Our nation’s great Armed Forces war colleges have war gaming and simulations centers to help prepare our fighting forces for the real thing. What can we do or what exercise can we engage that will help us prepare for engaging each other? How can we prepare for times of disappointment in those engagements even when that worldly disappointment promotes eternal gain? Is there a simulation out there for us?
Because our fight is largely intellectual in nature (against ideas and arguments and pretensions), then our simulations should be mind-focused. Let me suggest an exercise you can take up that will help prepare your mind for the highs and lows of cultural engagement. There are other exercises you can pursue as well and any list here would certainly not be exhaustive.
I have found that playing a card game – Hearts – prepares me for the unexpected disappointing outcomes that are really no fault of my own. Strategy is involved to be sure. But in a game where the object is to have the lowest score, you can be minding your own business and you will “take points” in Hearts.
I have likely lost my intellectually-inclined, academic elite clerisy friends at this point. Surely something not as simple as a card game can prepare me to face them. But, for you, hear me out.
You will suffer through some bad hands. You will lose some games. You will likely be in confrontations with other opponents that outnumber you three to one. You will have some power cards in your hand, and you’ll want to keep some less than powerful but useful cards. You will have to be patient. You are successful on the last hand, not in the first several hands.
As you continue to play Hearts, your game will improve. If you can’t find three others to play, then most computers include the game of Hearts installed on their operating systems. Don’t want to play Hearts? Try Chess, or Checkers. I prefer Hearts because of the number of opponents arrayed against me. When we’re engaging the culture, we will be outnumbered as well. Everything being equal, against three other opponents, I should only win about 25% of the time. But against the computer, I’m winning 75% of the time. And it teaches me to be patient when confronting others or playing the cards that I have.
Contending for the cause of Jesus Christ is an intellectual enterprise. Exercise your mind for the battle. Play one of these game simulations where the unexpected can and will happen. Expect to lose something along the way. Appreciate the times when things are going well. Either way, exercise your mind. Expect the unexpected. You’ll be better prepared to contend for Jesus Christ in the culture for your family, your friends and your circle of influence.
I know our culture war is not a game. But always remember that this war is not for us to win. You may win a game, but keep in mind that it is only a simulation.