Getting beyond the ‘culture wars’
Denny Burk writes:
Evangelicals are going to have to deal with culture war flashpoints like gay marriage. The only way to avoid it would be to retreat from culture altogether. But that really isn’t an option for those who take the Great Commission seriously. We must be in the world, not of the world for the sake of the world (John 17). That will inevitably lead to some conflict, and no amount of polite conversation (which I’m all for) will deliver us from the censure of those who despise God and His ways (Phil. 1:29). Didn’t Jesus himself say that His disciples would be “persecuted for the the sake of righteousness” (Matt. 5:20), and did He not pronounce a blessing on the same?
We shouldn’t agitate for confrontation. Christians should never be pugnacious. Having said that, we must never back down from the norms of scripture–even when those norms cause division (Matt. 10:34).
Multiply Justice 