colson on culture

This excerpt is from Mark Driscoll's blog of his recent interview with Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries:

Question from Mark Driscoll: Is Christianity at war for culture?

Answer from Chuck Colson: One has to go back to Niebuhr’s formulation of the relationship between Christ and culture to first come up with a theological answer that is satisfactory. My own theology has been informed largely by my Calvinist convictions. But I also have great respect for Anabaptists who would take sharp issue with that. It seems to me that we have an obligation, if we believe in the sovereignty of God, to try to bring Christian influence to bear on all of culture, not to control culture, but to be salt and light. It’s interesting that throughout history some of the greatest social reforms have come about in periods when Christianity had its greatest influence in culture. I think about the abolition campaign, the civil rights movement, and many of the greatest human rights advances in history. I’m well aware of the other side of that argument, that some terrible things, like colonization, have taken place when Christianity had its greatest influence. On balance, however, as you look at how societies have been influenced by various worldviews, Christianity, from my perspective, scores high. But in the final analysis, I am driven by my view of Scripture and Scripture’s application to life, largely influenced by Calvin and even more so by Kuyper.

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