Conservatives seeking lasting change are better advised to attend to our failures in the broader culture than to prepare the way for our Supreme Court savior. Otherwise, we are likely to be sorely disappointed.” We may become culturally irrelevant even if the Court vigorously defends our rights. For example, the Supreme Court can protect the rights of a Christian student group at a state university, but it cannot provide the group with members.

Victory will not come through politics or litigation. For Christians, there is no enduring political triumph, for the kingdoms of this world, including the United States, are under judgment. We must reject any sort of Christian triumphalism that trumpets a theologically-unsound idea of America as a covenant Christian nation.

Thus, for Christians, abandoning the defensive crouch is not primarily about legal success, but about renewing our commitment to using our constitutional liberties to proclaim the gospel in word and deed.