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STAND UP!

When you fight a menacing bully, the worst thing in the world you can ever do is cower. That sort of behavior only encourages the bully to continue pulverizing you, comforted that he has a psychological advantage over you as long as you whimper. To defeat that kind of bully, you have to take your courage-filled stand, and hold your ground, until he backs down. That is the only way.  
And as I think about that notion this morning I realize that the Church has all but forgotten it. We no longer stand up for truth and contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). We cave, we cower, we capitulate, and then hide in corners hoping all the boogie men will leave us alone… As the unambiguous Dr. House once mused: “The world doesn’t work that way, even if you want it to” 

This world that you and I woke up in this morning is now a dim pitiful shadow of the world that most of us grew up in. Why? Because we have cowered. We have stopped fighting for truth. We have thrown up the white flag of surrender and given up like thoroughgoing pansies. And now the world without restraint flies headfirst into the windshield of depravity. This whole impending crash could have been avoided… How do I know this?

Well… It was not always like this, you know… The world I grew up in, in the 1980’s, was not like the one before me today. Sure… it had it’s problems, like all generations before it, especially when it comes to glamor shots, big hair, and parachute pants… But at least that generation had the moral sense to recognize that men alone have penises and only women have vagina’s, which is about as far down the common sense pole as you can reasonably go before smacking head first into the earth.

I grew up knowing that my generation would not stand idly by, for example, while sick and demented perverts wander into women’s bathrooms exposing themselves to our mothers and daughters. Men a few decades ago would not have stood for that and would have met that kind of perversion with such swift and masculine force that the next kinky dullard would think twice before making the same mistake. 

But now these kinds of heinous, God hating, and woman debasing crimes are celebrated. Today, vile and obscene men, can identify as a woman, and find housing in a women’s prisons, allowing them to rape and pillage their cell mates, under the guise of their newfound feminine identity. Who is going to protect those women? Aren’t they worth protecting? Obviously not by the perverts who sneak into their beds. Obviously not by the wardens whose virtue signaling allows for this debauchery. Obviously not a spineless and feckless governor like Gavin Newsome whose weak policies destroy women and families. These kinds of things exist in the 2020’s because somewhere along the way we, the Church, have let the bullies gain ascendancy while we cry in locked bathroom stalls.   

But it is not just true in prisons. Men are now allowed to thoroughly dominate females in sports, shattering real girl’s swimming records, blowing out real female competition at UPenn, and gloating naked in female locker rooms while uncomfortable girls have to disrobe in front of a biological male called Lia. Who is standing up for these girls? Obviously not the schools and colleges that subject them to such unthinkable cruelty. Obviously not a college that lets miscreant weirdos into our daughter’s locker rooms without so much as a peep of protest. I do not hear politicians championing the safety of women here, do you? And sadly, the poor girls, the true victims in this scenario, are usually too afraid to speak up, for fear of losing their scholarships, because some enlightened male liberal, who sits on the scholarship board, will oust them for being a neanderthalian bigot. What in the world is going on?

We are at the epicenter of insanity! A moment in culture that is so wretched we are inventing brand new kinds of evils. And where is the church? You know where she is? She is hiding away in the bathroom stall, still trying to play footsie with a world, who has beaten her mercilessly into submission. That strategy of being nice, inoffensive, and sugary sweet, is simply not working! Worldly people are not coming to Christ in droves because a few weak kneed Christians appear to be sugar and spice and everything nice! That sort of feminization of the Christian church has led to the actual objectification of women, actual abuse, the actual murder of babies, and few if any are turning to Christ as a result of it. 

The Church has forgotten how to fight. We have forgotten how to engage the bully. And now the bully has all the confidence in the world to continue their reign of terror. Why do you think cancel culture exists? Why do laws like C-4 in Canada pass with no resistance? Because secular governments have a pile of bodies under their proverbial bus to prove that Christians will just roll over without a fight. 

Somewhere along the way we bought into the notion that if we can just be sweet and nice then the world will come to Jesus. So we overlooked sin, because focusing on that makes us look really nasty and mean spirited. We watered down the Gospel, so that no one would get offended by God’s truth. We backed away from culture and gave it space to be whatever it wanted to be… And now we are surprised that the gangrene has festered? Are we kidding ourselves?
Doesn’t mold grow best in the comfort of darkness? Yes! Doesn’t an infection grow more quickly without an aggressive medicine? Of course it does! We removed and cloaked the only cure from the world, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, trading it in for silly stupid smiles, rock shows on Sunday that impress a few goats, and with placid affirmations of sin promising God will still love you just the way you are… No repentance needed. And we have the audacity to wonder why the world is so sick? Could a doctor inject syringes full of sugar water into the veins of a diabetic and still fain to wonder why the poor sot keeps going into a diabetic coma? Of course not. 

We must realize that we are the ones responsible for this! The salt has left the carcass and the meat has now decayed (Matthew 5:13). The light ran away and hid under a bushel basket and the world inevitably grew dark (Matthew 5:15). The tree that was supposed to offer good fruit to the world, has been doling out the grapes of Sodom (John 17). The Church has fallen asleep on her mission. 

We must wake up… But, the cure cannot be more smiling, clapping, shrinking back, or slithering away like cowards. We cannot, like the wicked prophet Jonah, continue to abandon the godless city before us, and sit idly by under the shade of a nice tall gourd plant, waiting for God to destroy the world. That is the most unloving thing we could ever do! And that is what we have done for far too long! 

We meet in churches and complain about how bad the world is and do nothing about it but grumble. We sit in Bible studies and salivate over what the next mark of the beast will be, and when Jesus will return to rescue us from this very bad planet. All while being wicked and lazy servants who neglect the great commission! While we hope for Jesus to return, have we gone into all the world making disciples? Have we preached the Gospel to all the nations? Have we translated the Scriptures into every language? Have we baptized converted pagans? Have we taught new converts everything in the Bible so that they will have a Christian worldview? No.

Why have we traded in that glorious work, given to us by our risen Lord, for cowardice and social niceties?? Why have we buried our talents in the sand and thick handkerchiefs expecting a holy terrifying Lord to excuse us? (Luke 19:20-26). Don’t we know that the worthless, wicked, and lazy slaves are the ones who are thrown away (Matthew 25:30)? Why do we tempt the grace of God when such clear mandates exist for His elect bride? 

Where is the Church on this?? 

Love, at a time like this, looks like engagement not apathy. It looks like courage, not cowardice. It looks repentance not excuse making. It looks like the church growing a backbone for the first time in a hundred years and heralding a magnificent and sufficient Christ as the only cure. If we do that, I believe the rot can be reversed. If we are salt, the meat won’t spoil. If we are light (without hiding it) the darkness will not prevail. If we are faithful slaves, we will enter into His rest. 

If not, our children will preside over the death of America, our grandchildren will have nowhere to go and worship, our great grandchildren will not know the glorious name of Christ, and we will be left explaining to our God why we chose niceness over faithfulness. 

When we fight a menacing bully, like the world, our own flesh, or the devil himself, the worst thing we could ever do is cower and play nice. 

This is why I am calling the Church to stand up! Stand up and herald the Gospel of Christ in culture. Repent from inactivity. 

Let them kick you out of colleges, off of social media, and out of the halls of society. Declare the Gospel anyway! Stand up and make disciples and teach men and women how to think in Biblical ways…  Even if Biblical ethics are called backwards, brutish, or even outlawed. 

You can stand outside abortion clinics and plead for women not to murder their babies and if you have the room in your house, you can offer to adopt a child. You can stand for Biblical fidelity by not compromising at work, not compromising in your marriage, and not cheating on your taxes. 

We can stand up by raising up faithful pastors to serve in and plant more churches. 

We can stand up by sending men and women into the workforce as Christians, who will live like Christians, no matter what… As Doctors who refuse to medically transition 7 year olds because that violates God’s law and common sense. As lawyers who represent future Christians who will be arrested for hate speech because they simply declare what the Bible says. As college professors who will not teach godless ideologies like critical theory. As university presidents who will not allow boys into women’s bathrooms. As women’s prison wardens who will not allow rapists into female housing. As politicians who will not bend over backwards to accommodate sin in our culture like the gutless wonders we now have in Washington and every state capitol. 

We need a Christian revolution! We need Spirit-filled, spine-stiffened, Christian men and women who are not afraid of culture, not in love with culture, but ready to work to see it redeemed and bowing the knee to our great King! 

And before you get too uncomfortable with all the postmillennial vibes I am throwing out to my hearts content, you may need to ask yourself the question… Would the world be freer and safer in the hands of Christians - and I mean true, faithful, Bible believing, Spirit-led, Christ-honoring, Gospel-centered Christians - who are rooted in God’s truth and have a fundamental care for all human life even those who oppose us? Would the world be freer and safer under that kind of leadership? Or, would the world be a better place in the hands of people, the kind of people, who allow men to disrobe in women’s bathrooms? 

Think about it. The answer is not that difficult to figure out.

Now, I do not want to pretend that Christians always get it right. There are a lot of wicked people who have done a lot of wicked things in the name of Christ. There are many girls who were molested by pastors. Many altar boys who are devastated and carry life long scars from demonic priests. This is not the kind of revolution I envision. I am talking about real Christians. Who love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength and who love their neighbor (even those who hate God and hate the church) as vigorously as they would love themselves. I am not talking about perfection, but also not Christian perversion either. I am simply asking if that kind of Christian would be better for a school board and for our kids, than secular adults in Loudoun county who shill for a teenage pervert. 

Again, the answer is pretty obvious. 

Today is not the day to be Christian nice. Today is the day to faithful! To love the Lord and to love this broken world enough to declare His Gospel. To love it enough to raise up thoughtful Christians in Christ-centered homes, who will use their minds and education to glorify God. Today is the day to raise up Gospel heralding pastors who will send Gospel heralding Christians back into the world to make laws, create jobs, enact decisions, and work to subdue the rampant wickedness we allowed to fester. Today is the day that the bully will no longer see us cowering, but with courage standing our ground. 

Remember, this world belongs to us! Jesus told us that He has all authority on heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18) and that He is pleased to make us fellow heirs right along with Him, if we are willing to suffer with Him (Romans 8:17). 

Remember that all who want to live a godly life will suffer (2 Timothy 3:12), for it is God’s gracious gift that we suffer (Philippians 1:19), knowing that these present troubles are not even worth comparing to the glory we will one day see (Romans 8:18), and that must give us confidence because Christ really has overcome the world (John 16:33). 

Remember, Jesus promised the Church that conquers will one day sit upon His throne (Revelation 3:21) and that whatever she binds today on earth will be bound forever in heaven (Matthew 16:19). 

Remember that Jesus will put every enemy under His feet (Psalm 110), even crushing Satan under the Church’s feet (Romans 16:20), knowing also that the gates of hell will cower and fall down whenever we advance as Jesus promised (Matthew 16:18). 

Now is the time for Christian men to rise up, like we see in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, where Paul says: 

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.”

Amen! 

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