Culture Wars in the Church?

“Culture is invisible but determinative. You can’t see it, but it defines so much.”

- Carey Nieuwhof

Our nation has been in what we have termed a culture war for about 25 years. I wasn't sure what that term meant when I first heard it. I think all of us have some idea, intuitively, but I'm not sure it lines up well with its definition. Webster says "Culture" is the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. But what is behind customs, arts, and social institutions? In the United States, we used to be able to say that our social institutions were based on democracy. Democracy is a value, and we share the importance of governance according to the people's will and citizen participation.

But are we a democracy? Republicans and Democrats often have radically different understandings of "the will of the people" and "citizen participation." It seems like our customs, arts, and social institutions are crumbling under the weight of different cultures, or more precisely, the values behind our customs, arts, and social institutions.

What is happening in our culture is happening in the church as well. There was a time when we thought our Christian and American values were the same. I doubt that was ever true, but we perceived enough continuity that we trusted the church and the government shared a common cause. Today, dissonance rather than continuity characterizes the conversation in church and state.

So, what does this have to do with leadership and the local church? There is a lot of anxiety and fear in the church today because the values war that is playing out on the national stage is also playing out in the church.

Many church leaders are more familiar with their partisan platform's values than with the values Jesus teaches. And we are used to thinking they should be the same, so the war is active in the church.

We must be clear that the church's culture is different from our nation's. Today, I think a simple mission statement that aligns with the mission Christ gave to the church, "to make disciples of all nations," will be sufficient. We need to work harder at defining our core, aspirational, and specific behavioral values guiding our behavior as brothers and sisters in Christ. Most of our conflict in the church gathers not around mission but ambiguity regarding our values. Culture (our values) may be invisible, but they are determinative! Leaders need to model clear and consistent values and build the church culture around those values that will witness Christ in us and through us. That would be transformative.