Just a few days into his second term, President Donald Trump has already made good on many of the promises he made to the Americans who voted for him. He implemented the “One Flag Policy,” making it so that only the American flag is permitted on U.S. embassies and outposts. He’s wiped federal websites of abortion and LGBT-related content. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are finally being confronted, and at long last, the crisis at the southern border is being tackled head-on. Oh, and let’s not gloss over the fact that Trump has officially pardoned the 23 pro-lifers who were wrongfully thrown in jail under the Biden administration.
After four years of an immensely controversial, highly progressive, and damaging administration, conservatives are winning like never before. It’s worth celebrating. And yet, now that so much of what occurred in recent years is being reversed, it begs the question: How did it get so bad in the first place? During his inaugural address, Trump stated, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” Of course, this is fantastic. But it’s also common sense. Maybe you, like me, have heard it said that while such a policy is important, it’s almost hard to believe that it needed to be established in the first place.
Politically engaged Christians, conservatives, and anyone on board with reality are very aware of just how ugly this battle has been. When we fight for the universal recognition that there are only two genders, what we’re really fighting for are the women and girls who have become the victims of an ideology that seeks to diminish their value, snuff out their rights and privacy, and erase all protections that many have worked hard to put in place. We’re fighting for the women and girls who have been harassed and abused by men parading around in woman-face.
When we fight against DEI, what we’re really fighting for is the ability for all people from all races and backgrounds to simply be seen as equal. We’re fighting for the end of a movement that, in the name of “anti-racism,” only promotes further racism and hostility.
When we fight for the sanctity of marriage, what we’re really fighting for is the preservation of the family so that our country may be able to flourish once again. The same can be said in the fight for life, except this battle is maybe even the simplest of all because every human being has the right to life. And every human being has a duty to protect that right.
So, when I ask how the cultural battles got as bad as they did and why we’re even fighting them in the first place, I already have an answer in mind. A two-fold answer, in fact. First, I believe the culture wars got so immensely ugly because, really, it’s likely many Americans never expected to have to fight them. For instance, the topic of parental rights was a hot topic under the Biden administration, and it continues to be debated even now. And if you take a look at the U.S. Constitution, the words “parental rights” don’t show up anywhere. This is not because our Founders thought it would be a good idea to leave such a concept up to interpretation. Almost undoubtedly, the Founding Fathers did not get together and say, “Let’s leave this out so that children have the freedom to parent themselves.” No, they didn’t put “parental rights” in the Constitution because the idea that parents have rights over their children was so painfully obvious that they probably felt it didn’t need to be included. They may not have even thought about including it.
Similarly, the biological reality that there are only two sexes — male and female — was perhaps just as obvious. The idea that the 47th president of the United States had to clarify that reality during his second inaugural address would likely be unfathomable to America’s Founders. In explaining all this, my point is simple: the battles we face today are battles we shouldn’t have to be fighting. And so, this leads to the second part of my answer to the question, “How did it get so bad in the first place?”
Since this is a battle we shouldn’t have to deal with, part of why it elevated to such dramatic heights could simply be due to the fact that we weren’t prepared to nip it all in the bud when it was first gaining traction. No army goes into battle without training for it first. No leader should send out troops without first giving them what they need. But if you’re ambushed, then all you can do is fight with what you have — even if that is only very little.
In a conversation I had with the prominent detransitioner, Chloe Cole, she explained why it is that so many people get swept up in the transgender movement only to get stuck with lifelong pain and regret. At least for Cole, the short answer is as follows: So many of these victims never saw it coming. By the time reality sunk in, they were already deep into hormones, surgeries, and other forms of “gender-transition” related procedures. While it’s never too late to stop taking the so-called “treatments,” there is a point when it’s too late to reverse the effects of them.
When I heard Cole speak of the blindsided reality of how unforeseen circumstances can completely change (or even ruin) your life, it made me think of how that relates to us now — for those of us fighting hard to put an end to these absurd ideologies and the grip they have on society. What we can learn from Cole, other detransitioners, and the experiences from the last four years in particular, is that in order to fight better and more effectively, we need to be prepared. Perhaps we did not see this tsunami of Pride and DEI coming four years ago, but we have no excuse to be blind to it now. And so, if you’ve stuck around this long, then congratulations, because we’ve officially reached the most important part of this monologue.
Yes, the battles we’re fighting are ultimately battles for the return of common sense. But it goes much deeper than that, because at the core of these battles are the concepts of identity, meaning, purpose, and the like. We are all creatures made in the image of God. We were all created to worship, and if we don’t worship the one and only God, then we try and find something else to worship instead. When we look at the culture around us, it may be tempting to laugh off the absurdities and move on with our lives. But really, when we look at the culture around us, we should be reminded of 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.”
These battles are spiritual battles. Whether we’re talking about transgenderism, abortion, or any other left-wing ideology, we see the common trend of, “I want to be my own god. I want a say over what I do. I want to form my own reality; my own truth.” The problem for those who think this way is that, no matter how hard they try, they will never be their own God. There is but One who sovereignly controls the universe and all that is in it, and one day soon, every knee will bow to Him. In an hour no one expects, every tongue will confess that He is Lord. In an hour many will not be ready for, every sin committed will be held accountable. But for those who do profess Jesus as King, we must be prepared.
If we’re going to fight these spiritual battles well, it starts with taking a look at our own lives individually. Only you can ask yourself: Am I in the word? Am I pursuing God’s truth? Am I seeking to write His law on my heart? Am I wasting opportunities to advance the Kingdom, or am I making the most of what God has given me? Am I truly living out this faith that I claim to have, and am I allowing God’s commands to shape the course of my daily actions? Only you have the ability to not only ask yourself these questions, but to also provide answers to them. And if we can answer, “yes,” then we just may find ourselves far more prepared to fight “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
As America finally enjoys a reprieve from federally-funded progressivism, my prayer is that the church sees this as an opportunity to really examine its spiritual wellness. I pray we all understand how the decline of progressivism is really just our chance to ramp up our evangelism, and to be bolder than ever before. I pray that we see the retreat of federally-endorsed DEI and LGBT activism as a wake-up call to never be okay with subpar knowledge of the truth. Rather, I earnestly pray that as we come out of four years of chaos and darkness, that we cling even tighter to Christ, bear our crosses with vigor, and march forward as illuminating lights. I pray we use every day of this new administration, in which conservatives are winning over and over, to become better prepared, fight even harder, and not let the ugly history of the last four years repeat itself.
Even though America at large voted for these changes, please understand that you will continue to face persecution for your evangelism and bold witness. But remember, we work unto the Lord, not unto men (Colossians 3:23-24). I beseech you: please, do not let this moment pass you by. As Christians, we’re meant to live now with eternity in mind. But with eternity in mind, I pray we live now fighting for truth in all sectors of life without apology, without restriction, till our final breath.
This article appeared originally here.
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