“The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.” – Psalm 33:11
The Western world has made major cultural shifts in the past several decades. An article titled The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism in the magazine First Things make a compelling case that the overall culture of the Western World has moved from positive to neutral to negative. Let’s discuss each of these
- Positive World (pre-1994) – In this period, to be a good citizen, you needed to be involved in some sort of formal religious community, like a church, because they gave us basic Judeo-Christian morals and guidelines that helped hold culture together. The 10 Commandments acted as guardrails that forbid such things as lying, stealing, adultery, and murder. Politicians, for example, were encouraged to state their belief in God and point to the church they were a part of. As a general rule, it was considered preferable to be married in a church building by clergy, have your children baptized (even as infants), and have your funeral in a church. The result was widespread cultural Christianity among people who professed a faith they neither practiced nor possessed. Doing ministry in a positive world is like the days in the Old Testament when the nation of Israel, generally speaking, was under God’s authority, acting in obedience to His Word.
- Neutral World (1994-2014) – In this period, the cultural mood toward Christ, Christianity, and the Church became rather indifferent. No one really cared if you were married in a church or a casino; there was not widespread pressure apart from the traditional grandparents to have younger generations baptized; and you could run for political office without most people caring if you were part of a church or not. If you think of it like a game of musical chairs, Christians had had a chair up to this point. Around this time, the metaphorical music stopped playing, they no longer had a seat, and Christianity went from the center to the periphery of cultural influence. As Christians began sensing this loss, two primary movements arose within Evangelicalism. One, the Religious Right sought to save not just Americans but also America itself by pushing back on offensive aspects of culture in every arena, from politics to education and entertainment. The thought of Christians calling themselves the “moral majority” seems a bit comical, as the majority of Americans are certainly not godly or even moral. Two, as church attendance began to decline, there was a movement of Seeker-sensitive Christianity that sought to update the Church, make it more relevant and less traditional, and operate more like a marketing business that treated people as customers to be served by large mega-churches that functioned as malls where there were stores and departments for every member of the family.
- Negative World (2014-present) – In the negative world, people are no longer positive or indifferent to Christianity but instead opposed. This is because Bible-based Christianity (unlike the apostate mainline Protestant denominations and progressive, social justice warrior, pseudo-Christian apostates) is considered immoral. The Bible is now regarded by many as an evil book filled with oppression – sexism, racism, and homophobia. Today, to be moral is not to obey the Bible but rather to oppose it, and social justice exists in large part to deconstruct or dismantle Christian beliefs and institutions by canceling leaders (which is the Left’s version of crucifixion). This explains why every “former” evangelical can get their 15 minutes of fame in the godless media by trashing anything connected to Christ and gets a bonus round of coverage if they use words like “spiritual abuse,” which often just means their parents spanked them. Everything from media to social media, entertainment, government schools, and Marxist universities is aligned in the fight against Biblical standards on everything from gender to sexuality, marriage, and morality. In the negative world, core bedrock, foundational, closed-handed, primary issues are under attack, including the lies that the God of the Bible is a moral monster, gay marriage is God’s will, transgenderism should be celebrated by Christians, abortion is okay, and sin should be tolerated instead of repented of.
Do you agree with this analysis that we are currently living in a negative world? How have you seen this play out in your own life?
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