Culture in Collapse

Episode summary:

Culture is collapsing because too many churches have stopped defending basic Christian standards like lifelong monogamy. In this Daily Update, we break down how the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) is actually debating whether its pastors even need to be sexually monogamous. We walk through what the Founders expected from the church, why both liberal and conservative congregations are failing that role, and how that vacuum is tearing apart our families and our country. You’ll hear a clear, direct challenge to pastors, churches, and everyday believers to recover moral courage before it’s too late.

What you’ll learn / Key moments

• 00:00 – Culture has lost its way because the church has lost its way.
• 00:05 – PCUSA debates whether pastors must be sexually monogamous.
• 00:23 – How abandoning monogamy and Christian ethics fuels cultural collapse.
• 00:34 – What the Founders expected from the Christian church in public life.
• 02:02 – Why churches must recover moral clarity if America is going to survive.

What you can do

If you agree that the collapse of our culture starts with the collapse of our churches, share this update with your pastor, your small group, and your friends. Talk honestly in your own congregation about monogamy, family, and biblical morality, and refuse the easy path of silence that “offends the fewest people.” 

Culture has lost its way – because the church has lost its way.

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Tuesday June 9, 2026.

The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America – PC(USA) for short – is considering whether it should require its pastors to be monogamous in their sexual relationships.  If that does open your eyes for the day, consider this additional tidbit – the committees of that denomination are recommending against it.

And right there is the reason why we see our culture falling apart in every standard you care to name. 

Our founding fathers relied on the church – specifically the Christian church -  to be the instrument of morality and ethics in our country.  Early American lawmakers assumed that Christian morality would reach the people not by abstraction but by concrete institutions: public worship, public religious instruction, and the support of Christian teachers.  It is precisely the reason why Congress prohibited the national government to establish any kind of church – for it realized that morality should not and must not come from the corridors of politics but from the pages of Scripture properly preached – in a church.

But the church – and not just the Presbyterians but most of our American churches – have failed to step up to provide the moral direction our country needs.  Embracing a theology of trying to offend as few people as possible, our nation’s churches are often silent on issues like homosexuality, dedication to the family, monogamy, illegal immigration, foreign wars on any other culture-defining issues.  Liberal-minded churches – most of them considered mainline – merely baptize culture norms and spew them back.  Conservative churches tend to withdraw and just throw culture bombs at the world around them.   Neither way is effective.

But until our churches clean up their acts – our culture is doomed to continue to slide into immoral destruction – and our nation has no hope to survive. 

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample.  Thanks for listening.