Provocative Questions About Taking Proactive Action
22-May-10 (updated 23-Sep-10)
Here are some provocative questions that I have wrestled with in regard to taking action on cultural issues:
And, would Jesus have confronted moral issues in culture? I think: yes. After all, isn't that exactly what He did? Now I realize that Israel was under Roman occupation, but as far as I understand, it was Judaism that primarily determined the local morality for the Hebrew people of Jesus’ time.
Jesus, a Jew, spent His earth-dwelling days in this Jewish culture. And specifically, it was the leaders of the religious sects, the Pharisees, Sadducees & teachers of the law that promulgated the moral code to that Jewish culture. Of course, it was partly divinely-inspired Mosaic Law & partly man-made tradition. And usually, the latter trumped the former. Therefore, Jesus called the leaders out on it when there was a contradiction or misunderstanding regarding the ethical code. And He did not always do this in a way that a modern Westerner would consider polite or “politically correct”.
Now, fast forward to current post-Christian times. The common Judeo-Christian ethics that the U.S. was founded upon & have given it strength, have been systematically undermined. When you take away the ethical structure of a society, it will become unstable, chaotic & vile. Therefore, as Christian ethical influence diminishes, it will have to be replaced with something else. As we see history repeat itself, it is supplanted by secular humanism. This state religion minimizes anything supernatural & over-emphasizes mankind.
Its ethical code is moral relativism – do what ever is right for you. However, since there are no churches, you still need a way to indoctrinate the masses & inform them of the code. Enter liberal legislation, judicial tyranny, media propaganda & hi-jacked educational systems. The affects get pushed through to the rest of society where any & everything is paraded around as a “human right”. Based on a combination of its weirdness, loudness, craftiness & financial clout, a particular movement can take center stage.
Now, organizations & corporations fear the wrath of tyrannical judges & embarrassing media headlines. Therefore, they repent of their “old fashioned” language in their policies & legal training, replacing it with whatever verbiage is en vogue & will reduce risk of punitive damages. The bottom line is that all these aspects of our culture are now telling us what is right & what is wrong, mandating a relative morality. Therefore, it is absolutely acceptable to confront objectionable morality in a Christ-like way. Though, it is also wise to choose your battles in some cases. But at the end of the day, it should always come down to "What does God want me to do?" Then pray for His direction, work to understand His Word & seek Godly counsel.
While I always want to avoid trying to force my ideas into Scripture when it should be the other way around, I think there is supportive Biblical teaching with regard to cultural confrontation as well as further examples from Biblical characters. I have written elsewhere about this to some degree, but hope to add more here at a later time. Here are a few:
- What are ways that unbiblical values become accepted in culture?
- Should Christians try to confront cultural issues?
- If Biblical Christians were to take a stand against a cultural issue, what would it look like or how would it be done?
- If the Bible doesn’t specifically address an issue, how do you know what to do?
- What are the consequences of not standing against a particular issue?
- What does God want me to do? (What to do)
- What does Satan want me to do? (What not to do)
- What are the goals of those promoting unbiblical values?
- What are my goals for opposing them?
- If I don’t confront the issues, who will?
- Do I have a right to complain about issues if I'm not doing anything about them?
And, would Jesus have confronted moral issues in culture? I think: yes. After all, isn't that exactly what He did? Now I realize that Israel was under Roman occupation, but as far as I understand, it was Judaism that primarily determined the local morality for the Hebrew people of Jesus’ time.
Jesus, a Jew, spent His earth-dwelling days in this Jewish culture. And specifically, it was the leaders of the religious sects, the Pharisees, Sadducees & teachers of the law that promulgated the moral code to that Jewish culture. Of course, it was partly divinely-inspired Mosaic Law & partly man-made tradition. And usually, the latter trumped the former. Therefore, Jesus called the leaders out on it when there was a contradiction or misunderstanding regarding the ethical code. And He did not always do this in a way that a modern Westerner would consider polite or “politically correct”.
Now, fast forward to current post-Christian times. The common Judeo-Christian ethics that the U.S. was founded upon & have given it strength, have been systematically undermined. When you take away the ethical structure of a society, it will become unstable, chaotic & vile. Therefore, as Christian ethical influence diminishes, it will have to be replaced with something else. As we see history repeat itself, it is supplanted by secular humanism. This state religion minimizes anything supernatural & over-emphasizes mankind.
Its ethical code is moral relativism – do what ever is right for you. However, since there are no churches, you still need a way to indoctrinate the masses & inform them of the code. Enter liberal legislation, judicial tyranny, media propaganda & hi-jacked educational systems. The affects get pushed through to the rest of society where any & everything is paraded around as a “human right”. Based on a combination of its weirdness, loudness, craftiness & financial clout, a particular movement can take center stage.
Now, organizations & corporations fear the wrath of tyrannical judges & embarrassing media headlines. Therefore, they repent of their “old fashioned” language in their policies & legal training, replacing it with whatever verbiage is en vogue & will reduce risk of punitive damages. The bottom line is that all these aspects of our culture are now telling us what is right & what is wrong, mandating a relative morality. Therefore, it is absolutely acceptable to confront objectionable morality in a Christ-like way. Though, it is also wise to choose your battles in some cases. But at the end of the day, it should always come down to "What does God want me to do?" Then pray for His direction, work to understand His Word & seek Godly counsel.
While I always want to avoid trying to force my ideas into Scripture when it should be the other way around, I think there is supportive Biblical teaching with regard to cultural confrontation as well as further examples from Biblical characters. I have written elsewhere about this to some degree, but hope to add more here at a later time. Here are a few:
- Ester confronts the King, risking her life to defend against the hostility towards God's people (Esther 1.1-10.3).
- God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy against the pagan countries & rulers around Israel (Eze 25.1-3, 28.1-2, 29.1-3).
- God sent Jonah to a completely pagan & non-Jewish culture to "preach against it" (Jonah 1.1-2).
- John the Baptist confronts King Herod about immoral behavior (Lk 3.19-20, Mt 14.3-5).
- Paul confronts the Aeropagus in Athens about idols (Acts 17.16, 22, 29-31).
- Apparently, Paul was outspoken & "intolerant" of idols in Ephesus too (Acts 19.26).