Are Christians called to win the culture war—or to make disciples?
That’s the tension I wrestle with in this week’s episode of Unfeigned Christianity. It started with an email. A thoughtful one. The listener wasn’t a fan of Christian nationalism, but they do care about common sense and moral clarity. They respect people who “stand up.” They’ve seen harm around LGBTQ ideology. They want to protect kids. They asked: What do we do with all this? And—because of recent events—what do we do with Charlie Kirk, Trump, and the claim that America was built on Christian values?
Here’s where I go in the episode:
- Jeremiah 29:7—in context. It’s often quoted to baptize nationalism. But Jeremiah is calling exiles to seek the city’s good while submitting to a foreign power. Not a permission slip for culture war. A call to faithful presence.
- Politics is downstream of culture. Laws can restrain. They don’t transform. If we want real change, we need long-haul, neighbor-level discipleship.
- Calling out evil on the right and the left. Loyalty to Jesus means no party gets a pass. When we justify one kind of evil to fight another, we lose our witness.
- What actually reduces harm? If we care about abortion, gender medicine, immigration, or war, we should measure outcomes—not just echo slogans.
I know that’s heavy. It’s also personal. I live in a community with real people sorting through real pain. I want to be the kind of Christian who can sit with a teenager wrestling with gender confusion and the single mom wondering how to keep the lights on. Not from a podium. From a kitchen table. That’s where transformation happens.
Do I believe public policy matters? Yes. Wilberforce mattered. Local school boards matter. But legislation without formation is like painting rot. It looks cleaner for a minute. It still collapses.
So here’s my simple invitation:
- Open your Bible. Read Jeremiah 29 with fresh eyes. Notice the posture of exile, not empire.
- Walk across the lawn. Share a meal. Ask a story. Listen longer than feels natural.
- Refuse party captivity. Test every talking point against the way of Jesus—truthful, humble, merciful, just.
- Commit to the long road. Discipleship is slow. Messy. Worth it.
In the episode, I also name places that have helped me think: The Dispatch (sober conservatives pushing back on MAGA), The AND Campaign (Compassion & Conviction is gold), and Andy Crouch’s Culture Making. No single source owns the truth. But some are doing faithful work in our noisy moment.
If you’ve felt torn—grieving cultural confusion, exhausted by political vitriol, and unsure how to respond—this one’s for you. Not as a final word. As a starting point for honest conversation.
Listen to the episode: Exiles, Not Emperors: Jeremiah 29:7, Christian Nationalism, and the Way of Jesus. If you’d rather read the transcript, you can do that here.
And then tell me what you think. Where has political loyalty crowded out love for your actual neighbor? Where have you seen patient discipleship do what legislation couldn’t? Drop a note in the comments or send me an email. I’d love to hear your story.
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Chapters on How Christians Can Disciple instead of Fighting a Culture War
00:00 Context to an Email I Received
08:56 Exploring American Culture and Christian Values
17:13 The Role of Political Ideologies in Christian Values
28:11 Evaluating Leadership and Moral Integrity in Politics
29:55 Engaging with Compassion and Conviction
35:54 Politics and Culture: The Interconnectedness
40:40 The Role of Christians in Cultural Impact
47:31 Discipleship Over Political Activism
52:35 The Call to Make Disciples
Did you enjoy this episode? You may also enjoy…
- No, God Did Not Tell Christians to Demand the Welfare of the Nation
- Charlie Kirk’s Death, the Church, and the Tension We Can’t Ignore
- What I Learned about Wholeness in a Year of Uncertainty
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