POSTED 03 NOVEMBER, 2008

Culture War

by Mark Huey
mark@outreachisrael.net

reproduced from the McHuey Blog

In 1978 when I became a born again Christian, the war for the heart and soul of the American culture was being waged in the political arena just like it is today. Since I had worked on Capital Hill after college, I had some experience and knowledge about how the political machinations worked. Within a year of my salvation experience, I was prompted to share some insights at the church I attended. After many late night discussions with some of my peers, I started a monthly meeting to educate fellow sojourners about our personal responsibility to be informed and involved in the political process. The Responsible Christian Action Forum (RCA Forum) invited various speakers to share their views on different social and cultural issues that were then being debated in the political arena. For a little over a year leading up to the 1980 election cycle, we enlightened people about the Scriptural basis for informed decisions when electing people to office or voting on various ballot initiatives or amendments or referendums.

If back then you would have told me that in thirty years, I would be living in Florida having to vote on the definition of what marriage is—I would have thought you were out of your mind. However, on Tuesday here in Florida, and coincidentally also in California and Arizona, the voters are being asked to make a determination as to whether “marriage” is essentially considered a “legal union” between one man and one woman. The ballot for the “Florida Marriage Protection Amendment” states our yes or no choice this way:

“This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage of the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

Considering the stark reality of having to legally declare via the voting process what the majority believes to be considered a “marriage” seems absurd to anyone raised in a nation that was birthed on Biblical principles. Yet this obvious devolution in understanding God’s created order is resulting increasingly with more of these bizarre state constitutional amendments or referendums or ballot initiatives. For Believers, how disturbing can this get?

I suppose the good news, and something we should be thankful for, is that at least today we are still democratically voting on what godly people think is patently obvious. Lamentably over the years in other realms, particularly concerning the right to life, we have witnessed the mores of the land drastically altered by court decisions that are then upheld as the law of the land. How far our culture is from judicial decisions or constitutional amendments legalizing euthanasia (assisted suicide) is anyone’s guess. We have been warned.

Fighting the war for our culture is and will be a life long battle for all that call upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and rely upon the accomplished atoning work of the Messiah Yeshua. Pointing people back to the Biblical basis from Genesis to Revelation for leading lives that are pleasing to our Creator is part of that strategy. As we obviously head toward a period when we will be living in a time like the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39), we need to appreciate our Spirit-led return to the ancient paths of the Scriptures (Jeremiah 6:16). It is our understanding that one of the primary reasons that God has been restoring the Hebraic Roots of our faith in the past few decades is to provide a viable alternative counterbalance to societal debauchery.

It appears that down through the ages, God follows a pattern for mankind that when sin increases His grace abounds (Romans 5:20) to those who are seeking Him. There is always a righteous seeking remnant that arises to point humanity back to the eternal truths of the Scriptures. Whether it is a righteous Noah, a zealous Elijah, or a John the Immerser declaring personal righteousness, God always raises voices in even the most perverse generations that direct people to God’s eternal ways.

While we do not necessarily place ourselves in this lofty company of saints, we do acknowledge that it is our desire as a ministry to present Biblical truths in a loving, balanced, and scholarly manner. As our culture continues to move toward ungodliness, we are increasingly motivated to enhance our outreach to those who are seeking the Holy One. Our fervent hope and prayer is that our teachings and exhortations will fall on fertile ground so that the Lord will generate an increase that is thirty, sixty, or even a hundred fold (Matthew 13:23).

We not only pray to that end, but ask that you consider His ways when you vote on leaders or initiatives. After all, we will all be held accountable for what we do with the rights, privileges, and responsibilities we have been given. Be a good, faithful servant as you fight the culture war with the knowledge and understanding that has been imparted to you. In so doing, you just might hear the words, “well done” when you enter into His presence!

Until the restoration of all things…

Mark Huey (B.A., Vanderbilt University in History and Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is the Director of Outreach Israel Ministries (www.outreachisrael.net). He is the author of several books, including: TorahScope, Volumes I & II, and Counting the Omer: A Daily Devotional Toward Shavuot. He is also co-author of Hebraic Roots: An Introductory Study.