What the Inauguration (and Vibe Shift) Means for Christians
For many Christians, this week’s inauguration brought a sense of relief.
Harris’s radically progressive platform was stopped from further becoming reality (for now), and Trump immediately started implementing measures to reverse some of the most devastating ideologies and policies of the prior administration (DEI, government censorship, a nearly open border, and gender ideology to name a few).
Given the extreme polarization we’ve seen in recent years over these issues and over Trump himself, one might have expected the culture war to be at its height post-election and post-inauguration. But, to many people’s surprise—including my own—we’re instead seeing what is being called a “vibe shift.”
That’s the hip way of saying, “It’s getting kind of okay now to not be all in on the most radical progressive ideas and actually publicly admit that you’re relieved—and even happy—about a new direction for the government. Some stuff needed to be fixed, and it’s okay to admit as much now.”
Indeed, in his remarks, Trump promised to bring about a “revolution of common sense.” Politically, this is a rather brilliant way of describing his desired reforms. It takes the conversation out of the emotionally charged sphere of progressive and conservative labels and signals to people that wherever you are on that spectrum, we should be able to come together on “common sense”—like reasonably protecting our borders. He’s basically saying, “Don’t feel ashamed of supporting the new direction, this is just common sense stuff. We can all get on board.”
Given that I have a new book coming out in two weeks called When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square, I wanted to address the significance of this “vibe shift” for Christians. In other words, Doesn’t it seem like things are turning around? Like we’ve reached a tipping point where culture is now swinging back to a friendlier disposition toward Christianity? Do we still need to be concerned that culture hates Christians?
To understand the answer to these questions, we need to understand what Jesus said about why the world would hate His followers.
What Jesus Said about Cultural Hate
In John 15:18-21, Jesus tells His disciples,
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
This is a very important passage because Jesus clearly gives an explanation here of why His followers would be hated. Very specifically, He says if the disciples were of the world, the world would have loved them as its own, but because they weren’t of the world, the world would hate them. Jesus similarly connected this explanation when He prayed, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14).
So, what does it mean to be “of the world”?
In Scripture, to be of the world means to be under the governing rule of Satan; people are either children of Satan or children of God. Those who are of the world, under Satan’s influence, desire to go their own way rather than God’s way (Ephesians 2:1-3).
Those who remain of the world are slaves to sin because they remain in rebellion to their Creator. In following their own passions and desires, they do the will of Satan. Those who give their lives to Jesus, however, receive a new nature and are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). They become children of God (John 1:12) and are now slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:16-18).
That brings us to a key question: Why do the children of Satan necessarily hate the children of God? In short, the children of God will be hated because they practice righteousness and the children of Satan practice evil (see, for example, 1 John 3:9-13).
As I say in When Culture Hates You, “When the children of God practice righteousness, they shine light on the works of the world, unveiling the truth of what they are: evil. Satan may masquerade as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), but that illusion is shattered by the true light that comes from the followers of Jesus. Of course those who are of the world will hate that. And they’ll hate you for making it happen.”
How, Then, Should Christians View a Cultural “Vibe Shift”?
When we understand what Scripture teaches about why the world would hate followers of Jesus, we can identify three major takeaways for this answer.
1. We should celebrate when a broad cultural vibe shift on certain issues happens to align with biblical values, but that doesn’t mean individual Christians won’t experience continued hostility.
I say “happens to align” because unbelieving culture—again, under the governing influence of Satan—will never consistently use God’s standards to determine right and wrong. That doesn’t mean that culture’s ideas of right and wrong will never line up with reality, but rather that without an objective standard rooted in God Himself, those ideas will continually fluctuate as a function of time and place.
As an example, Trump declared this week that his administration will “establish male and female as biological reality and protect women from radical gender ideology.” The rejection of gender ideology—the idea that gender and biological sex can be separated—is consistent with biblical teaching about God’s design. Cultural recognition and policy execution of objective truth about gender will result in the common good for society. Christians should unashamedly celebrate when that happens, out of our love for others.
At the same time, a vibe shift that makes it more acceptable to publicly state support for certain positions does not simultaneously mean individuals have suddenly changed their own positions en masse. Christians must still be prepared for the personal ramifications of speaking truth in their more proximate circles of friends, family, and colleagues.
2. When vibe shifts do align with biblical values, we can’t assume they will continue to do so.
Given that culture has no objective standard for its determination of right and wrong, any celebration should come with a somber awareness that at any time, the vibe can shift again in the opposite direction. For example, 20 years ago, Americans overwhelmingly agreed that marriage is between a man and a woman. That was the “vibe” of the day. One can imagine the politicians of that era affirming the biblical definition and labeling it “common sense” according to the subjective feeling of the time.
But today that’s not even a subject Trump is tackling. Yes, he’s addressing gender ideology, but there’s no necessary reason culture won’t move toward an unbiblical definition of gender once more in the future. A culture without God as its objective standard will ultimately replace one ungodly ideology with another.
3. When vibe shifts do align with biblical values, they’re rarely rooted in a biblical rationale, so Christians have to continue publicly connecting truth to God.
It would be easy to look at something like Trump’s rejection of gender ideology and think that it represents getting back to “Christian values.” And in a sense, that could be said; recognizing the existence of only two genders—rooted in biological sex—is a belief consistent with biblical Christianity. But we have to be careful to remember that many who are cheering on this particular change are not doing so from a biblical basis of recognizing God’s design for gender. In many cases, the rationale is merely pragmatic. For example, the high profile fallout of men in women’s sports has raised concerns about physical harm to women among many who would never give a second thought to God’s design. It’s important to recognize that a cultural shift that happens to align with biblical values doesn’t make the culture more “Christian.” It only means what’s acceptable to believe on a given issue happens to align right now with one part of Christian truth.
That’s why speaking truth can’t only be about seeking specific societal outcomes. It certainly includes that—we should want preborn babies to be protected, for example, regardless of how people come to agreement on that—but it isn’t limited to it. We must still seek to open the world’s eyes to the glory of how truth is rooted in God Himself (Matthew 5:16). In the process of doing so, we remind culture that there’s an authority greater than themselves, and that message is deeply resented by those who are under the governing rule of Satan.
In summary, then, what should we say to the questions I posed earlier: Doesn’t it seem like things are turning around? Like we’ve reached a tipping point where culture is now swinging back to a friendlier disposition toward Christianity? Do we still need to be concerned that culture hates Christians?
The cultural buoy of “acceptable” positions on various issues will continually float back and forth over time because it has no permanent, objective anchor. While on some issues we’re now seeing it float in a direction favorable to biblical truth (and we should celebrate the objective good that will come from it!), that doesn’t mean 1) that most individuals have changed their own positions, 2) that the new direction will last, or 3) that culture is becoming more friendly toward Christianity specifically.
Christians can’t ever get comfortable in a vibe shift, even if it seems favorable at a given time. We have to continually speak truth in pursuing the common good, knowing that a culture enslaved to sin will continue to be enslaved to sin, just in different ways. And when we take no part in the “unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11), we know from Scripture that the unbelieving world will hate us for it.
Get better equipped to understand and respond to this cultural moment. My new book, When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square, comes out February 4th! Get it here.
