Losing the culture wars?

It seems that Christians are increasingly becoming aware that we are losing the culture wars, beaten back by the sexual revolution, anti-creation science teaching in schools and the post-modern tendency to see everything as relative and DIY mysticism as a healthy spiritual path.

Time magazine has an article about Christianity's Image Problem, Michael Craven questions whether Christians are the problem and the tepid success of Christian movie brand Fox Faith makes some wonder if Christians are even paying attention. I found this comment about Fox Faith's difficulties most interesting:

Media guru Phil Cooke, president of Cooke Pictures, said Fox Faith faces unique challenges from “a branding point of view” due to the diversity of the Christian community.

“While the general culture looks at 'Christians' being a homogenous group of people, we [Christians] track along a wide range of extremes in our thinking, our attitudes toward culture, and our doctrinal perspectives,” Cooke said. “The Passion of The Christ, which pretty much set this 'faith-based' fascination off in the minds of Hollywood, was a traditional story of the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. It told a story that the main thrust of the Christian community can agree on, and as a result, hit the box office jackpot. But once you drift from that central story that is the core of our faith, all bets are off.”

For me that hits the nail on the head. Christians are losing the culture wars because we are not a simple monolithic block. Different parts of the Christian faith succeed in different areas.

The Catholic church is still very well regarded for its third world missions and charity works, whilst in the first world many look so the Salvation Army or other Christian organisations for hope and mercy. Some Australian denominations like Christian City Church and Hillsong are well known for their emphasis on modern cultural elements in their worship and services, whilst also encouraging their congregation to be involved in the world of media and business. The Anglican church is well regarded for their intellectual rigour and emphasis on academic study, whilst also reaching out to their local communities.

Of course the fact that different groups of Christians have different effects upon the world should not be a surprise to us:

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”
1 Corinthians 12:12

The culture wars (if you like to see them that way) are really going to be won one fight at a time by the Christians on the ground. One day the church may be “chief among the mountains” (see Michah 4:1) , but that day is not yet come.

Amazing Grace (Movie)

The abolition of legalised slavery in the British Empire in 1807 was one of the great turning points for Western civilization, and was directly because of the powerful conversion of John Newton, a former slaveship master turned Anglican rector, who counselled the British MP William Wilberforce after his own conversion experience to serve God by staying in politics and fighting slavery and general sinfulness.

John Newton is most famously remembered for his heartfelt hymn, Amazing Grace, which captured the essence of his conversion experience.

A new movie called Amazing Grace has been made about William Wilberforce and John Newton and will be released in Australia on 26th July.

Modern Slavery
Unfortunately the abolition of legal slavery in most countries around the world has not stopped the trafficking of human beings. Stop the Traffik is a global organisation setup to help raise awareness of human trafficking and call on the UN and member governments to do more to combat this massive problem. They are using the Amazing Grace film to raise awareness for the plight of people in bondage.


For more good information on this topic check out the Anti-Slavery Project, which is supported by the Community Law Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney, and the BBC UK's Modern Slavery in-depth feature, which provides the following shocking statistics:

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