Evangelicals have much to celebrate lately. Bible sales are up 22 percent, fueled by first-time buyers. Pro-life activists are being pardoned. A US government website facilitating abortion resources went offline. Women have regained protected class status. Religious conviction among young men has witnessed a dramatic upswing. An evangelical scholar appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience—considered the world’s most popular podcast—to discuss evidence for the Resurrection and the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. Even Richard Dawkins, famed atheist and author of The God Delusion, now identifies as a cultural Christian and views Christianity as a force for good in the West. Renowned psychologist Jordan Peterson has been exploring the claims of Christianity and now advocates for the study of the Bible and openly admits Jesus might be God. It seems that Christianity is in vogue for the first time in a long time. While this cultural openness to God hasn’t yet translated to Christian conversion for the names mentioned, the field appears unmistakably ripe for harvest.
The “vibe shift” is something pastors need to pay attention to, as we want to be like the men of Issachar who “understood the signs of the times” (1 Chron. 12:32, NLT). Every movement of culture creates both opportunities and liabilities. The opportunities should be celebrated and seized, with Christians engaging on podcasts, contributing to long-form discussions, addressing textual criticism, promoting positive visions for biblical masculinity, and speaking clearly and courageously around LGBT issues. We can highlight how Western culture is a beneficiary of Christianity’s influence, as seen in works like Tom Holland’s Dominion or Glen Scrivener’s The Air We Breathe.
Rather than seizing this moment, some Christians—perhaps with genuine pastoral concern— have unwittingly fallen into the habit of raining on parades, responding to celebration with caveats and what-abouts. “Happy Birthday!” says one believer. “But what about the people for whom it isn’t their birthday?” responds another, while a third chimes in with a solemn reminder about grief and the potential triggers of birthday celebrations. In our eagerness to “weep with those who weep” we sometimes forget to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15). Like an over-spiritualized political correctness, this posture withdraws and can become cynical about people who are less sensitive. In the name of speaking truth to power, some can be too slow to celebrate genuine goodness when they see it, blind to the blessings they once prayed for.
At the same time, there are liabilities that must be considered. The equal and opposite error to toxic negativity is toxic positivity. This danger appears in what Martin Luther called a being a “theologian of glory” and what H. Richard Niebuhr termed the “Christ of culture.” My concern is that evangelicals who are too enthused by the vibe shift will find themselves adopting the very positions they’ve typically and rightfully opposed, those of the papists in Luther’s day and the mainline liberal Protestants Niebuhr critiqued.
Luther articulated a distinction between “theologians of glory” and “theologians of the cross” in 1518. His words remain instructive today:
That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who looks upon the invisible things of God as though they were clearly perceptible in those things which have actually happened. He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross.
That wisdom which sees the invisible things of God in works as perceived by man is completely puffed up, blinded and hardened… Yet that wisdom is not of itself evil, nor is the law to be evaded; but without the theology of the cross man misuses the best in the worst manner.
The theologian of glory (the Papistry he’s criticizing) measures success and victory as the world does: through numbers, wealth, and visible outcomes. This mindset suggests that growth implies that the means are divinely blessed. Our church is growing; therefore we are to be imitated. Rome’s power is evidence that God is on their side. Might proves right. It’s nothing more than another form of prosperity gospel—winners win, losers lose. But should we assume that Aslan is on the move because the cultural winter seems to thaw?
This temptation to baptize favorable shifts of culture as movements of God is also one of the hallmarks of theological liberalism. In his 1951 work Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr outlined three primary ways that Christians have engaged with culture:
- Christ Against Culture — This view, famously expressed by Tertullian in the 3rd century (“What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem?”), sees Christianity and secular culture as diametrically opposed. Think of the Amish and the Monks as the archetypal expression of this perspective; the key emphasis is separation for the purpose of holiness. Think Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option—withdraw, build, and then strategically reengage.
- Christ Above Culture — This perspective is typified in Abraham Kuyper’s famous quote: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine.” Proponents often reject the so-called sacred-secular divide and seek to highlight the religious root of all cultures regardless of whether they understand themselves to be religious or not.
- Christ of Culture — Often associated with liberal Protestant movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, this syncretist approach seeks to harmonize Christianity with contemporary cultural values and social trends.
While each approach can offer insight, the Christ of Culture perspective historically has compromised on the authority of God in the Scriptures. Rather than being signs and agents of the kingdom in the midst of culture, it often conforms to it, flirting with a worldly pantheism that fails to recognize both God’s holiness and Scripture’s authority. The leftist flavor of this will say things like, “God has changed his mind on homosexuality;” the right-wing flavor will say, “God has changed his mind on being unequally yoked with non-believers.” This takes the doctrine of progressive revelation and turns it into a doctrine of progressive humanist revelation.
We shouldn’t hastily baptize the current vibe shift as a movement of God, per se. The chief revelation of God in history is still seen “through suffering and the cross.” Babylon the Great has not yet fallen. The gates of hell, though destined for defeat, remain. We must not make peace with Empire in the name of serving Kingdom. As Eugene Peterson wisely noted:
We choose: we follow the dragon and his beasts along their parade route, conspicuous with the worship of splendid images, elaborated in mysterious symbols, fond of statistics, taking on whatever role is necessary to make a good show and get the applause of the crowd in order to get access to power and become self-important. Or we follow the Lamb along a farmyard route, worshiping the invisible, listening to the foolishness of preaching, practicing a holy life that involves heroically difficult acts that no one will ever notice, in order to become, simply, our eternal selves in an eternal city. It is the difference, politically, between wanting to use the people around us to become powerful (or, if unskilled, getting used by them), and entering into covenants with the people around us so that the power of salvation extends into every part of the neighborhood, the society, and the world that God loves.
The people in our pews still struggle with addiction, adultery, and doubt. Most relate more with Job than with Daniel, their lives marked by suffering and uncertainty. They do not care about the vibe shift unless they’re immersed in evangelistic debates or use politics as an escape from the monotony of their lives. This is not most people. The positivity of the vibe shift, while exciting when it comes to evangelistic efforts, is not sufficient to save or shepherd souls.
Jeremiah understood this tension. We seek the welfare of Babylon (Jer. 29:7), but not to the neglect of our holiness. Winning still looks like sharing in Christ’s sufferings. “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.” (Jer. 45:5).
Triumphalist, over-realized eschatologies preoccupied with winning culture wars bypass the cross of Christ for a humanist “resurrection.” We seek faithfulness first, and cultural transformation may follow. Seek first the kingdom and all these things will be added; seek first “all these things” and you’ll get neither the kingdom nor the flourishing of Babylon. You may even lose your soul.
Seth Troutt is the teaching pastor at Ironwood Church in Arizona. His doctoral studies focused on Gen Z, digitization, and bodily self-concept. He writes about emotions, gender, parenting, and the intersection of theology and culture. Seth and his wife, Taylor, have two young children.
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