This is based on this article by Mike Judge, which is itself based on an article by Aaron M. Renn.

The original article assumes an American context, so not all of the ideas fit neatly into the situation here in the UK.

Over the past half-century or so, the culture has passed through three phases with regard to how it views evangelical Christianity.

Phase 1 was largely positive.  The church, its ministers and its members were regarded with respect.  Church attendance may have been in decline, but Christianity was seen as broadly virtuous.

Phase 2 was neutral.  Church-going was regarded as neither good nor bad.  Christianity was one choice among many, and the culture was apathetic about which choice was made.

We have now moved into phase 3 – the negative phase.  The culture is openly hostile towards biblical Christianity:

‘To call yourself an evangelical is to announce to the world that you are an anti-women, anti-gay, anti-choice bigot. You’re probably a racist and a climate-change denier too.’

In response to these phases, three distinct (but sometimes overlapping) evangelical worlds have emerged.

Firstly, there are the evangelical culture warriers.  They are pro-life and pro-marriage political activists.  In America, they are known as the ‘Christian Right’ and are associated with Jerry Falwell and the ‘Moral Majority’.  They can still be found among evangelical supporters of Donald Trump.  Although there is as yet no clear equivalent here in the UK, there are those whose concern for  what they regard as doctrinal and moral purity leads them to:

‘run the risk of treating people as political opponents to be defeated in the culture wars, rather than lost souls in need of hearing the gospel.’

Secondly, there are the ‘seeker sensitive’ versions of evangelicalism.  They leaders are keen to explore what would attract outsiders back to church:

‘So churches became much more consumer-driven. Gone were the old, stuffy, ancient hymns. In came the new worship bands with modern songs. Out went the preachers in shirts and ties, in came the dynamic speaker in jeans and t-shirts. Out went heavy doctrine, in came light-weight spirituality. Church became much more of an entertainment experience or a lifestyle choice.’

Once again, the situation in America and in the UK is not identical.  We do not have mega-churches, but every large town has a number of ‘seeker sensitive’ churches would draw in large numbers of people.

Thirdly, some evangelicals adopt the ‘cultural engagement’ approach:

‘These evangelicals are not confronting the culture like the ‘culture warriors’, but nor do they embrace the full ‘seeker sensitive’ model. They don’t major on issues like abortion or gay marriage, and prefer to talk about social justice issues like racial discrimination and climate change.’

They do not major on specific issues, such as abortion or gay marriage.  Rather, they prefer to talk about social justic issues such as racial discrimination and climate change.  They are looking for areas of overlap between Biblical teaching and prevailing social ethics, such as safeguarding the vulnerable from abuse.

But, for all their efforts to take a dialoguing, rather than a confrontational, approach, the culture will always regard them with suspicion, insofar as they espouse biblical teaching.  Moreover, social acceptability comes at a price:

‘Compromises must be made. Certain beliefs must be kept quiet, secular language has to be adopted, the politically-correct virtues must be displayed and signalled prominently.’

By contrast, ‘cultural warrior’ Christians do not seek acceptance by the secular world.  Indeed, rejection becomes a badge of honour.

Wherever we stand on this, we can surely agree that we must heed the words of Jesus, when he urged his hearers to not only hear, but to do, his words.