God’s “Faithful Presence” in “The Negative World”

—By Michael A. Graham

Introduction: How We Got Here

This post began as part of my sermon preparation for a series on Romans 13:1–7, focusing on when and how Christians should resist governing authorities.

Sermon 1 (Joe Bruhl): Authority is from God, designed for human flourishing.

Sermon 2 (Joe Bruhl): Christians must submit to governing authorities—not because rulers are righteous, but because God has placed them there.

Sermon 3 (This Week): When must we resist? How do we do so faithfully?

Both sermons are available at New Life Vicenza’s website (www.newlifevicenza.org) for those who want to listen.

As I prepared for this third sermon, I was confronted with a challenge:

The world has changed. Christianity is no longer seen as a neutral or positive force in society. Instead, it is viewed with hostility, suspicion, and rejection.

This shift has led to two major responses within evangelicalism:

1. Some, influenced by Aaron Renn’s “Negative World” framework, argue that old models of engagement—such as Keller’s “third way” or Hunter’s “faithful presence”—are obsolete.

2. Others insist that the gospel has not changed and that faithfulness to Christ must not be dictated by cultural conditions.

The central question is this: Is faithful engagement still possible, or must we abandon it for something else?

This blog argues that faithful engagement is not a cultural strategy—it is a biblical mandate. We do not create faithfulness; we enter God’s faithfulness.

The “Negative World” and the Gospel’s Unchanging Call

Aaron Renn’s “Three Worlds of Evangelicalism” framework describes how the culture has shifted in its perception of Christianity:

1. Positive World (Pre-1994) – Christianity was respected and provided social benefits. Public faith was an advantage.

2. Neutral World (1994–2014) – Christianity was tolerated but no longer privileged. Cultural engagement could still be effective.

3. Negative World (2014–Present) – Christianity is now seen as harmful in elite institutions. Publicly holding biblical moral views carries real social and professional costs.

Renn argues that many evangelical leaders (especially Keller) failed to recognize the shift from a Neutral to a Negative World. As a result, they continued using “cultural engagement” strategies that no longer worked. Instead of winsomeness, Renn calls for resilience, institution-building, and defensive engagement.

His argument resonates with many because something truly has changed. Christianity faces real hostility, especially regarding sexual ethics, gender ideology, and exclusivity claims.

But does this mean God’s way of faithfulness has changed?

No. The gospel does not shift with cultural tides. The world may hate the light (John 3:19-20), but that does not change who we are or what we are called to do.

The Trap: Locked in the Same Old Fights

If you spend enough time in today’s cultural debates, you’ll notice a pattern. The battle lines always seem to be drawn the same way, and they always seem to be drawn with an overstated sense of certainty. Two sides. Two visions. Two choices.

Secular critics stand on one side. Conservative Christians stand on the other.

🔹 Secular critics argue that Christianity is dangerous, oppressive, and outdated. It is a relic of the past, a system of control designed to keep power in the hands of those who wield it. It is too rigid, too exclusive, too moralizing. It silences dissent, enforces a narrow sexual ethic, and creates guilt where there should be liberation. Christianity is a problem to be overcome. It must be reformed beyond recognition or removed entirely.

🔹 Conservative Christians argue that secular culture is dangerous, oppressive, and immoral. It is the great rebellion against truth, an all-out assault on God’s authority. It exalts sin, destroys the family, and attempts to redefine creation itself. Secularism is not just misguided—it is wicked. The only response is to resist with full force, to stand our ground, to fight back against the darkness.

And so the argument repeats itself, louder and louder, more and more technical—philosophical, theological, sociological, apologetical, psychological, ethical, political—each side convinced that the other is the true threat.

At this point, we are all supposed to choose.

Which side are you on?

Are you with the progressive vision of the world, in which Christianity must either be reimagined beyond recognition or discarded altogether? Or are you with the warriors, those who see faithfulness as a battle for survival, where we must fight tooth and nail against an encroaching enemy?

This is how the debate is framed. And for those who refuse to pick a side, there is a pre-prepared exit—a trap door that drops them into irrelevance.

Because there was a third option. The late Timothy Keller and sociologist James Davidson Hunter both saw this dynamic and sought to offer a different way forward—one that was neither secular capitulation nor political war, but something Hunter called “faithful presence” or Keller called “a third way.”

But that option was rejected.

Not just by secularists.

Not just by conservative Christians.

But also by liberal Christianity.

The Trap Door Beneath Our Feet

This is where the argument has always been misleading.

We have been told there are only two choices: secularism or resistance. But there has always been a third rejection—one that has remained mostly unnoticed because it doesn’t fit neatly into the binary.

🔹 Liberal Christianity also rejected Keller’s and Hunter’s models.

Not because they saw them as weak, as the conservative critics did. But because they saw them as unnecessary.

Liberal Christianity does not choose secularism outright. It does not call for outright war. Instead, it seeks a quiet surrender. It absorbs the world’s values so that it might remain socially acceptable, adapting its language, its ethics, and even its theology to fit what is currently approved.

• The gospel is reshaped into a message of therapeutic comfort rather than a call to repentance.
• Biblical justice is redefined to match secular activism, replacing God’s holiness with cultural approval.
• Love is stripped of its power, reduced to affirmation rather than transformation.

And here’s what this means for everyone still debating whether Keller’s “third way” or Hunter’s “faithful presence” was right or wrong:

It doesn’t matter. Because that entire framework was already rejected by all sides.

1. Secularists dismissed it as a cover for Christianity’s power.
2. Conservatives dismissed it as weakness.
3. Liberal Christians dismissed it as unnecessary.

And the debate continues—as if these were the only options.

This is why Keller and Hunter are being shelved so easily by conservative Christians, especially after Keller’s death.

Because in this two-sided war, the only safe place for a third way was the waste bin.

The Escape: Avoiding the Conservative Trap

This is where so many Christians get stuck.

When they see the trap for what it is, when they recognize that neither secularism nor war leads to true faithfulness, they do not know what to do next.

They hesitate. They second-guess themselves. They wonder if they are simply cowards for not fighting harder or compromisers for not withdrawing entirely.

But there is a way forward.

It is not Keller’s way or Hunter’s way. It is not a third way or a middle way.

It is God’s way.

And that is where we must go next.

We Do Not Create Faithfulness—We Enter God’s Faithfulness

The great mistake we have made is thinking that we must create faithfulness—as if it is something we construct, something we develop, something we must strategize in order to find.

We have spent so much energy trying to find the right way to be faithful. But faithfulness is not our invention. It is not a cultural project. It is not a strategy we implement to preserve the church or win influence.

Faithfulness is the presence of God Himself.

We are not the ones establishing faithful presence in the world—God is. He always has been. Before the foundation of the world, before there was sin or rebellion or exile, before kings and nations rose and fell, the faithfulness of the Triune God was already there.

🔹 The Father is eternally faithful—He made a covenant with Abraham, not because Abraham was strong, but because God is faithful to His own promises (Genesis 15:17-18).

🔹 The Son is eternally faithful—He came to fulfill the law and the prophets, accomplishing righteousness not only for Himself but for all who would believe (Matthew 5:17).

🔹 The Spirit is eternally faithful—dwelling with God’s people, guiding them into all truth, preserving them to the very end (John 16:13, Ephesians 1:13-14).

And here is what changes everything: this eternal faithfulness is not far from us.

It is not locked away in heaven.

It is not something we have to work up within ourselves.

It is already here.

Immanuel. God with us.

We do not bring faithfulness into the world—we enter God’s faithful presence through His gospel way.

But what does that mean? What does it look like to actually enter?

Entering God’s Faithful Presence

Jesus did not say, “Go and build the kingdom.” He said, “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

He did not say, “Create faithfulness through cultural engagement.” He said, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4).

He did not say, “Win the world through your strategy.” He said, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Everything we have been discussing—faithfulness, witness, endurance, suffering, cultural engagement—all of it begins and continues not with our effort, but with God’s initiative, His mercy, His grace.

• Before we were born, He was faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23).
• Before we acted, Christ had already secured salvation (Romans 5:8).
• Before the church existed, the Trinity was eternally faithful in love and holiness.

So what does it mean to enter?

This is where everything turns.

Because if faithfulness is not something we create but something we enter, then faithfulness is not about striving—it is about resting.

This is why faithful presence is not a strategy, a movement, or a third way—it is the reality of being united to Christ and glorifying and enjoying Him through that faith union that brings us near to God and God near to us.

Walking in God’s Faithful Presence

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

What does this mean for us right now?

It means that our primary calling is not to preserve Christianity as a cultural force, but to walk with the living God.

It means that faithfulness is not measured by influence, success, or cultural victories, but by our nearness to Christ.

🔹 This is what it means to live in exile. Not as people scrambling for a foothold in the culture, but as those who already belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

🔹 This is what it means to suffer well. Not as people who are confused about their calling, but as those who know that Christ has already suffered and triumphed before us (1 Peter 2:21).

🔹 This is what it means to be faithful. Not by striving, not by fear, not by endless cultural debates, but by remaining in Him (John 15:4-5).

And this is why the gospel is not just a message—it is a call into something far greater than we can imagine.

A call into the very presence of God.

So how do we enter God’s presence? Where do we find Him?

The Only Way to Enter God’s Faithful Presence

Jack Miller used to say, “God never saves anyone on a pedestal.”

I used to hear that and nod in agreement—until God began pulling me off mine.

For years, I thought faithfulness was something I had to construct, something I had to develop, something I had to work out in my own life and in the world around me. I didn’t think of it as pride—I thought of it as responsibility. I was trying to be faithful.

But what I didn’t see was that I was exhausting myself trying to create what God had never asked me to create.

Because faithfulness is not something we climb up to—it is something we receive when get off (often knocked off) our pedestal and go down (often brought down) to where Jesus is.

You cannot create faithfulness. You can only enter it.

And you can only enter it by going where Jesus is.

And where is Jesus?

He has gone low.

The highest One became the lowest One, and if we want to enter His presence, we must go down to find Him.

🔹 “I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

🔹 “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

🔹 “Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself” (Philippians 2:6-7).

This is why Christian faithfulness cannot be built on self-sufficiency. This is why you cannot ascend into God’s presence. Because Jesus has gone lower than you can ever go, and the only way to find Him is to get off the pedestal and find Him there.

But this is where the real miracle happens.

Because Jesus does not leave us there.

He raises us up.

🔹 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10).

🔹 “If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11).

🔹 “God raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 2:6).

We do not create faithful presence—we enter it.

And the only way to enter it is to come down, to Jesus, where He is.

What Will You Do With Jesus?

Jack Miller often asked two questions that expose our hearts before God. Not just theological questions. Not just cultural questions. But soul-exposing, Spirit-searching, eternity-defining questions.

🔹 What have you done with the Lord Jesus Christ?

Not, What have you done for Him?

Not, What side of the culture war are you on?

Not, What is your position on the latest debate?

But what have you done with Christ Himself?

🔹 What have you ever done or stopped doing just because you loved God with all your heart, soul, and strength—and loved your neighbor as yourself?

This is where the battle ends.

Not in arguments, not in cultural victories, not in perfect strategies.

But in the presence of the living God.

Grace runs downhill.

The way up is the way down.