Is 'Our Culture' Sick Or Just 'Progressive Culture'?

Why situating ourselves in the world properly matters

Photo by Brittany Colette on Unsplash

I try to avoid commenting on social media drama like the plague, but this tweet by my friend and fellow Keller Center Fellow Gavin Ortlund cause a remarkable stir that touched on a dynamic that is important for all Christians to consider. Ortlund wrote:

Praying for Charlie Kirk. This violence reveals a deep sickness in our culture. Come, Lord Jesus.

In response, many people wrote that it’s not our culture that’s sick in this way, it’s progressive culture. Our culture stands for Christ, life, family, and so on. Ortlund clarified that he meant American culture, but I don’t think his critics cared. Their concern was with the idea that they might represent the kind of horrific violence that led to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, to millions of abortions, to transgender ideology, to so many other fruits of progressive ideals. It seems to me that this point is worth considering: To what extent is progressivism a different culture within America? And to what extent could we say that conservative evangelicals are outside that culture by choice and by exclusion? On the other hand, don’t we talk about “American culture” as a whole all the time? And if there is an American culture, aren’t Christians a part of it?

Why does this matter? It matters because if evangelicals should primarily conceive of themselves as a separate culture within America, then they have an obligation to guard, protect, and nurture that culture over against all others. If evangelicals are primarily a part of the wider American culture (while still retaining religious distinctives!), then they have an obligation to guard, protect, and nurture that culture. I would argue that we’re always already part of the wider American culture whether we want to be or not. We belong to Christ first and foremost. We belong to his Body here on earth, the Church. But we also have some obligation to our country, which involves among other things, contributing to the cultural health of our nation. Denying that we are part of American culture is a denial of our obligation to convict, preach to, exhort, persuade, and appeal to our neighbor for their good. It is a denial of our shared ownership in this American project. It is precisely because our neighbors need to hear the Good News that we should desire to be a part of their culture, even while we never sacrifice or betray our commitment to biblical orthodoxy.