A recent Lifeway survey returned two seemingly contradictory results: An increasing number of Americans agree that religious liberty is declining, but an increasing number also agree that Christians complain too much. The authors of the research suggest this means that Christians will need to fight for their rights but be cautious of sounding the alarms too freely and risk being tuned out.

As those with anti-Christian perspectives continue to control the major cultural institutions in our society, we who profess Christ have to become wise in the ways we handle these new societal changes. We must be careful, thoughtful and nuanced. Some Christians argue that we need to take back the culture. Given our new reality, though, this is not a realistic option. Instead I advocate what I call “a place at the table” approach.

Throughout much of American history, Christian values occupied a central role in the creation of American culture. Christians became comfortable with having a high level of societal control. Some Christians misused that opportunity while others worked to be a blessing to others. But today we are moving away from that reality toward a culture in which Christian values will no longer be prioritized. We may not like it, but it is so, and we are better off not lying to ourselves about our new cultural realities.

The removal of people of faith from power is not such a new thing anyway. We find it occurring often in the Old Testament, as God’s people at times had to accept and suffer the reality of being removed from power. However, even in this loss of power His people could still thrive (Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10; Daniel 1). How His people react to such displacement is critically important. Often God instructed the Israelites not to seek to overcome their opponents with political or military power (ex. Isaiah 31:1-2, Ezekiel 17:15-17), but instead to place first priority on their relationship with the Lord. In today’s terms that means that “taking the culture back” may not be God’s plan for us. Instead, this might be a time of introspection and developing the sort of tactics that would allow us to flourish in an increasingly anti-Christian society. The past was not a paradise anyway.

So this is an opportunity for self-reflection, to recognize our own sins, to see for example how Christians allowed many things to go wrong when we had a central position of influence in society. I am not saying that our Christian influence on society was always and everywhere bad as some critics have claimed. Far from it. Still, it’s an opportunity to work towards improving ourselves. Perhaps at some point, if Christians really deal with our shortcomings, then God will provide a pathway towards regaining our former societal prominence. But now we would do well to focus on our own spiritual lives and working for a place at the table rather than attempting to “take the culture back.”

It is simply not wise today to fight to regain a central place in our society. For one thing, my research has shown that those who hate Christians are more likely to be well educated, wealthy and culturally powerful. They control our cultural institutions. God can do anything, and perhaps he will return Christians to power in the near future. But as a social scientist I have to warn my brothers and sisters that unless God intervenes, this is not going to happen any time soon.

This does not mean that we do nothing, however. We should demand a place at society’s table. Americans are recognizing the loss of religious freedom occurring in our society. As such we have just as much right to a place at the table as anyone else.

I pointed out last week that big business tends to be Christianophobic, with no concern for religious freedom for Christians. If the leaders controlling big business are like others with Christianophobia, they would be happy to see Christians lose their rights to influence society. Efforts by big business, academia, the media and such that attempt to lock Christians out of the public square must be fought. I will proudly stand alongside other brothers and sisters in such battles.

If we fight to regain a Christian culture it will be seen as asking for special privileges, and we’re unlikely to succeed anyway at this time in history. We have a great deal more legitimacy simply engaging in fights for a place at the table, since that will be seen as a right that all people should enjoy. So for example we should recognize when those with anti-Christian sentiments are attempting to lock Christians out of the public square, and we have every right to shine a light on their bigoted efforts. This is important to allow us to continue to be a light in our fallen society.

Of course there are many more implications involved in taking a “place at the table” perspective, rather than a “take back the culture” one. I cannot go into all of them in a short commentary, although I did touch on some of them in my latest book. This is an ongoing conversation that many Christians need to engage in. I hope in future articles to continue this conversation as we adjust to this new social reality.