Subversive Narratives
There is no question that many of our culture’s narratives are destructive. Carl Trueman demonstrates this fact in his impressive volume, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. He set out to discover how the phrase, “I am a woman trapped in a man’s body,” could make sense to anyone. The answer, as Trueman shows, is that a century of faulty philosophy shaped the stories our culture told itself about the nature of the individual and physical reality. The result was the sexual revolution. The cultural narrative of expressive individualism which modern philosophers promoted has enabled millions of people to deny the reality before their very eyes.
Amid the rising collectivism of 20th-century culture, the weight of sameness and conformity left people searching for a way to feel distinct and valuable. They looked for their value in personal autonomy.
Our culture spent a generation telling kids they could be anything they choose, regardless of reality. I was reminded of the persistence of the myth when a 20-something man who stood just over five feet declared he could have been an NFL linebacker if he had worked hard enough. He got visibly upset when the other men in the room failed to contain their laughter. His disappointment was not just about football; it was about a world that promised the impossible but left him unsure of who he really was.
Within the cultural narrative of expressive individualism there is a noble desire. We want to be seen and known, not as an industrial unit assigned a nine digit number at birth, but as unique persons with an identity that is not entirely dependent on when, where, and to whom we are born. One of the great apologetic tasks of our day is to show how Christianity fulfills that common cultural desire more effectively than does expressive individualism.
Subversive Fulfilment
In a world that increasingly views robust Christianity as implausible, cultural apologetics points toward the truth, goodness, and beauty of the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Cultural apologetics often involves listening to our culture’s stories and showing how the desires that underly the cultural narratives are fulfilled in Christ.
Christianity subversively fulfills the desire of expressive individualism to be truly known as a unique person. One of the distinctives of the Christian faith is the value of the individual as an image bearer of God. For example, the Mosaic code includes sacrifices for the sins of the nation and the sins of the individual. A key idea is that every person must stand before a holy God.
The value of the individual is even more apparent in the New Testament. For example, Jesus spoke to the rich young man who had followed the whole law, informing him that he had to abandon his personal love of wealth to be right with God (Matt. 19:16–22). Paul called the Corinthians to sexual purity by reminding them that their body was a means of relating rightly to God and that each individual was “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
Christianity subversively fulfills our culture’s desire to be valued as an individual. The Christian story shows that our value is not due to our external conformity to cultural trends (which expressive individualism ironically demands), but due to our submission to our creator. Thus, cultural apologetics can be a valuable tool for showing why Christianity fulfills some of our culture’s deepest desires.
Apologetics as Pre-Evangelism
Yet despite its power to subvert our culture’s narratives, cultural apologetics is not evangelism. Every apologetic method is a form of pre-evangelism, cultural apologetics included. Apologetics often breaks down barriers to belief in the gospel. For example, evidential arguments may convince a skeptic that Christ’s resurrection is true (a reality that demons no doubt believe). However, the belief that Christ’s death, burial, and bodily resurrection makes me right with God is necessary for my justification.
If cultural apologetics simply convinces someone that the story of Christianity offers a better explanation of the world, they still stand in need of the gospel. There are many benefits to cultural Christianity, which even Richard Dawkins has affirmed, but the gospel obedience demands an individual identification with Christ.
Cultural apologetics is a powerful tool for showing people that Christianity is good for the world. We should listen carefully to our culture’s narratives and use them to point to the Christianity’s subversive fulfillment of the underlying desires. At the same time, our primary task as Christians is to go and make disciples of all nations, which requires not merely preferring the Christian story, but individual repentance and belief that Christ is our only hope in life and death. That Great Commission will often involve telling people a better story, but we must ask them to believe it too.
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