Onward Christian Soldier

"What then would you have," said Gandalf, "if your own will could have its way?" "I would have things as they were in all the days of my life," answered Denethor, "and in the days of my longfathers before me." -Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter 7

So many of us grew up in a time or place where Christianity was the accepted cultural norm. Oh, there was plenty of opposition out there, but it was removed from most people's daily lives: crazy counterculture in the big cities, elite liberal college professors, depraved Hollywood directors. Every public figure and politician claimed to be a Christian whether they were or not.

We are in a different world today, a world in which Christianity is quickly being pushed outside the norm of American society. We live in a world where squishy liberal Christians who deny the authority and inerrancy of Scripture are vying t
o be the official voice of Christianity in the public square, and those faithful, conservative Christians who believe what Christians have always believed and what the Bible has always taught are being shamed into silence for their views which are out of line with the spirit of the age.

Many Christians, both in the pew and in leadership, have the attitude of Denethor above: "I would have things as they were in all the days of my life...and in the days of my longfathers before me." But Solomon tells us that all such nostalgic yearning is foolishness. "Say not, 'Why were the former days better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask this" (Ecclesiastes 7:10).

Rather than yearning for a day gone by, we should thank God that He has given us the opportunity to swim against the stream. He has placed us in a transitional time in the history of our nation, and we get to stand up, be faithful, and push back against a culture racing quickly toward destruction. Hold the line, brothers and sisters in Christ. Be faithful to your Lord and assume the center. It may feel like the Church is on the defense right now, but Jesus says the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18). Gates don't march. Gates don't attack. It is Hell that is on the defense and the Church on the offense.

What the Church in America will look like in 50 years doesn't now appear, but we have an amazing opportunity before us now to proclaim the truth of the gospel to people who have lost the very concept of absolute truth, we have the opportunity to proclaim God's law to people who have no absolute standard for moral judgments, and we have the opportunity to proclaim the peace and reconciliation found only in Christ to people who are sowing division and violence in their misguided attempts to create peace in society without Christ.