Jesus of the Culture War

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I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read "Jesus Called. He Wants His Name Back". I chuckled to myself and pressumed that both the sticker and the car belonged to some fella trying to make an anti-Christian statement...that is until I saw his little fish decal in the window and came to the conclusion that both he and his car must be sanctified! Personally, I don't like to advertise my faith on my car. My driving wouldn't always give the best impression of the Prince of Peace!

It seems that almost everyone in Denver is using the bumper of their car to get some sort of message across. These valiant culture warriors are taking the "good fight of the faith" to the city streets and busy highways by sticking clever little slogans to the rear end of their car to provoke the thoughts of those stuck behind them in traffic. This, however, does not go unanswered by those in our community who counter with pithy little comments deriding people of faith or promoting their own humanistic alternative. Subaru's are almost sure to be carrying a pro-Obama or anti-Bush message, while trucks seem to sport their support of the Denver Bronco's or Bass Pro Shop. You can learn a lot about the person in the lane beside you by what he or she glues to their bumper...

With Christmas coming closer, the culture wars in America always seem to heat up a bit. There isn't hardly a day that goes by that I don't hear a story about an athiest group suing to prevent a nativity going up in a public square or a Christian group suing to get a plastic Jesus in a courthouse rotunda. There seems to me to be a lot of effort being made to dominate the culture. I'm just not so convinced that followers of Christ should be striving toward that end!

I'm not at all convinced that the King of kings is concerned about whether or not a plastic, illuminated image of himself as a baby will be permitted in the town park. I am also not satisfied that our efforts must go towards ensuring that symbols of our faith should be found in the halls of our government, but I am certain that the followers of Christ should concern themselves with the message of Christ!

I am also concerned about how easy it is for us to be sucked into these culture wars. It is easy for people of faith to feel like the "foundations of our faith" are being attacked when we hear about the lawsuits and other attempts to strip "Christ" from "Christ"mas in the public arena. But I find these cultural wars to be very unfortunate. All they really accomplish is to widen the divide and make enemies -- and I can't really see the spirit of Jesus in that.

There is no real "witness" gained by saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". The real witness comes as we love and serve our neighbors in the spirit of Christ...a spirit that neither leads us to dominate the culture or create a sub-culture. Don't get me wrong...I say "Merry Christmas", and I've placed a nativity in the living room of our home, because I believe the message of Christmas is found in the gift of Jesus. If people are to see that "he is the reason for the season", it will come from the way we live as the followers of Christ and not by the prominence of our plastic, illuminated statuary.

Because of Jesus, I need to guard my heart and ensure that I am not an active participant in a culture war that makes unnecessary enemies in the process. I don't want to miss the "good news of great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10) because I am stressed about all the people trying to get rid of the good news. Everybody loses in a war.