Andrew Breitbart was credited with the quote, “politics is downstream of culture”. What he meant by that is that our politics are going to go the way of what our culture wants. In a democratic republic like we have, it is counter productive for a politician to stand up and say, “no. I will not do what you want”. A politician wants power. In our government power is retained by appealing to the culture.
The sad truth that we need to realize is the rot and decay of this country comes from the fact that the American culture wants it. The politicians are only giving American pop culture its cake.
In 2003 Hillary Clinton stated in a CBS interview that she was opposed to same sex marriage. Then in 2013 she publicly announced her support for same sex marriage. President Bill Clinton changed his position. So did President Biden and President Obama. The overwhelming majority of Democrats have jumped ship to publicly supporting gay marriage. So much so, that it is now the official stance of the Democrat party. Why? Because that became the view of pop culture.
The Republicans are not much better. The only reason that many of the Republicans have the policy that they have, is because it is the popular opinion of their constituents. Make no mistake, as more of their constituents are influenced by the world, the Republican party will morph into whatever they think will keep their power.
The important question is how do we change the culture then?
Some people think that violence and bullying is the answer. There were people on inauguration day that reminded us that many people are ready to go. All throughout the summer there were rioters burning down, and robbing people for their cause. They are trying to change the culture by force.
Some think that deception is the answer. The news media is untrustworthy but they sure are effective. There is a war between the conservative news media and the liberal news media. They both use the same dishonest tactics to sway public opinion.
These tactics can change a culture. They certainly can. But this is not God’s way.
God’s way of changing a culture must begin with realizing that God’s opinion has not changed (Heb 13:8). God doesn’t look down on the world, see what we are doing in our culture and then change His view on what is right and wrong.
With that base, we need to be unmovable in our commitment to His standard of right and wrong. That standard is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes people can mislead by relegating the gospel to only the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The gospel is the entire body of teaching of and about Christ.
When Jesus said to “Love your neighbor as yourself” that is the gospel. When he said “forgive your brother”, that is the gospel. When He said “any many who divorces his wife and marries another except for sexual immorality commits adultery”, that is the gospel. When Paul wrote,“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”, that’s the gospel. The gospel is God’s standard of righteousness (Rom 1:16-17).
But just as important as realizing there is a standard of righteousness, we need to be consistent in obeying it. I heard Muhammad Ali in an interview with William Buckley say that Islam and Christianity teach against many of the same things, but the difference is Muslims don’t participate in them. He said, “you can be a Christian and commit adultery, you can drink, you can smoke, you can drink wine,… and you can nightclub and party”. While there are many hypocritical muslims, his point was right on. What good is a standard of living if you don’t obey it.
There is an old joke, “Don’t bring a baptist fishing cause they will drink all your beer”. I don’t mention it to disparage baptists. I know many don’t touch alcohol. It’s simply a commentary for the way most people approach Christianity in America. I can cuss… a little. I can drink… a little. I can sin… a little. That’s not what the Bible teaches and it is killing this country.
Christians will oppose rap music because it has awful lyrics, and then embrace the modern country song that has some 40-year-old married pervert, singing about some random girl in a short dress that he’s getting drunk, and hoping to get lucky with. Christianity is not “comparative righteousness”. I am not ok with God because I am “a little better” than whoever I am thinking about. One is only declared righteous by God based on an obedient faith in the gospel (Rom 10:17, Rom 4:5, Heb 5:9).
If you are concerned with the future of this country, it really starts with you (James 4:8). Demand a better culture by the things you endorse and support. Pursue righteousness in yourself. Put down your phone. Quit being so materialistic and vain. Raise your kids. Teach them how to live right. Explain to them that evil is real. Don’t try to be cool with them. Read the Bible with your family. Pray with your family. Seek the truth with your family. Make your family goal to go to heaven together. And make every effort that you can to achieve that goal.
But please don’t claim the crown if you aren’t willing to carry the cross. I don’t think it’s helping…