Why Culture Wars Are Hurting Our Witness

As a high school English teacher, I’ve had a front row seat to the conversations taking place between parents and school boards about banned books. I’ve watched the news as a new book is banned from libraries, and I’ve witnessed the outrage of parents from what even classical texts teach. It seems, in my experience, that the current political climate intensifies these conversations as books are labeled too “progressive” or too “liberal.” There are conversations about the sexually explicit scenes, the language used, or the political issues discussed such as race relations.

While we see this in the discussion of books, we also see this when it comes to the stores at which we shop and the products we buy. In the summer of 2023, Target was in the sights of many for promoting LGBTQ+ apparel and employing transgender designers as well as Satan-worshipping creators. This prompted a boycott of Target, causing their stocks to drop drastically.

In the summer of 2023, I found myself with a 2 year old and 4 year old who were obsessed with Toy Story, and when I asked what they wanted to watch, they said Buzz Lightyear. I thought, “I’ve watched every single Toy Story movie 200 times, let’s change it up and watch the new Buzz.” The movie had been out a year already, and I heard the discontentment from many Christian parents declaring the issue of a homosexual couple appearing in the movie. I proceeded with caution.

Unfortunately, this the story of the majority of companies these days. You don’t have to look far to find a company with a questionable moral compass.

All of these things are done in the name of an attack on our kids from the left, and the outrage seen often comes from conservative Christians. And when I consider my place in the movement to watch what my money says I support, I wonder if I want to be considered “one of those people.” That is to say that when the outrage over a book happens or a war on the culture of our day ensues, the response of the conservative Christians often leading the charge is often unkind and hypocritical.

It seems that we, as believers, have also fallen prey to the rhetoric that convinces us that everyone is an enemy. When we hop on social media for a quick scroll, when we turn on the news, when we have a conversation with someone who disagrees with us, we quickly see how the American society no longer knows how to have a healthy conversation that promotes actual discourse. Instead, we see insults flung, yelling, arguing with no regard for the other perspective, and a hatred for those who disagree. We are no longer able to listen and learn, even when we disagree.

*Let me pause here to say that I am not saying these are wrong or that I disagree with there being real issues. What I am saying is that in doing these things we are often driving more people away from Jesus than leading them to Him.

Admittedly, it is much easier to discard all we disagree with, but that does not promote understanding. It creates a divide rather than building relationships, and it does not reflect Christ to the world. Let me explain.

On the list of banned books, we find things like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn due to racial depictions, The Diary of Anne Frank for sexually explicit scenes, The Catcher in the Rye for sexually explicit scenes and morally questionable issues, Fahrenheit 451 for dealing with the controversial issue of censorship and language that may be inappropriate, Of Mice and Men for moral issues, and The Scarlet Letter for discussion of an illicit affair. To be clear, these are only a few of the banned books, but these are all novels I taught in my high school English classroom at some point or another. In fact, this list includes some of my favorite novels. Each of the reasons listed are the official reasons for banning these books, and I will say that I can see how those reasons are supported. However, I do not think the outrage should be what it is when it comes to these books.

First, the books reflect the times in which they were written. They are able to teach us a readers much regarding how the world was viewed and how far we have or have not come. These novels can facilitate a discussion between parents and children about how we should interact with the issues addressed. These books provide a common ground for these conversations to start.

Next, these books are works of art - expressions of the author. The same is true for music of any genre or art. We do not have to like it or agree with it, but it can make us think and consider something in a way we may not have before.

Similarly, we must teach ourselves and our children how to stand firm in our convictions even when we disagree. We must also learn how to filter everything through the lens of the Truth. Books allow us to exercise that muscle, asking questions to help us better understand the author’s point of view.

Finally, censorship takes away the ability to think freely. It is a way to control the thoughts of the people, and if we want to live in a society that is well educated, well informed, and can discern the truth, we have to provide avenues for people to engage with ideas and build their thoughts. We have to provide different perspectives so that we are able to understand that our personal experiences are not the only experiences, and we see an illumination of injustices where they truly exist.

With all this in mind, there are a few things to be cautious of, however. I am not advocating for a free-for-all.

We must first consider the appropriateness for the age of those engaging with the content. I do not want my 8 year old exposed to the issues covered in the Scarlet Letter. We must also consider what the intent of writing is. Of course, we want to guard our hearts and steward our children’s hearts in the same way (Prov. 4:23), so we do not want to allow ourselves or children to read anything that is toeing the line of being pornographic whether overtly or covertly.

We also want to consider the other issues of culture. We must provide limits to technology, music, and television rather than just being outraged over books. These things provide a gateway, arguably even more, to the issues we see coming up continuously in culture and bubbling over into school boardrooms.

As Christians, we should be known more for what we are about than what we are against. This means that we display the fruits of Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). This does not mean that we are doormats or we do not stand up for the truth, firm in our convictions; instead, this means that we take a stand, we are bold, but not hateful or condemning. Even when we are passionate, we do not let our anger overtake us.

When I let my children watch Buzz Lightyear, I did see a homosexual couple. But that was not the center of the story, and it was not anything my children would not see walking through the grocery store. Instead, it provided some context for us to have a conversation with regard to our beliefs about that situation based on what the Bible says.

There is a guide for how we interact with the world.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:2, ESV

We’ve often heard the phrase, especially in evangelical circles, that we are to be in the world but not of the world. But what does that really mean? Ultimately, we are to live among the world while still being set apart. This does not mean total isolation, but it means that we do abstain from things that do not glorify the Lord. In order to do this, we have to saturate ourselves in the Word so that we are able to discern what the Lord wants from us as well as how we are to interact with others relationally.

Please hear me say that we are not to take part in things that are not glorifying the Lord. We do not open the door for the enemy to get a foothold because if you give that dude an inch he will take thirty miles. We do not allow the enemy any ground.

Still, we must proceed with caution and equip ourselves and our children to interact with the world in which we live. We must absolutely keep in perspective that there must be restrictions based on age and what is good and acceptable and holy, but we also must not shy away from those who need the Lord. While we may not participate in the things others are or be in the same places (because these are places that hurt our witness and are not places a believer is), we must face these issues.

The reality is that we live in a world that has issues that we are exposed to when we step out our front door. If we are to be a part of this world, making any sort of difference as we shine light into the darkness, we must be willing to deal with the issues. We have to know what we believe about these uncomfortable and often controversial issues so that we can speak words that bring life and are seasoned with salt. We use the culture to teach and discuss what the expectations of the Lord are, according to the Bible.

When we see the culture we are part of as the enemy, we are missing the real enemy. We wage wars against spiritual forces rather than other humans (Eph. 6:12). But we get this wrong so often. Instead of pointing people Jesus, most often we are creating further divides. If we would be willing to open the door to conversation and build relationships, we could lay a foundation that allows others to see Jesus in us. Of course, we will likely ruffle more than a few feathers, and we will certainly be hated (John 16:33). But we need to be sure that we aren’t in the business of scorching the Earth. We need to be sure we are being the salt of the Earth.

Let’s avoid allowing culture wars to determine our witness and instead point people to Jesus. Stand firm in the Truth, uncompromising and refusing to let the enemy have a foothold, but loving others with the unexplainable, unafraid love of Jesus.