Rescuing the Prisoners of War in a Culture of Lies
Pastors,
As shepherds to congregations across the great state of Ohio, you are no strangers to the intense cultural fires currently burning in our communities. We are frequently tasked with guiding our flocks through a society that demands conformity, leaving many believers feeling isolated and overwhelmed.
Recently, a viral video from Pastor Josh Howerton analyzing the MLB Pride Night controversy beautifully encapsulated the exact moment we find ourselves in. When several San Francisco Giants players quietly wrote a Bible verse (Genesis 9) on their hats alongside wearing the mandated Pride logo, they were met with immediate, fierce backlash from the sports media. Pastor Howerton rightly pointed out that this scenario is straight out of the book of Daniel. The culture is playing the music, pointing to the idol, and demanding that the faithful bow.
But as we lead our congregations in this cultural moment, we are called to walk in a beautiful, agonizing tension: of grace and truth.
In John 1:14, we are told that Jesus came from the Father, "full of grace and truth." He didn’t model 50% grace and 50% truth; He embodied 100% of both. If we only preach grace, we surrender the truth of God’s life-giving design and leave people captive to their sins. If we only preach truth without grace, we become the clanging cymbals of 1 Corinthians 13—harsh, legalistic, and utterly ineffective.
Randy Alcorn, in his excellent book The Grace and Truth Paradox, captures this perfectly:
"Truth without grace breeds self-righteousness and crushing legalism. Grace without truth breeds moral indifference and doctrinal compromise." (p. 5)
A Rescue Mission, Not a Culture War
When we see the aggressive push of anti-biblical ideologies, it is a profoundly human reaction to become angry. Over the last 30 days alone, as the cultural blitz of "Pride Month" swept through Ohio this June, many of us have heard heartbreaking stories from our pews.
In the face of this, our flesh wants to go to war against the people pushing these agendas. But Scripture demands a different posture.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
The people enforcing these cultural mandates, the activists shouting at our church members, and the executives demanding compliance are not the enemy. They are prisoners of war of the enemy.
Our mission on this earth is a rescue mission. We are called to absolutely destroy the lies, ideologies, and arguments that set themselves up against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). But we destroy those arguments out of a profound, sacrificial love for the people who have fallen for them. We expose the darkness because those lies lead to spiritual death, and we desperately want to see these captives brought into the Kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13).
As C.S. Lewis famously wrote:
"Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage." (Mere Christianity, Chapter 2)
Our "sabotage" is sharing the Gospel. It is looking into the eyes of a broken culture and refusing to lie to them, while simultaneously refusing to stop loving them.
3 Practical Steps for the Ohio Pastor
Preach the Tension from the Pulpit: Equip your people with the vocabulary of grace and truth. Explicitly remind your congregation that the activists they see on the news are not enemies to be conquered, but hostages to be rescued. Challenge your church to pray by name for the civic leaders and cultural figures who oppose biblical values.
Equip for the Workplace: Take time this month to hold a seminar or dedicate a portion of your sermon to equipping your flock for corporate America. Give them practical, real-world scripts for how to respectfully and firmly decline affirming cultural lies while still being the hardest working, most loving, and most helpful employee in their office.
Stand Courageously in the Public Square: Your congregation will only be as bold as their shepherd. Model what it looks like to confront cultural issues with compassion. Write an op-ed in your local paper, attend a school board meeting, or speak to your city council. When you stand up for truth with a Christ-like demeanor, you give your congregation permission and courage to do the same.
Join the Movement
We are not meant to do this alone. Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) is actively working across Ohio to build a network of support, resources, and action for believers navigating these difficult waters. Please lock arms with us through these vital initiatives:
Join the Minnery Fellowship for Cultural Engagement: Connect with other Ohio pastors who are committed to walking in grace and truth, sharpening their leadership, and learning how to effectively engage the prevailing culture with biblical clarity.
Protect Our Students with the Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN): Help ensure that Ohio's children have access to education that honors biblical truth rather than cultural ideologies. OCEN helps churches start their own schools and advocates for school choice.
Equip Your Congregation’s Leaders via the Christian Business Partnership: Direct the business owners and leaders in your church to this network, where they can find legal protection, fellowship, and strategic support to run their companies on biblical principles in today's corporate climate.
Partner with Us in Our Hope and a Future Initiative: CCV has financially sponsored a statewide partnership with Communio to equip any Ohio church with the tools to build a vibrant, biblical view of marriage and family. Through full-circle relationship ministry, your church can reach directly into your congregation and the surrounding community with the transformative power of the Gospel.
Let us stand firm, pastors. Let us destroy the arguments, love the captives, and point Ohio to the liberating truth of Jesus Christ.
The Church Ambassador Network is a ministry of Center for Christian Virtue. They exist to serve and resource the Church in Ohio to understand the times and know how to respond. Read more about their mission at CCV.org/CAN
