The Cross and Culture
A Review of Onward by Russell Moore
B&H Books (August 1, 2015)
This is not a Sunday School manual on the blessings of life in Christian America. Dr. Moore does not repeat the consensus opinion of voting for conservative Republicans to maintain our good fortune. Onward is a battle plan, a Kingdom soldier’s guide to cultural warfare. “The kingdom of God is a declaration of war.” The first step toward victory in this theater of battle is to see God’s kingdom in its future glory and its present reality. Future glory is easy; present reality not so much. But if we believe that where King Jesus is, His kingdom exists, then we must start focusing on the present realities of life as ‘living in the Kingdom.’ Eschatology often hinders us from the fullness of life here; living for Christ the King makes the present more real. He is after all the head of the church. The culture is a battleground. A soldier of Christ will then be engaged in battle wherever it exists.
In the milieu of the greater culture is another culture, the church. In this earthly culture, “the church is an act of war.” The church brings aliens and strangers together, sinners of every kind are united in one body. This unified living is an attack on the self-seeking desires of the world around us. Even the angels take note. (Ephesians 3:10) Sometimes “the kingdom of God dawns in trailer parks and refugee camps.” So rather than disengaging from social and political issues we must apply the gospel to all of our “callings and vocations.” The Scriptures are profitable for living. The Gospel informs “the tone of our engagement.”
Dr. Moore emphasizes three specific areas of concern-human dignity, religious liberty, family stability.
There is no greater dignity afforded a human than to be called a child of God. The Gospel is then the most important aspect of our mission for human dignity. The future kingdom will be ruled by children of God from every tribe and nation. “How can the believing community stand by while some of the cosmos’s future rulers are denied justice because of the pigment of their skin?” The church must be ‘whole-life’ not just pro-life.
Dr. Moore speaks forcefully about the separation of church and state. “Do we really believe that unregenerate people can approach God, without a mediator, to pray? If not, why would we ask the government to force people to pretend to do so?” We are citizens but citizenship here is not final. “We are Americans best when we are not Americans first.”
“The family is a gospel issue, not a values issue.”
The kingdom of God is a declaration of war. The church is an act of war. Kindness that leads to conviction may be our greatest weapon. We love people enough “to tell them the truth and to tell ourselves the truth about them.”
Some of the greatest cultural warriors may not yet be on the winning team. “Jesus is marching onward, with or without us, and if the gates of hell cannot hold Him back, why on earth would He be panicked by Hollywood or Capitol Hill?”
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