Cultural Blueprint: Unity in Christ
Cultural Blueprint: Unity in Christ
The unifying force
It was not that long ago that being considered a “conservative” had a distinction. This distinction made it pretty easy for people to guess the values that conservatives stood for, politically and morally. However, as the 21st century has marched onward, there has been division when it comes to the direction conservatives should go, mostly on social issues—and as the Steven Crowder versus The Daily Wire controversy showed, there’s also division on how to fight back against the corruption of culture. “Conservative” no longer has a distinct meaning. How did these fractions come to be? Secularism.
It is no surprise to anyone who has been reading these blogs that Taboo Topic is a Christian-principled publication. Articles have been written to talk about the problems secularism has brought, from the home, to church, to politics. America was never theocratic, nor is such a thing being promoted; yet as free citizens who live in a country that is allegedly run by the people, the people seem to have the freedom to live out their faiths. Not just through mere words, but actions, too. When a person does not believe in a higher authority, he or she believes they themselves are the arbiter of truth, and thus there is no objective morality when it comes to how an individual should behave in society. There is no “the truth,” just “my truth.” That is one individual; imagine if that thought gets expanded to the home, church, community, nation, and world. Humanity has continued the cycle of claiming to know better than God Himself what is right and wrong.
No, this is not an attack on those who are not religiously affiliated. In fact, keep reading along if you are not, because there is value to these thoughts. “The truth” comes from somewhere. It is not a result of humanity, despite perhaps what the great philosophers of our time may push. Everything comes from something. People are not taught how to lie, steal, cheat, or hurt others—individuals have to be taught *not* to do those things. But who? Who started the idea that a lie is morally wrong? If humans are not taught to lie, then how could humanity possibly come up with the idea of “telling the truth?” Any person with a sound mind would know that a painting itself does not just appear on paper; it has an author. Thus, is it not fair to say the same when it comes to the “art” of expressing the truth—that there’s an author? The “art” of distinguishing right from wrong? God is our objective standard of truth.
The West was founded on the idea of God being the arbiter of truth. God was the unifying force that brought stability and order. And if one wants to get more specific, the Christian religion was the foundation on which people abide in their daily lives. No, they were not perfect human beings, nor was the culture perfect either. However, something can be said for a thirst for “the truth” and a lack of interest in trusting a human’s understanding of right and wrong. The reliance on oneself as the objective standard led to human atrocities such as the Holocaust. If people are left to themselves, anything can be justified. And, most of the time, their conclusions are led by the feelings of the person themselves. Conservatives have fallen into this trap; that’s why there is no unity. Imagine a romantic relationship—how can a couple be united if they don’t even agree on morality? If they both claimed to be the “objective” truth, then who is one to say that infidelity is wrong? There has to be an objective standard that is not of this world as a unifying force.
Granted, unity does not mean conformity. Christianity makes that clear through 1 Corinthians 12:14: “For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” Paul uses the human body to specifically symbolize the idea that just because the different parts of our body have different functions, does not mean that they are no longer part of the body. In other words, not everyone has to be a preacher. Not everyone has to travel overseas for a mission trip. There are some whose primary purpose will be to teach, while others protect. People can have different functions in society, but the glue that should unite everyone is God, being the objective arbiter of truth. The truth that supersedes all human comprehension. This can be found in the Christian Bible. Thus, even for those who are non-religious affiliates, their main source for morality should not be of themselves, but of a third objective standard. The Bible has been proven to be more than true. It is a “manifestation of truth,” as Jordan Peterson puts it.
Conservatives used to universally agree on this principle. Conservatives used to not base their positions on human logic. And if we refer back to the Christian Bible, there is an emphasis on an individual not leaning on his own understanding—that God’s ways are higher than human comprehension. Yet, as of 2023, that is where conservatives find themselves. You’ll hear conservatives such as Tomi Lahren make statements about,“my truth,”as if she has placed herself on a pedestal of morality. Meanwhile, she’ll claim to her Christian faith while endorsing gender-confused Bruce Jenner for governor and criticizing those who do not support such a belief. This is not an attack on Tomi Lahren, but an illustration of how disconnected conservatism has fallen from depending on the Bible as its foundation to form their worldview. If you were an undecided voter, or a moderate liberal, how could you distinguish what a conservative is? The foundation is based on the logic of fallible sinners. It’s the equivalent of, “a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26-27).
If conservatives are to have any impact on culture, Christ has to be the uniting force. For Christ Himself said, “I am the way, *the truth,* and the life” (John 14:6, emphasis added)—not the Constitution, nor America, nor the free market. The non-religious affiliate can put this idea into practice, but this is directed towards those who claim to practice the Christian faith. I have also put myself on a pedestal in the past, allowing myself to be shifted by the political winds at sea. Subjective truth destroyed liberalism and will destroy conservatism too. There is no evidence to suggest that when left to ourselves, long-term stability can be accomplished. In fact, one can see in the time of Moses that when he left to speak to God after getting his people out of slavery, they began doubting God. They started to question if God knew what He was doing, and thus began worshiping idols (Exodus 32)—the same type of worship that they escaped slavery from! If the last several generations have exposed us to anything, it is that humanity creates dysfunction, disorder, and instability—what Lucifer is good at. God is, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). It was Satan that convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. It was this action that brought sin and disorder to our world. But God gave humanity Jesus as part of His plan to restore order, despite the disorder the fruit created. All it takes is a change of mind (repentance) about the condition of one’s heart; a change of mind that knocks the person off the pedestal, realizing that they too are capable of great evil without Christ. If this humility can take place with one person, restoring the individual, imagine what it could do for a nation. Christ is the unity everyone needs. Nobody else.
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