Are you familiar with the new slang phrase, “vibe shift”? It refers to a large-scale change in the zeitgeist, including trending fashions, stylistic preferences, and overall mood. No matter what happens with the U.S. election next week, I’m guessing more than a few hot-take analysts will identify a “vibe shift” or two in the electoral results. The country’s changing “mood” will be dissected ad nauseum. The success or failure of each candidate’s “vibe” will get more attention than analysis of their policy differences.

That’s because we live in a world where vibes matter more than substance. As I describe it in a recent article at TGC, the vibe world is “Memes over messages. Aesthetics over arguments. Relatability over rightness. Feelings over facts. Mood over meaning.”

A “vibe shift” is a way of narrating history in these terms. What will characterize the next vibe shift? Will it be a tilt toward more cynicism or more hope? Will it involve widening gender wars and changing media habits (e.g. waning influence of “legacy media” and rising influence of longform podcasts)? Will the vibe be harsher or more mellow? More divisive or more unifying? Techno-skeptical or techno-optimistic?

It’s impossible to predict. But no matter who occupies the White House come January 20, Christians should take note of the shifting cultural vibes—not just as curious observers but as passionate missionaries. It’s not that the church should constantly adjust its strategies to fit the shape-shifting, moving-target fluidity of liquid modernity. That would be a fool’s errand. Rather, we should continue being God’s people, preaching God’s unchanging gospel, guiding our lives by God’s unchanging Word. This steadiness will be a ballast people crave in the dizzying vertigo of a vibe-driven world.