This piece marks the fourth in a four-part series exploring a Biblical approach to justice. Over the course of the series, we will ask how we define justice, how we pursue justice, what role the government is to play in this, and how we navigate the so-called 'culture wars' raging around these issues. It is our prayer that these resources help you to better understand the Bible's teaching and the culture around us so that we might live and speak for Jesus as we seek justice.
Society increasingly speaks of, and finds itself embroiled in, a ‘culture war’. The left blames the right for igniting such a fight and the right blames the left for seeking to undermine society. Typically pitching conservatives against progressives, talk of culture wars can include anything from the 2020 election between Trump and Biden to whether you think university campus eateries should sell meat.
As was mentioned in ‘Conceiving of Justice’, society profoundly disagrees on what justice is. Any talk or fruit of a ‘culture war’ is simply the manifestation of a society intent on pursuing a just society with distinctly divergent ideas of what justice is.
Tim Keller speaks of four separate theories of justice currently influencing the 21st Century West:
1. Libertarian: Justice as freedom
2. Liberal: Justice as fairness
3. Utilitarian: Justice as happiness
4. Postmodern: Justice as power[1]
Whilst there is great merit in Keller’s analysis, the average politics student or activist will embody a mix of all these theories - being a product of a society in which each of these philosophies has gravitas. For instance, the modern person is willing to use core tenets of each doctrine interchangeably or simultaneously; flowing from an emphasis on individual liberty and individual rights, to pursuing happiness whilst avoiding harm, to subverting the power of the privileged.[2]
Consider how society has built a sexual ethic simultaneously on individual rights, and happiness limited only by ‘consent’, a manifestation of the utilitarian ‘harm principle’. Or, how the West is happy to champion universal rights, whilst factions concurrently push to subvert the rights of those deemed most ‘privileged’.
With this in mind, it is perhaps more helpful to speak in terms of ‘conservative vs progressive’ as the lines are traditionally drawn in culture war narrative. Conservatives being naturally resistant to radical change, preferring instead to conserve societies, traditions, and principles whilst progressives are eager for radical change, seeking to transform societies, traditions, and principles.
Present day conservatives are likely to feel more sympathy towards Brexit, Trump, lockdown scepticism, free speech and express scepticism over transgender rights, open borders, big government, and talk of systematic injustice. Present day progressives will fall on the opposite side on all these debates.[3] Whilst this is a gross caricature, it helps identify the major battlegrounds on which Western society is fighting itself.
As Christians, what do we make of this confused and conflicted society?
One might look at Jesus’ command to ‘love your neighbour’ and jump to aid the progressive cause which speaks freely of love and a ‘kinder gentler politics’. One might look at the Bible’s traditional teaching on sexual ethics and rally to the conservative cause. Which is wiser?
In fact, I am sure for many of you it may even go further than the question of which side is the wise option to which side is the ‘Christian’ option. Talk of ‘Christians can only vote for…’ or ‘I don’t see how you can be a Christian and a…’ is fairly frequent – binding the consciences of fellow believers and digging the trenches for these cultural battles.
We find ourselves stuck between defending principles of a society we played a role in building and fighting for a better world in line with our own sanctification and the hope of progress.[4] This is where we often find ourselves confused and conflicted. We get dragged into the culture war fighting, not just our opponents on whichever side of the line we fall, but also fellow brothers and sisters, fellow believers seeking Biblical justice. In doing so, believers align Christianity with either conservatism or progressivism, creating significant baggage for the Church in its external witness to the world.
If you are a Christian and a conservative, you begin to look with disdain on your more progressive brothers and sisters. Likewise, self-righteousness grows in the heart of the Christian who is progressive as they look at the conservatives. If you are a progressive non-Christian, Christianity becomes something to be despised, for it is simply a secular conservativism dressed in religious robes and vice versa. We create stumbling blocks for our brothers and sisters, and we place extra barriers to entry for those that need the gospel.
For example, Keller writes that believers ‘should not identify the Christian church or faith with a political party as the only Christian one… it gives those considering the Christian faith the strong impression that to be converted, they need not only to believe in Jesus but also to become members of the (fill in the blank) Party.’[5] Such behaviour points to three fundamental problems in the way that Christians engage with politics generally, and the culture wars particularly…
A problem of identity.
Most crucially it points to an identity problem at the heart of our political engagement. Christians do not place our hope and our identity in this life. It is not our earthly nation, background, or political persuasion that defines who we are. As the New City Catechism expresses, ‘we are not our own but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to God and to our Saviour Jesus Christ.’[6] Our identity is defined by the God who made us and the Saviour who rescued us.
Therefore, Peter devotes the first few chapters of 1 Peter to reminding believers of their identity and hope: ‘you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.’ [7]
Christians have been set apart for the glory of God and so Peter goes on to push the matter of identity further; ‘I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desire which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.’ [8]
Our identity as God’s people makes us strangers in this life. This applies to politics just as much as any other area of life. We are ‘foreigners and exiles’; we do not belong. We cannot equate our political identity or culture war allegiance with our Christian faith. Being a Christian makes you a stranger not a... (insert as appropriate: Tory/Socialist/Liberal/Progressive).
The joy of the Christian journey is we can be a Christian and a…. (insert as appropriate). Peter moves on to speak about our duties to civil society in verses 13-17.[9] Our civic duty and political identity matter, but it is always as strangers. We cannot be natives in these culture wars, for our identity is much bigger than any political cause.
We see this most clearly when the Bible speaks of the culture war of its day, the division between Jews and Gentiles. The New Testament frequently attests to the bitter and hostile relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles and yet, Christ Jesus supersedes this, the deepest of fractures.
‘So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.’[10]
Being a Christian matters more than your ethnic identity. It matters more than your political identity. If 1st Century Jews and Gentiles can unite around Christ in forming the early church, we can unite around Christ with those from different parties or sides of the culture war. Crucially, the world should look at Christians and see that Christ is their identity.
Back to our calling in 1 Peter 2: ‘Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.’[11] Our engagement with the world around us is to be undertaken with the purpose of glorifying God and pointing others to do the same.
Our job is not to win people over to the conservative or progressive side of the culture war. No, we are to live such good lives that people glorify Christ. That is our identity and that is our job.
A problem of salvation.
Secondly, this indicates a failure in our soteriology (theory of salvation). Our approach to the culture war reveals a lot about whether we trust in the salvation offered by Christ Jesus. The question ‘does the world need something other than Jesus to be saved?’ is a fundamental one, therefore.
The writer to the Hebrews states clearly that ‘here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.’[12] Likewise, Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, notes ‘our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ’.[13] Both writers make clear that our hope does not derive from the world around us, but from our saviour and the promised world to come.
Peter reminds his readers that they have been given ‘new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.’[14] Real hope that truly delivers is found in Christ and His resurrection alone.
Hope, salvation, and safety are not found in conservative or progressive ideology or practice. If we elevate the victory of our chosen side to this level, we are making an idol out of our political ideology. We are trusting in something other than Jesus to redeem the world.
Colossians makes this clear. It is Christ’s blood that redeems the world: ‘For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.’[15]
A redeemed world is one bought by the blood of Christ – not the sweat and tears of political activists, campaigners, or protestors. Whilst fancy campaigns, large political spending, or prominent names will always appear powerful and useful for God’s kingdom. God’s plan has always been bigger.
As Jesus begins His ministry in Mark He proclaims ‘The time has come… The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’[16] As you trace through the ministry of Jesus, you see that the kingdom He reveals is defined by service not self, by spirit not sword, by peace not war.
Jesus does not come riding on a war horse but on a donkey.[17] There is a time for the war horse, but it has not yet come.[18] This must necessarily, have profound implications for our engagement with the cultural wars of our day.
Both sides purport ideas and policies which stand in opposition to the rule of the one true King. Both sides are, to some extent, seeking to create the Kingdom of God in the here and now. Both sides present rival visions of creation, fall, redemption.[19]
We delude ourselves if we think we can bring in or protect the Kingdom of God through this temporal culture war. God’s Kingdom is from everlasting to everlasting.[20] This is not a call to disengage or take up the pretence of being ‘neutral’, but it is a reminder that we hold the things of this world lightly. As Tim Farron MP says, following the Lord of all ‘means that everything that happens in this life matters, but it also means that you can hold these things lightly. Triumphs and disasters alike are not permanent. You can therefore rise above them both.’[21]
Progressivism vs conservativism is not the battle of ultimate importance. No, that battle has already been fought and Christ has won: all will one day bow and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.[22] ‘He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.’[23] Is our assurance in this salvation or are we striving to create our own?
A problem of conduct.
Thirdly, aligning ourselves too tightly with the cultural armies of our day highlights a pragmatic and functional misunderstanding of Biblical justice. Deriving from our Christian identity and our steadfast hope in Christ’s death and resurrection, our political behaviour must necessarily be different from the world around us.
‘The early church aids us in this task. Early Christians used the word ekklesia—a term used for the assembly governing Greek city-states—to describe their own gatherings. This terminology highlights how the early church understood itself as a political body. But this strange, new, Christian assembly proclaimed that they were citizens of a different kingdom with a different king.’[24]
As members of a different kingdom, with a different king – we ought to be surprised if we find ourselves wholly aligning with any of the ‘kingdoms’ or ‘kings’ of this day and age. Neither conservatism nor progressivism presents the full policy platform of our kingdom. Nor is either approach fully defunct of any Biblical truths.
One writer puts it like this: ‘I only want to suggest that Christians ought to approach politics with radical humility, guarding against the brash certainty and overconfidence that leads to idolatry.
Our favored [sic] political camp might be right in identifying the problems of the time, but Christians should be wary of a rigid certainty that our political camp is totally correct—and the other side totally wrong—on their proposed solutions.’[25]
Functionally, we must work harder to discern how our chosen causes, parties, politicians align with Biblical principles. And not just in terms of their policy platforms but also in terms of character and impact on the Christian witness.[26]Likewise, we must work harder at understanding the place of justice and government in the Bible.[27] Pastors like Jonathan Leeman provide helpful examples of how to do this: in one piece, he recognises identity politics as both an unexpected ally, that reminds us about Biblical teaching on sin and justice, and yet a misleading ally, for its divergence from numerous Christian doctrines, not least justification by faith alone.[28]
Pragmatically, we must recognise that the tools of the Christian are not power and force, but prayer and grace. With numerous examples - from the tiny number God ordained to join Gideon’s forces against the Midianites, or the classic example of David against Goliath – God uses the weak things of this world to shame the wise.[29]
Why do we strive for domination and control? It is right that we seek the glory of God. It is right that we seek to care for our neighbour and the welfare of the city. But we do so as a redeemed people and that should profoundly impact the way we engage in any sort of culture war debate. Are we pointing people to Christ crucified as salvation or are we seeking security in a pagan doctrine?
Unnervingly, the Bible reminds us that we will be despised by the world if we belong to Jesus.[30] We should not be surprised when the world disagrees with our politics as we proclaim the arrival of the one true King. And yet, this is not license to persecute others or to claim victimhood but to take up our cross and follow our King in the way of suffering.[31]
No, as we enter the public square we are to act with both compassion and conviction.[32] We are to embody a different politics that stands as testimony to our identity and our salvation that the world might see and give glory to God.
‘To be a political alternative, we like the early church must confuse calcified cultural categories. Those early Christians were cultural misfits: radically pro-life, sexually chaste, committed to the poor and marginalized, and devoted to racial and ethnic justice and reconciliation. We are called to the same. These convictions don’t place us neatly in one political party.’[33]
At this time, when the Western world creaks and groans under the weight of its own contradictions and decadence, the world presents the fight as between conservatism and progressivism. We know the fight is bigger than this, and so we must present a third way. One that is distinctive to the one true Lord and King.
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[1] Tim Keller, ‘A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory’, https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/a-biblical-critique-of-secular-justice-and-critical-theory/.
[2] This analysis depends heavily on Keller’s explanation in ‘A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory’, https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/a-biblical-critique-of-secular-justice-and-critical-theory/.
[3] For further analysis of the divisions in society check out ‘Privilege, Oppression, Intersectionality and the Church’ by Andrew Wilson: https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/privilege_oppression_intersectionality_and_the_church.
[4] See Tom Holland, ‘Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind’ (2019), for a thorough account of the influence of Christianity on the Western world.
[5] ‘How do Christian’s fit into the Two-Party system? They don’t’ by Tim Keller: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/opinion/sunday/christians-politics-belief.html.
[6] Collin Hansen (editor), ‘The New City Catechism’ (2017), p.17.
[7] 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV 2011).
[8] 1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV 2011).
[9] 1 Peter 2:13-17 (NIV 2011).
[10] Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV 2011).
[11] 1 Peter 2:12 (NIV 2011).
[12] Hebrews 13:14 (NIV 2011).
[13] Philippians 3:20 (NIV 2011).
[14] 1 Peter 1:3b-4a (NIV 2011).
[15] Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV 2011).
[16] Mark 1:15 (NIV 2011).
[17] Mark 11:1-11 (NIV 2011).
[18] Revelation 19:11-16 (NIV 2011).
[19] See David Koyzis, ‘Political Visions and Illusions: A Survey and Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies’, Second Edition (2019) for a greater explanation of how this plays out in contemporary political thought.
[20] Psalm 145:13 (NIV 2011).
[21] Tim Farron, ‘A Better Ambition: Confessions of a Faithful Liberal’ (2019), p.138.
[22] Philippians: 2:9-11 (NIV 2011).
[23] Ephesians 1:20-23 (NIV 2011).
[24] ‘The early Church saw itself as a political body. We can too’ by Tish Harrison Warren: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/october-web-only/election-politics-president-trump-early-church-model.html?fbclid=IwAR3sY3YM2nsRJXLSHKNZYUWx3vfSayAI1NwtSH84P84ecE_JjJH7XFV904Q
[25] Eugen Park, ‘Are Christians more confident in Politics than in Christ?’, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/confident-politics/
[26] Piper makes this case compellingly in John Piper, ‘Policies, Persons and Paths to Ruin: Pondering the Implications of the 2020 Election’, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/policies-persons-and-paths-to-ruin.
[27] See our other blogs in this series: Conceiving of Justice & Curating Justice.
[28] Jonathan Leeman, ‘Identity politics and the death of Christian unity’, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/identity-politics-and-the-death-of-christian-unity/.
[29] See Judges 7 and 1 Kings 17 respectively as well as 1 Corinthians 1:17 (NIV 2011).
[30] John 15:18-21 (NIV 2011).
[31] Mark 8:34-38 (NIV 2011).
[32] See Justin Giboney, Michael Wear, and Chris Butler, ‘Compassion and Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement’ (2020), for further exploration of these themes.
[33] ‘The early Church saw itself as a political body. We can too’ by Tish Harrison Warren: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/october-web-only/election-politics-president-trump-early-church-model.html?fbclid=IwAR3sY3YM2nsRJXLSHKNZYUWx3vfSayAI1NwtSH84P84ecE_JjJH7XFV904Q
