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Christian Network

Today it is not unusual to hear conservative Christian leaders bemoaning the political and cultural pluralism that characterizes America at the beginning of the twenty-first century. One of the principle criticisms is that a permissive form of indiscriminate tolerance has become the overarching value defining our national life. Without debating the truth of such criticism I would like to put a word in for the positive aspects of pluralism with respect to the preaching of the Gospel.

The history of cultural Christianity over the past two millennia has not always been pretty. Only the most strident and blind apologist would claim that horrible things have never been done "in the name of Christ". The short list includes the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem witch trials and any number of bloody wars fought in Europe over points of doctrine. In each case crimes against the true spirit of the faith occurred when Church and State were completely intertwined. The word we use to describe the culture of these periods is "Christendom". This term should never be used interchangeably with "Christianity". The invisible church universal is, in the greatest sense, the only Christian nation that has ever existed. God has chosen no country since ancient Israel, the only true theocracy.

Let me stress that I am not advocating the total, unequivocal separation of Church and State. Authentic Christianity can have a positive influence on the governance of a people when Spirit-led Christians have the franchise to vote and when those who are truly called to do so enter public service. A radical Anabaptist style withdrawal from all aspects of politics is not the idea here but rather a rejection of the other extreme in which religious leaders are seduced by the temptation to overweening secular political power. Every time this has occurred, from the time of Constantine forward, the result has been calamitous for both Church and State.

Today we live in a time in our national history when mass media and the presence of immigrants from every part of the globe expose the average American to a multiplicity of religious, intellectual and philosophical crosscurrents. Our culture in some ways resembles the Athens of Paul's day as much as anything else. Some call this state of affairs "Post-Modernism", a term that, along with Pluralism, has been demonized by many conservative Evangelicals. Post-Modernity is marked by a lack of cultural consensus and the rejection of what were once generally accepted moral absolutes. It also embodies a sort of radical individualism in regards to interpreting reality. "Anything goes" might be the motto of the Post-Modernist.

On the surface this sounds like a horrible worldview to Christians who believe in the exclusive claims of the Gospel and the existence of ultimate moral law. Indeed, a culture whose zeitgeist is the idea that every belief is equally valid poses a real challenge to the evangelist. However this also opens up new opportunities. Modernism encouraged a culture of disbelief, especially in the existence of the supernatural. The idea was that the rationalism and scientific progress born of the "Enlightenment" were the twin saviors of mankind; hardly an atmosphere friendly to biblical Christianity. But with the rejection of this secular creed Post-Modern pluralists have embraced the possibility that reality does not end here. The idea put forth by Post Modernism is that the Enlightenment wrongly closed the doors on the realm of what C.S. Lewis called "the Numinous". People are again hungry for the transcendent.

This creates a tremendous opportunity for genuine Christianity to engage our culture and for the Gospel to win souls. It is true that we must now deal with many other religions and philosophies. Christians who wish to be salt and light face a formidable number of competing worldviews, from Islam to Neo-Paganism. Yet Paul faced the same kind of challenge on Mars Hill and did not shrink from it. The truth of the Gospel can stand on its own in the midst of all challengers, then or now. In fact the pluralism of our day offers a chance for our light to shine more brightly, unfettered by culturally compromised "civil religion" masquerading as the genuine article. "Christendom" might be dead but true Christianity in America is not. A new harvest for Christ is in the offing if only we stop criticizing and begin appreciating a cultural shift that is actually an opportunity to further fulfill the Great Commission.