THE FETAL POSITION, THE MOSCOW MOOD, AND GARRISON VS WARTIME CHRISTIANS
Amid the Reformed world's sputtering hissy fits, I cannot stay silent. This lukewarm take may nauseate our Goldilocks' sensibilities, but I enjoy not the scalding "hot takes" so abundant these days. Douglas Wilson's recent tonguelashing for being on Tucker Carlson, Ligon Duncan's complaints about CREC pastors "lobbing bombs" while lobbying his own, plus Kevin DeYoung's lamentations over this "Moscow Mood" - it all betrays a harsh reality: Most Reformed leaders act as if peace reigns, when the church is embattled on every front.
An apt analogy is that of the U.S. soldier. He exists in one of two states - wartime or peacetime - never both. In peacetime, the garrison soldier presses his uniform, shines his boots, and marches in exacting formation. Decorum and discipline reign supreme.
But in the fires of war, such niceties are cast aside. The warfighter's uniform is tattered, his hygiene wanting, as mere survival takes precedence over parade ground primping. To focus on creases when mortars are falling would be ludicrous.
So too in the Kingdom's spiritual battle. When the church enjoys peace and prosperity, there is wisdom in "putting on the genteel airs" - the starched slacks, winsome words, and polished propriety modeled by many Reformed leaders today. But in a time of unrelenting spiritual siege and cultural rot, such dainty affectations ill-befits the soldiers of Christ.
Make no mistake - we are at war. Aggressive secularism, governmental overreach, scientific untethering from reality, gender madness, baby massacres to the million, the hostile accusation of "Christian Nationalism" from a fake news media - we are surrounded on every side. The greatest threat is this: Most "Reformed leadership" carries on as if it were a time of tranquil garrison when the emergency bugle is blaring!
In seasons of true peace, rightly we recoil from rabble-rousers inflaming conflict without cause. But it is deserving of equal scorn to insist "Peace, peace" when the barbarians have breached the gates and are slitting the throats of our children.
We cannot pout like Frodo Baggins at the times Providence has set for us. As Gandalf charged, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." And this is the time not for parade ground prancing, but for spiritual warfare of the highest order.
With the West already fallen and overrun, we cannot simply lament its demise. We must courageously push back the kingdom of darkness through gospel preaching, church planting, family discipling - all by the Spirit's power for God's glory. No more navel-gazing like fresh recruits who have never tasted battle. We must fight with full vigor to reclaim this increasingly heathen land for Christ the Conquering King.
The day for starched uniforms and shined boots will return, but it is not this day. Today we heed Aragorn's rallying cry:
"A day may come when our courage fails, when we forsake this mission and break all fellowship. But it is not this day! This day, we fight! By all you hold dear, I bid you stand - MEN OF THE WEST!"
On this day, we march to glorious spiritual combat. No more fetal positions. No more lamenting the "Moscow mood" of those who aleady have their boots laced up for battle. For any who have ears to hear - THIS is the desperate hour to unsheath your swords, fix your bayonets, and join the counteroffensive to storm the very gates of hell itself.
I know this may seem like a mere rebuke of men like Ligon Duncan, KDY, and TGC, but I am writing as a prayer. That we would accept the times we are in, stop squawking and lambasting one another, and join arms in unity to take on the enemy of our day. Instead of injurious infighting and petty disputing, will we instead work together to see the Kingdom of God advance in our day? I am willing! Are you?
