight the powers of darkness around us.
Along with worship, Paul finds his strength in eternality. He did not find his home in this world but in the presence of Christ. He knew what awaited him. Currently, Paul sits at our Savior’s feet, basking in his glory and worshipping Him. These permanent words in verse 18 point to our temporary world. Our driving factor for giving of ourselves for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel and standing on truth in the public sphere stems from the fact that we don’t belong here but are aliens passing through.
So, like Paul, let us find our strength to continue fighting the cultural war. Let us push forward in abolishing abortion and making it illegal and punishable. Let us fight the LGBTQ agenda that seeks to twist and destroy human flourishing. Let us fight back the multiple levels of thievery and lies. Most of all, let us find the strength for this from Christ and His work. If our primary goal is glorifying the Lord, we won’t fail. The cultural war rages, but we have victory in Christ.