History is littered with pivotal moments in which the trajectory of a people, a nation, or the world has been decided. Perhaps no single event contains more of those decisive moments than World War II. In both scale and long-term impact, this war was perhaps the greatest event in history that determined the direction and fate of the world. Those decisive moments include the dramatic rescue of 300,000 British and other Allied soldiers from the beaches at Dunkirk during a ten day period in late May and early June 1940. This was soon followed by the Battle of Britain fought in the skies above England during the summer and fall of 1940. The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Ocean in June 1942 and the capture and defense of Guadalcanal in late 1942 were two more. And of course the greatest defining moment of World War II was the Allies successful invasion of Europe on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The failure of the Allies at any one of these junctures would likely have re-written the outcome of the war and the future of the free world.
Os Guinness has described another of those pivotal moments playing out in the Christian West in his book, Impossible People – Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization.
Christians in the West are living in a grand clarifying moment. The gap between Christians and the wider culture is widening, and many formerly nominal Christians are becoming “religious nones”…
We face a solemn hour for humanity at large and a momentous showdown for the Western church. At stake is the attempted completion of the centuries-long assault on the Jewish and Christian faiths and their replacement by progressive secularism as the defining faith of the West and the ideology said to be the best suited to the conditions of advanced modernity. The gathering crisis is therefore about nothing less than a struggle for the soul of the West…[1]
The battlefield upon which this grand clarifying moment is played out is the culture wars between the pervasive liberal/progressive forces mostly aligned with Satan’s master plan for humanity and the shrinking numbers of Americans who still adhere to the Christian worldview of reality.
How did the church allow the nation to get into this situation? A large part of the short answer is that American evangelical churches over the last 50 years have virtually abandoned the public square and have become weak and powerless in the process. Large portions of the evangelical church appear to have forgotten that Satan is attempting to destroy the church through the destruction of the Christian culture of America and all of Western civilization. He and his evil empire oppose righteousness, weaken the church through compromise, debauch the truth of God’s word in the minds of men, and pollute the land with a vile stream of wickedness that is flowing into every facet of life.
Just before the election in 2016, I wrote in culturewarrior.net the following words in anticipation that the election would be one of those pivotal moments in the nation’s history.
One aspect of this grand clarifying moment for Christians will occur as Americans go to the polls in in the November elections. The results will be more than a minor historical footnote and promises to be a pivotal event in deciding the direction of the nation and ultimately Western civilization.[2]
Given the course of events since the 2016 election, it appears the surprising and miraculous outcome of that election was of even greater importance than could have been imagined at that time. It also appears that another pivotal moment was again present in the 2018 election. Many people have mixed emotions about the results of the recent election. However, the election results were a significant if incomplete victory for those of the Christian faith. Although control of the House of Representatives was lost for the next two years, the retention and expansion of the majority in the Senate was vastly more important for the nation in the long-term given the importance of the judicial confirmations that will occur.
The nation is in a cycle in which evil abounds, and it is critical for Christians to fight the good fight of faith in every election. That is the price we pay for freedom, both religious and otherwise. It appears that our national elections for the foreseeable future will continue to be pivotal moments. This is occurring because the nation has spent its reserves of moral capital and the voiceless church has little cultural authority and suasion to turn the tide of immorality and spiritual degeneration.
Knowing this, Guinness believes that Christians must once again become those who in the eyes of the world are “impossible people” with
…hearts that can melt with compassion, but with faces like flint and backbones of steel who are unmanipulable, unbribable, undeterrable and unclubbable (i.e., coercion through comfortable conformity), without ever losing the gentleness, the mercy, the grace and the compassion of our Lord.[3]
Perhaps the best advice for the church in this troublesome age comes from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. First, he makes certain that we understand who the real enemy is that Christians are battling. Then, he instructs the Christian on how to prepare for battle.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [Ephesians 6:12-13. NIV]
In his commentary, Donald Stamps gives our modern minds further insight into what Paul is saying. Satan and a host of evil spirits are the spiritual rulers of the world. They empower ungodly men and women to oppose God’s will and attack believers. They form a “vast multitude and are organized into a highly systematized empire of evil…” [4] The church must confront this evil empire and does so by putting on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6:12-17). And when the battle is heated and defeat seems near at hand, having done all, the Church must continue to stand. It can do so because that itinerate preacher who trod the hills and valleys of ancient Palestine two thousand years ago really was the Son of God, and His kingdom will never fail.
So clothed and armed, Christians can and must boldly speak out as well as take actions to engage every facet of society for the cause of Christ: (1) in the halls of government and law, (2) in education from kindergarten through graduate school, (3) in science and medicine,(4) in business, economics, and places of commerce, (5) in the media, (6) in the arts and entertainment, and (7) and in a host of other areas of the public arena.
Charles Finney was the renowned leader of the second half of the Second Great Awakening in the middle third of the nineteenth century. His instructions regarding the body of Christ’s involvement in both politics and religion are indisputable and should be embraced by both church leaders and the laity.
Politics are a part of religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God. It seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation were becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics. But I tell you, he does see it, and he will bless or curse this nation, according to the course they take.[5]
Whether the church wins or loses elections as it does battle for the cause of Christ in the culture wars is not the issue. We must remember that the church is the body of Christ, and each and every member of the body has a duty to fight. John Quincy Adams said it best, “Duty is ours; results are God’s.”[6]
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Os Guinness, Impossible People – Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization, (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2016), p. 22.
[2] Larry G. Johnson, “The Church Triumphant – Part I,” culturewarrior.net. November 4, 2016. https://www.culturewarrior.net/2016/11/04/the-church-triumphant-part-i/
[3] Guinness, Impossible People – Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization, pp. 31-32.
[4] Donald C. Stamps, Study Notes and Articles, The Full Life Study Bible – New Testament, King James Version, gen. ed. Donald C. Stamps, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1990), p.439.
[5] Charles Finney, Lecture XV “Hindrances to Revival” (Revival Lectures, 1855), quoted by Bill Federer, “When did duty cease being a virtue?” WMD, October 20, 2018. https://www.wnd.com/2018/10/when-did-duty-cease-being-a-virtue/ (accessed November 9, 2018).
[6] Bill Federer, “When did duty cease being a virtue?” WMD, October 20, 2018.
https://www.wnd.com/2018/10/when-did-duty-cease-being-a-virtue/ (accessed November 9, 2018).
Good read. Thank you.
Excellent points made Larry. Keep up the fight to awaken Christ believers to the battle we must all partake.