The Left Does No Control What Matters Most

The Left Does Not Control What Matters Most

Who really wields power in Western culture? The Progressive/Left controls most major American institutions. But don’t be discouraged. They do not control the one that matters most. I want to give 10 reasons why Christians should be optimistic about the future.

National Review’s excellent writer, Kevin Williamson, bemoans the power of the Left. They are now America’s elite; they control most major American institutions; they define what is respectable.

“Progressive leaders practice respectability politics, a politics of in-group affiliation expressed mainly through etiquette and socially necessary gestures of loyalty. Their main — and sometimes, their only — political strategy is based on status games, working to humiliate (and thereby effectively discredit) their opponents and rivals by associating them with low-status people and low-status ways of life rather than trying to persuade them or best them in argument…[They] control most of the high-status institutions.”

Those institutions would be higher education, K-12 education, Schools of Education which exist nearly exclusively to indoctrinate students with Left-wing ideology. They control Popular media—the entertainment industry. Social media, for example Facebook and Twitter. The Left is enormously influential in corporate board rooms, many of whom are now requiring Left-wing sensitivity training. They control most non-profit foundations, founded with capitalist money but now promoting an anti-capitalist, left-wing agenda.

I admit Kevin’s analysis can be a bit discouraging, but there is one thing missing here. The Left does not control the institution that matters most—the Christian church, the body of Christ.

The Christian church, an institution; you can find it in the phone book. The body of Christ—all born again Christians in America are harder to number. These two hugely overlap but are not identical. There are members of institutional Christian churches who are not Christians. They have capitulated to the secular Left and are in league with them. And there are true, born again Christians, who do not affiliate with any one institutional Christian church, but are part of the wider body of Christ, deriving fellowship from many sources. 

In spite of the cultural power of the Left I am optimistic. Why? Let me give you ten reasons.

1.   Our history of defeating our enemies; think of the world Christianity was born into: the Roman Empire is one of the most powerful of all time; it sought to oppress and exterminate Christianity; emperor worship was a powerful and popular cult; who prevailed? We did. After a few hundred years the empire ceased to exist, never to return. The Christian church went on building the most powerful culture that has ever existed and has spread around the world.

2.   We need to remember the Christian faith is seeking to do something very different from the Left; the Left wants to control behavior, especially political behavior; we want to change people’s hearts; in the long run heart changes are permanent and more powerful; we are not marketing an ideology; we are presenting the Gospel and sharing our Savior. We operate in a grassroots, bottom-up manner. The Left is strictly top down. Which is why they are obsessed with controlling political and cultural institutions.

3.   We practice what we preach. Not perfectly. But we try and often succeed. The Left makes no pretense of backing up their beliefs with their lives. You may have been entertained as I was by the rank hypocrisy of the COP26 environmental gathering. Political leaders and the rich elite from all over the world gathered by private jet to eat expensive dinners, recline in 5 star hotels, and tell the rest of us we are going to have to live more austere lives. Millions of Christians back up their beliefs by living lives of sacrificial service on behalf of their fellow man.

4.   I know I keep mentioning this but I have to; the Christian birth rate is much higher. We have more kids. And a generation from now that will make a giant difference.

5.   The most powerful institution the Left controls is education; but that control is breaking down. Between 2019 and 2021 the number of homeschoolers went from 2.5 million in America to 5 million. 2.5 million more homeschoolers. Twenty years from now that means the Left will get 2 million fewer votes, enough to swing a vast swath elections at the federal level to say nothing of the local level.

6.   Many alternative forms of education are arising to challenge the Left—charter schools, private schools, online education, and many others will weaken the Left’s hold on the culture.

7.   Christians practice aggressive evangelism. We are by far the most missionary minded faith in history. One missiologist estimates that Christianity will gain 20 million converts this year. That’s about 40 every minute.

8.   Christians church ministry is astonishingly versatile and we reach the greatest diversity of people of any movement ever.

9.   A small number make a giant difference. Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth produced, just after His ascension, 120 followers. Today there are over 2 billion. A tiny number of deeply committed Christians have statistical impact vastly greater than their numbers. Western culture was created by that small number of deeply committed believers, who from 500 to 1000 A.D. converted the barbarian tribes of Europe and produced Western civilization. Their number was very small. Their impact immeasurable.

10. And we must never leave out the power of the Holy Spirit. God Himself does what He wills and He will bring power to His people and change in Western culture and around the world that will astound the believer and unbeliever alike.

So be encouraged. God is in charge. He is at work in ways that are obvious and ways that are not. But He is at work.

Thank you for listening. Please check the resources below. May our God bless you this day in a mighty way.

More Resources:

I have a video series on the growth and triumph of the Christian church. The first installment is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Zk1Kk7m4Y&list=PLkHlTST983SpujnPAjgOE2AsDzsEBKkxh