No-one knows
The truth of the matter is that none of can tell where the most important battle lines of our day lie.
This is because for all we know we may be so immersed in our greatest errors that we are utterly immune to them.
This is the only way to understand, for example, the Magesterial Reformers of the 1500s, who could not discern the error - a rather fatal one with hindsight - of church-state union. Using worldly power to wield Gospel influence! Forcing their spiritual reformation with the power of magistrates - and if necessary the sword!
(Tragically they did not listen to the Anabaptists who saw through this humongous error.)
Only time and history will reveal the true battlelines of our day.
We can make a stab at a guess.
And when we do, I'd suggest three.
The first is our obsession with numbers, whether bucks, hits or bums on seats. This preocupation twists almost everything in Western Evangelicalism, from an apathy towards real-world small-group discipleship to a skewing of who or what is important (the only rule is "count the numbers" to figure out what's best). It may prove to the the most damaging inafutuation of our age.
The second candidate is an unholy alliance with the academy. This results in churches which look and feel much like a branch of the local uni; pride; spiritual cataracts preventing us from discerning the supernatural; and artificial linguistic barriers to reaching ordinary people with the Gospel. This boastful fascination with all things scholarly may prove to be the downfall of evangelicalism.
The third must be anthropology - what is mankind?
Christology, Soteriology, Anthropology
I don't know where the following insight came from, but it is very helpful:
If the battle front in the first few centuries was Christology (Who is Jesus Christ?), and the war leading up to the 1500s was Soteriology (How can we be saved?), the conflict we are facing today is most probably Anthropology (What is mankind?)
And there are four fronts in this contemporary "Who are we?" skirmish:
1. The Species Conflict
In this conflict the issue at stake is how humans relate to the animal kingdom. Are we just another animal, or are we radically unique, alone made in the image of God?
The pincer movement in the world attempts to raise the status of animals while simultaneously demoting humankind. The least new-found achievement in the animal kingdom (most often some new "tool-use") is touted as evidence of continuity between us and animals.
("Tool-use" is one of the most deceitful uses of a word one could conceive of because the "tools" animals use are not the complex drills, lathes or chisels we use but bare sticks and ordinary stones).
2. The Gender Conflict
The idea that gender is fluid from male at one end of the spectrum to female at the other. This against the clear Biblical (and common sense) truth that gender is defined by body anatomy and the make up of all our cells.
3. The Sexuality Conflict
The notion that all sex is permissible (provided no-one is 'injured') against the clear Biblical (and biological) truth that the only righteous place for sex is within the marriage of one man with one woman.
4. The Gender Role Conflict
The idea that there is no distinction in role between men and women. Against the clear truth of Scripture that while men an women are equal in worth and salvation there is an order between them which should be maintained - and seen to be maintained - in the church and the home.
Will the church win this Battle?
We can't be sure the western church as a whole will win this battle. The church in other parts of the world is proving more steadfast.
For sure there is evidence (Steve Chalke is the classic case in point) that compromise on number 4. leads quickly and directly to compromise on number 3.
My own concern is that a wide-ranging revisionist attempt on number 4 is now taking place in the evangelical church - though that will be hotly disputed - which could easily lead to a watering down of the other 3.
Time will tell.
Only Gospel priorities and constant and prayerful vigilance will keep us from apostasy.
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