Engage the Culture with Compassion and Courage

In these articles, I want to keep unpacking the five commitments I shared at the National Gathering, what will be necessary if we are to partner with the Lord in a fresh awakening in our country. The third is this. Engage the culture with compassion and courage.

This may be the hardest of the five. That has been the consistent feedback.

It is hard because, unlike prayer and fasting or equipping the saints, this brings real differences. We do not all see the issues the same way. We do not agree on when or how to engage. In the early days of ECO, there was more clarity. We knew where we stood on key issues like the sanctity of life and biblical sexuality. Today, issues like race, immigration, and political power create sincere differences among us. Even our methods vary. Do we speak out, show up, post, or stay local?

And yet we cannot retreat. If we are going to have a meaningful witness, we must engage well. A few anchors can guide us.

We follow Jesus, not a political party

This sounds obvious, but it is easy to drift. Are we actually discipling people to see the world through Scripture? And if we are honest, are we doing that ourselves, or are we letting the voices on our side shape us more than the Word of God?

Start here. We will follow Jesus first, even when it challenges our instincts. If Scripture never confronts your assumptions, you are not reading it closely enough. That kind of humility is both grounding and compelling.

Lead with compassion and curiosity

James calls us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Imagine if that marked our conversations.

I see this on the tennis court. Most of the people I play with are not Christians and are often skeptical of an evangelical perspective. My instinct is to defend. But when I listen, something shifts. One friend told me, I do not usually like evangelicals, but I like you. I did not win an argument, but I gained a hearing. That matters.

Compassion and curiosity do not mean compromise. They mean we care enough to understand before we speak.

Prioritize real conversations over distant commentary

Very few lives are changed through a post. Social media rallies those who agree and hardens those who do not.

Real engagement happens face to face. Around tables. Over time.

If we want to influence the culture, we must be present in it. Invest in people, not just ideas. Ask good questions. Listen well. Stay in relationship even when it is hard.

Courage is not just speaking loudly. It is staying present. Telling the truth with grace. Refusing to reduce people to categories and instead seeing them as those made in the image of God.

My hope is simple. That we would become the kind of people who engage the culture the way Jesus would. Not reactive, not fearful, not combative, but present, grounded, and faithful. And that in those everyday conversations and relationships, God would use us to make the kingdoms of this world look a little more like the Kingdom of heaven.

In Christ,

Dana

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