How Culture Wars Do Missional Harm—and What to Do Instead

In today’s divided landscape, the church is increasingly tempted to pick a side in the culture war. Whether it’s debates around politics, gender, race, education, or public health, there’s immense pressure for churches—and their leaders—to plant a flag and declare allegiance.

But here’s the sobering truth: when the church engages in culture wars, it does missional harm.

Not because the issues don’t matter. Many of them do. Not because truth doesn’t matter—it does, deeply. But because the way culture wars are fought rarely reflects the way of Jesus.

Culture wars thrive on outrage, suspicion, and self-righteousness. The Kingdom of God thrives on humility, grace, and love. And we are called to be citizens of the Kingdom, not soldiers in ideological skirmishes.

The Cultural War Machine: What It Really Does to the Church

Culture wars offer a false promise: If we can just win this argument, pass this policy, or defeat that ideology, righteousness will be restored. But that’s not how the Kingdom works. Jesus didn’t come to take sides—He came to bring transformation from the inside out.

The danger of culture war engagement is not only in the division it creates—it’s in the formation it produces. Culture wars don’t just distort the mission; they distort the disciple.

No matter which side you take, the culture war feeds the same toxins:

• Individualism – Everyone becomes their own authority, defending their truth and their tribe. We forget that the Gospel calls us to surrender ourselves to something greater—Jesus and His Church.

• Materialism – Winning becomes about power, influence, or comfort. We measure success in votes, clicks, and visibility instead of the fruits of the Spirit.

• Moralism – Righteousness becomes external: signs in the yard, statements on social media, or who we voted for. But Jesus rebuked this kind of virtue-signaling over and over again (Matthew 23).

We must be honest: culture wars may energize us, but they don’t disciple us. They don’t make us more like Jesus. And they certainly don’t help us lead others to Him.

The Missional Cost of Culture Wars

The deeper tragedy is what’s lost along the way. Culture wars create us-versus-them mindsets that turn our neighbors into enemies. They divide the Church, distract from the Gospel, and alienate the very people we’re called to love.

They convince believers that being right is the highest aim, not being Christlike.

And in the process, we lose credibility with the world—not because we’re too faithful to Jesus, but because we look nothing like Him.

Here’s the truth:

You can win the argument and lose the opportunity to witness. You can be bold on Twitter and silent in your neighborhood. You can signal virtue online and miss the call to love your actual neighbor.

So What Should the Church Do Instead?

The answer is not disengagement, apathy, or fear. It’s faithful presence.

The early church thrived not because it controlled the culture, but because it was faithful in the margins. They didn’t win through power—they witnessed through love. They embodied a way of life so compelling that it disrupted the world without mimicking its methods.

We need that posture again.

Here are four faithful ways to engage the people around us without getting entangled in the culture war:

1. Listen Before You Speak

People are not issues to be solved—they are image-bearers to be loved. Instead of debating someone’s position, get curious about their story. Ask real questions. Be genuinely interested. Jesus led with compassion before He ever spoke with correction.

2. Live the Kingdom in Ordinary Ways

Instead of virtue-signaling online, live with Gospel integrity offline. Love your neighbor. Forgive quickly. Serve quietly. Practice radical hospitality. Share your resources. These are subversive acts in a culture obsessed with self.

3. Speak Truth with Grace, Not with a Megaphone

When you do speak truth, do it the way Jesus did—with grace, with relationship, and with a heart to restore, not to win. Truth divorced from love becomes a weapon, not a witness.

4. Stay Rooted in a Bigger Story

The world is loud and fast. The Kingdom is quiet and enduring. Resist the pull to be reactive. Stay rooted in Scripture. Worship regularly. Build deep Christian community. These are the habits that keep us from being swept into the storm.

The Mission Is Still the Same

The world doesn’t need a church that takes sides—it needs a church that takes up its cross. We don’t have to compromise truth to be compassionate. We don’t have to disengage from culture to stay faithful. But we must stop letting the world’s battle lines define our spiritual mission. The mission is still the same: make disciples. Love neighbors. Proclaim the Gospel. Live like Jesus. And that mission is best fulfilled not through the shouting match of the culture war—but through the quiet power of faithful, humble, everyday witness.

So, let’s stop fighting battles that Jesus never asked us to win. Let’s live lives so shaped by the Kingdom that the world can’t help but ask what kind of King we serve.

That’s how we change culture. That’s how we love well. That’s how we stay on mission.