Culture war
The war is over!
In 1996 Steve Jobs had this to say concerning the state of Mac computers in the PC landscape:
“The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.”
In a very real sense, the same could be said about the Church’s participation in the Culture Wars. The Culture Wars are over. Done. The Church lost a long time ago. There are lots of reasons, some of which I will get to in future posts. But ultimately it boils down to we are the only ones fighting. Culture keeps moving with or without us. Ever try to fight someone or something that just keeps moving regardless of how hard you fight? That’s what culture is doing. It isn’t fighting us. It is just moving.
We have met the enemy and he is us!
And we are calling people the “enemy”. If you call and treat someone as an "enemy” do you really think they will change? (and BTW, how are we supposed to treat enemies?) By that approach barriers are created that are nigh on insurmountable. The barriers become a bit like the old finger “hand-cuff” puzzle where the harder you pull and fight them, the more they constrict. The harder you argue, the more you fight this “war” to win (re: control) the campaign, the harder the resistance.
Don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying the fight is right and all we need is a change in strategy. There is no strategy that will win. The war was not a just or righteous fight to being with. It needs to be abandoned. No one is winning. We don’t need a change of strategy. We need a change of heart.
But do we really care?
Now imagine that thing or person earlier we are trying to fight. What do you think would happen if we came up beside them and asked things like “Where are you going? Why are you going there? How are you getting there?” Imagine if we could say, “Hey I’m going there, too!” Or “I’ve been there already. Here is what to look out for. Can I help you get there and help you when you get there?” Imagine if we showed that we actually cared about them. Imagine if we actually cared.
Thanks for reading. Please write me with your own thoughts. Also, please let me know if I have permission to publish your thoughts.
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