The Church thrives when its values clash with cultural norms

History shows the Church is strongest when it stands apart from popular culture

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“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’, and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you!”

That moment of cartoon wisdom from Grandpa Simpson in a classic episode of The Simpsons captures a truth that every generation eventually faces. And right now, it’s the Church that finds itself out of step with what society calls “it.” But history suggests that’s exactly when the Church does its best work.

A recent example makes the point. American Christian singer and activist Sean Feucht was banned from performing in several Canadian venues by authorities who considered his views on social issues a threat to “community values.” When the Ministerios Restauracion Church in Montreal allowed one of Feucht’s presentations to proceed, protestors disrupted the event by throwing a smoke bomb into the Church. Police fined the Church $2,500.

One of Feucht’s supporters expressed shock that church values were no longer considered community values. She hasn’t been paying attention. This disconnect didn’t happen overnight—it reflects a profound cultural shift over decades.

For centuries, church values—traditional Christian teachings on life, family and morality—were understood to be the moral foundation of Canadian life. From the Catholic roots of New France to the ministers of the gospel like Tommy Douglas, a Baptist preacher and father of Canadian medicare, and Ernest Manning, an evangelical leader and longtime Alberta premier, Christian influence helped shape this country’s civic culture. Even our national anthem appeals to God.

But since the 1960s, the culture began to drift away from long-established teachings on sex, alcohol, gambling, drug use, abortion, euthanasia and marriage. In response, the largest Protestant denominations—United, Anglican and Presbyterian—watered down their doctrines and embraced the new permissive values of the day.

The results were predictable. Churches that held firm to historic teachings retained and even grew their membership. Those that compromised with secularism lost adherents and saw their influence decline. After all, why would anyone dress up for Sunday service to hear the same moral platitudes already available on every CBC morning show?

Being out of step with the culture isn’t a new role for the Church. History shows that its moral leadership often sparked real social change, especially when it stood against powerful interests.

In ancient Rome, Christians condemned the practice of leaving unwanted infants to die. When Christianity took hold among the ruling class, Roman emperors banned infanticide.

While gladiator games filled arenas with bloodlust, the Church demanded their end. When medieval knights pillaged and murdered at will, the Church established the Peace of God and the Truce of God, protecting peasants and limiting warfare to preserve crops and communities.

During the height of the African slave trade, Quakers, Anglicans and English evangelicals led the decades-long campaign to end the practice. In the 19th century, Church-led reformers fought to abolish child labour, curb alcohol abuse and win women the vote.

Today, many of the moral issues once opposed by the Church are now promoted or normalized by the state itself. In 21st-century Canada, the government sells drugs, alcohol and lottery tickets. Pornography is widely accessible online. Euthanasia is now considered a form of health care in Canada, including in cases involving mental illness and the elderly.

That Church values no longer align with community values should come as no surprise.

Nor should it be cause for alarm. The Church is once again where it has often been: outside the halls of power, surrounded by cultural opposition. And that is where it has always done its most important work.

Gerry Bowler is a Canadian historian and a senior fellow of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.