Important Essay: Michael Horton's "Beyond Culture Wars"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I like theologian Michael Horton's writing.\u00a0 He's often provocative and helpful.\u00a0 Even if one doesn't always agree with him, one generally finds him a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2008\/08\/important-essay-michael-hortons-beyond-culture-wars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Important Essay: Michael Horton's "Beyond Culture Wars"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I like theologian Michael Horton's writing.\u00a0 He's often provocative and helpful.\u00a0 Even if one doesn't always agree with him, one generally finds him a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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{"id":883,"date":"2008-08-27T16:36:21","date_gmt":"2008-08-27T16:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.wordpress.com\/?p=883"},"modified":"2008-08-27T16:36:21","modified_gmt":"2008-08-27T16:36:21","slug":"important-essay-michael-hortons-beyond-culture-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2008\/08\/important-essay-michael-hortons-beyond-culture-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Essay: Michael Horton’s “Beyond Culture Wars”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I like theologian Michael Horton<\/a>\u2018s writing.\u00a0 He\u2019s often provocative and helpful.\u00a0 Even if one doesn\u2019t always agree with him, one generally finds him a stimulating read.\u00a0 The latest issue of Modern Reformation<\/em><\/a> has reprinted a column entitled \u201cBeyond the Culture Wars\u201d<\/a> published fifteen years ago that bears out a reading.\u00a0 Horton\u2019s burden in the piece is to direct Christians away from the \u201cculture wars\u201d and toward gospel proclamation.\u00a0 He overstates things in places and comes to some conclusions that make me a bit uneasy, but his general message is, I think, challenging.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt that pushed me to consider the thoughts and intentions of my own heart:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have become the rock of offense rather than Christ. The irony is we have taken the offense out of the gospel\u2013we don\u2019t preach sin and grace anymore\u2013and have taken it over for ourselves. We\u2019re offensive for all the wrong reasons while we leave the gospel itself devoid of its power. The minorities, the feminists, the gays, and others who practice immoral lifestyles\u2013people with whom we may not agree\u2013will not give us a hearing at the end of the twentieth century. Not because we have preached the gospel and called them to repentance and they don\u2019t like that, but because we have framed our communication with them in terms of a war for social, political, and cultural control. Contrary to the religious leaders of his day, Jesus was the friend of sinners. Prostitutes turned from their prostitution because, as Jesus said, \u201cHe who is forgiven much loves much.\u201d The Holy Spirit will not convert a single soul through moral crusades. He will not convert a prostitute through Senate bill 242, or change the direction of the homosexual by prime-time denunciation from moralistic preachers. Yes, we are called to preach the good news and to call men and women to repentance, but that is not a political issue, that is not ultimate a moral issue, that is a gospel issue. Repentance can no more be coerced by the state than faith; both are the gracious gifts of God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"