Christians must learn the difference of reformation and redemption.

The recent controversy surrounding the Super Bowl halftime show has stirred up familiar reactions. Predictably, some conservative Christians called for an alternative, something more “faithful,” more “family-friendly,” more worthy of the platform. Others pushed back, defending artistic expression or cultural pluralism. I don’t have much interest in football, the NFL, or the artists involved on either side. That’s not the point.

What caught my attention was something deeper: the instinct to redeem the halftime show.

That instinct is understandable. Christians want to resist excess, immorality, and exploitation. We want to push back against what degrades rather than ennobles. But when we step back, the idea of redeeming a spectacle like the halftime show begins to feel strange—almost absurd.

And that discomfort is a theological one.

Redemption Is Not Ours to Apply

Redemption belongs to Christ alone.

Redemption is not improvement. It is not moral contrast. It is not replacing one performance with another. Redemption addresses sin, death, and reconciliation with God, realities no institution, platform, or cultural artifact can touch. Christ redeems people. He does not redeem systems.

Institutions do not repent. Broadcasts do not believe. Sports Leagues do not worship.

People do.

When we speak as if social systems or cultural spectacles can be redeemed, we quietly shift the weight of salvation onto things that cannot bear it. And in doing so, we often burden Christian leaders and activists with expectations Scripture never places on them.

The NFL Is Not Neutral—and That Matters

It’s worth being honest: the NFL ecosystem is not morally neutral. It is built on spectacle, profit, pride, and excess. Major sporting events are repeatedly associated with spikes in prostitution and human trafficking. The industry thrives on hedonism and consumption, even when moments of gratitude or faith are visible within it.

A player thanking God on the field does not redeem the league.
A faith-based alternative performance does not redeem the spectacle.
Juxtaposition is not transformation.

Unlike Christ, who truly and fully redeems. the best these efforts can do is contrast. And contrast has limits.

This doesn’t mean Christians must withdraw from sports, entertainment, or culture. But it does mean we should stop pretending that visibility equals victory or that moral offset equals redemption.

You Can Tell a Lot About a Society by How It Is Entertained

It’s often said that you can tell a lot about a society by how it entertains itself. That’s true, but entertainment is only the surface layer. Sports, pop culture, and celebrity don’t create a society’s values; they reveal them.

And beneath those surface expressions lie far darker realities: exploitation, abuse, corruption, dehumanization.

Trying to redeem the surface without addressing the deeper disorder is like repainting a crumbling wall and calling it restoration.

Some systems are not waiting to be Christianized. Some are waiting to be restrained. And some are simply waiting to pass away.

A Clearer Framework for Christian Leadership

To move forward faithfully, Christians need clearer theological categories for leadership in public life. When those categories blur, we place false expectations on institutions and confuse reform with salvation. Scripture gives us a better framework, one that is both honest about the brokenness of the world and clear about the hope of the gospel.

Redemption Is In Christ Alone

Redemption belongs uniquely and exclusively to Christ. It is not a process managed by human effort or cultural improvement, but a decisive act of God addressing sin, death, and alienation.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

No institution can forgive sin.
No system can reconcile humanity to God.
No cultural reform can conquer death.

When Christians speak of redeeming society, culture, or institutions, we risk assigning salvific power to what Scripture reserves for Christ alone.

“Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8).

Christ redeems people. Everything else must be understood in light of that truth.

Covenant Is Accountable Authority

If redemption answers who saves, covenant answers how authority operates. In Scripture, authority is never autonomous. It is always exercised under God and for the sake of others.

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).

This does not sanctify every action of authority, but it places authority within moral limits. Leaders are not owners of power; they are stewards who will give an account.

“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).

Covenant guards against messianic leadership. It reminds Christian leaders that faithfulness, not control or dominance, is the measure of authority.

Stewardship Is Faithful Reform

Stewardship defines the calling of redeemed people living in a fallen world. God entrusts responsibility, resources, and influence—not so they can be perfected, but so they can be handled wisely.

“Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

Faithful stewardship acknowledges the need for reform without pretending that reform equals redemption. It works toward justice, order, and restraint of evil, knowing that all such efforts are partial and provisional.

“To whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

Some institutions can be reformed.
Some must be restrained.
Some are allowed to pass away.

Stewardship does not demand the preservation of everything—it demands discernment about what faithfulness requires in a given moment.

Leadership in the World And Service Under Common Grace

Leadership in the world, whether in public institutions, private organizations, families, churches, schools, businesses, or cultural spaces, operates under common grace, not saving grace. Common grace is God’s merciful provision that preserves order, restrains evil, and allows human life to continue and function in a fallen world. It does not redeem, but it sustains. It does not reconcile sinners to God, but it prevents total collapse.

Scripture speaks plainly to this reality:

“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

This grace is indiscriminate and universal. God grants life, creativity, restraint, and order even among those who do not acknowledge Him. This is why beauty can emerge from broken cultures, why wisdom can appear in unexpected places, and why cooperation across deep moral and theological differences is possible at all.

Understanding common grace frees Christian leaders from false expectations. Not every space we enter will be holy. Not every system we participate in will reflect the kingdom of God. And not every cultural artifact needs to be redeemed, reclaimed, or baptized with Christian language in order for faithful presence to matter.

This is why Christians can work, lead, create, and serve alongside neighbors of many beliefs, seeking justice, truth, and the common good, without demanding theological conformity or confusing influence with salvation.

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf” (Jeremiah 29:7).

This command was given not to rulers of a godly nation, but to exiles living within a foreign and often hostile culture. The call was not to dominate, withdraw, or redeem Babylon—but to live faithfully within it. To build, plant, work, and pray, even while remembering that Babylon was not home.

Leadership under common grace is therefore marked by humility and restraint. It recognizes that while Christians bring moral clarity, compassion, and truth into the world, they are not sent to establish the kingdom through force, policy, or cultural dominance. The kingdom advances through redemption, not regulation.

This distinction matters deeply in how Christians engage culture. Sports leagues, corporations, schools, and entertainment industries are not neutral, but neither are they salvific. They can be influenced, restrained, and improved, but they cannot be redeemed. Expecting them to bear the weight of redemption leads either to disappointment or to coercion.

Christian leaders serve faithfully in these spaces not because the spaces are sacred, but because people within them are made in the image of God. Common grace allows Christians to labor for the good of others without pretending that outcomes are ultimate or final.

This is why public and cultural leadership, rightly understood, is not redemptive work. It is neighbor-love expressed through vocation. It is the daily, often unseen work of justice, care, honesty, and restraint—offered freely, without illusion, and without the need to win.

“As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone” (Galatians 6:10).

When Christians confuse common grace with saving grace, leadership becomes anxious and overreaching. But when the categories are clear, leadership becomes steady, patient, and hopeful—rooted not in outcomes, but in obedience.

Some things will improve.
Some things will remain broken.
Some things will pass away.

And still, God remains faithful.