Why Are So Many Christians Paralysed by Fear and Compromise?

The other side keeps winning because we live in fear, and too easily capitulate:

I know of entire churches and denominations that have caved and capitulated to the world, to the militants, and to the activists. And there are many parachurch groups and Christian businesses doing the same. And plenty of individual Christians are following suit as well.

Too many seem to fear man and are putting up the white flag of surrender. The other side keeps on winning because we keep running in fear, and we keep capitulating, and we keep not trusting God to be with us in times of persecution and hardship.

The sad situation with Chick-fil-A is just the latest of many examples where such groups are living in fear and compromise, and are willing to capitulate here and there. I keep seeing examples of this here and overseas, and it bothers me greatly to be honest.

I am not meaning to be glib here about the situation of others. If someone’s livelihood, family, job or financial situation is in jeopardy because of this, those are genuine concerns that we must take seriously. Leaving aside the big corporations or big churches for the moment, many of these individuals have families to feed, bills to pay, and mortgages they are struggling with.

So I am not being superficial and insensitive here when I urge these folks who are facing persecution to stand strong, to be brave, to pray for some Holy Ghost boldness, and to fully trust God to care for their families during these difficult days.

And a main reason I am not – or cannot – be glib here is that I know full well it is only a matter of time before I am in the very same situation. Soon enough I will be targeted and/or sued by the militants and their state supporters, and I will have to make some hard choices.

The demand will be for me to pull countless articles from this site, if not pull it down altogether. They will not be satisfied with minor concessions. They will want one main thing: to fully and finally silence me, just as they want to do with everyone else who dares to speak out, resist the activists, and stand for faith, freedom and family.

My time is coming. So when I say believers need to learn REAL trust in God during hard times, I am speaking to myself as well. I too have a family to feed. I too have regular bills to pay. I too have a house to look after. All that may well be at risk as the activists escalate their attacks and keep pushing for the final silencing of all opposition.

That is their endgame. They NEVER just wanted ‘tolerance’ or ‘acceptance’ or ‘equality’ or even homosexual marriage. What they are really after is the full endorsement and celebration of their lifestyles and agendas, and the complete eradication of any and all opposition.

And they have always known that real-deal churches and Christians are the final obstacle standing in the way of complete and final hegemony. Thus they are actively on search and destroy missions for any recalcitrants who still will not bow down and embrace their agendas and worship at their altars.

Thus I fully realise that it is just a matter of time before I will be in the exact same place as some of these other folks who are now facing the wrath of the militants and the secular state. And any presence that I have on the social media will have to end as well. YouTube videos will have to come down, Twitter accounts closed, and so on. They may well monitor even what I say in my speaking engagements (actually that has already happened).

But I can tell you this: by God’s grace I will NOT surrender. I will NOT bow to their demands. Yes it will be costly and horrible, but I have decided I will NOT surrender. It may well mean losing my home, paying steep fines, maybe even some jail time.

Guess what? No man is an island. If I cave, that will just make it so much harder for others. They will much more readily lose heart if I capitulate and surrender. If I allow fear and the enemy to win, it will make it much more difficult for other believers to stand.

But if I resist and trust God to see me through all the darkness, that will help other believers to also stand. As Billy Graham rightly said, “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

That is exactly what we need now: not more surrender and capitulation and fear and trepidation. We need Christians with Holy Ghost boldness who will stand and stand strong. We MUST learn this lesson: this IS a war, a spiritual war. We can’t rely on mere clueless secular lawyers to get us out of these situations we will increasingly find ourselves in.

Sadly we will not even be able to rely on a government that supposedly has an evangelical Christian as its Prime Minister. And worse yet, we will NOT be able to depend upon so many of the churches – many have sold out already, and only a tiny minority have the guts and biblical conviction to stand strong here.

Most churches have plenty of the fear of man, and the desire to please people, but too little of the fear of God and the desire to please him. So increasingly it will be just a small remnant. We need to pray for one another and support one another in all this.

I have already given money to various Christians who are being persecuted and greatly need financial assistance. I hope believers will do the same for me when I get in the same place. And we need to be practical in our help: we need to pray, but we also will need to do many more concrete things to help others: give them money, make them meals, even take them into our homes when they lose theirs.

This is a war folks. When will we wake up to this reality? The other side will never rest until we are all gone, or fully submissive and compliant. They are well on their way to achieving these ends. Please pray for me, for yourself, and for other believers. Above all, we need Holy Ghost boldness right now.

The other side keeps winning because we are far too fearful and willing to compromise. We keep putting up the white flag of surrender when we should be resisting and trusting God. We are involved in a full-scale Satanic attack, and only the full armour of God will suffice here.

Remember how the three friends of Daniel stood their ground when they were supposed to bow down to pagan gods in a foreign land or face severe consequences. They refused, and were more than willing to face the music. As we read in Daniel 3:16-18:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

I realise that most Christians will not believe it, but we are very quickly moving to this same place. It may not be as blatant as having large statues in front of us, but the PC madness sweeping the West, along with radical trans and homosexual activism and identity politics and so on are all taking us in the exact same direction.

Small-scale persecution is already here, and it will quickly escalate in the days ahead. Will you stand and resist, with God’s help, or will you live in the fear of man and surrender and compromise? We all need to decide TODAY how we will respond.

And if you are now already caving in on the little things, what makes you think you will stand when things get tougher? As God said to Jeremiah (Jer. 12:5):

“If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”

Christians in the early church suffered terrible persecution, and yet had to look after their families. Christians today in places like China are suffering terrible persecution, and still have to look after their families. What about us? Are we willing to see what God can do when we REALLY trust and rely on him alone? Or will we never give him the chance to prove that he is our mighty shield, provider and sustainer?

I can promise you this: things WILL get worse in the West before they get better. War has been declared and there is no place for neutrality here. There can be no sitting on the fence. You are either for Christ and his Word or you are against them.

It is time to get real here. We must forget all this baloney about having ‘your best life now’. That is NOT what Jesus promised us. He promised us hardships, opposition, hatred, persecution and even death. Those are the promises of God that we must cling to, not fake gospel news about riches and new cars and popularity and fame and a better self-image.

The time to play games is over. The days of comfortable Christianity are now long gone in the West. As John Piper rightly put it, “Once upon a time, there was a safe, private place to take your controversial stand for Jesus. No more. If you are going to stand, you will be shot at—either figuratively or literally.”

I must point out however that I am NOT saying we should be reckless, careless and lacking in tact and discernment. We DO need care and wisdom in what we say, how we say it, and when we say it. So yes, by all means be prayerful and careful as you speak truth in the public arena. One should be bold in speaking out, but also wise.

In the light of all the increasing anti-Christian bigotry taking place, we must pray for one another. And the need of the hour is some Holy Ghost boldness. Nothing less will suffice in these dark days. Let me finish with a few quotes on courage – I sure need them, and you probably do too:

“And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The Prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure for lo his doom is sure – One little Word shall fell him.” Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are ‘harmless,’ and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are ‘sideliners’ – coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!” Jim Elliot, martyred missionary

“It’s going to demand a lot of courage before too long— to really live and maintain the true Christian life according to the Word of the Living God.” Leonard Ravenhill

“The true follower of Christ will not ask, ‘If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?’ Rather he will say, ‘This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!'” A. W. Tozer

[2028 words]

20 Replies to “Why Are So Many Christians Paralysed by Fear and Compromise?”

  1. Hi Bill,

    Thank you for standing up to the present and past satanic attack on the body of Christ!

    My suggestion for you would be to start a membership site and there mobilize and nurture the body of Christ…That way you will be supported financially and spiritually at the same time!

    Jesus is looking for courageous leaders, like Joshua & Caleb to lead His people into the ”Promised” land…

    There are many ”potential” leaders who will be willing and able to take up His challenge;
    “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
    Isaiah 41:10

    Cheers & blessings

    Eric Hansen

    PS! I think you may be surprised how many strong leaders are waiting for the call “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

    And I said,

    “Here am I. Send me!”

    – Isaiah 6:8

  2. I have been told, although I have never confirmed it, that when Roman soldiers were attacked they would form up into a rectangular formation called a “tortoise.” The interesting thing about this formation is they would surround themselves with a near impenetrable perimeter and covering of shields and while they were taught to defend themselves with their own shield they were taught to attack the enemy combatant attacking the soldier to their right with their sword and trust that the soldier to their left was fighting the enemy combatant who was attacking them.

  3. Why are Christians so timid when it comes to standing for the truth in our culture? How about we start with our Christian leadership. As Francis Schaeffer had correctly pointed out earlier, many Christian leaders believe in a false pietism that leads to a dualistic, two kingdoms Christian life. Jesus is relegated to being lord “only” of the spiritual life in a supposed spiritual kingdom. The earth and the culture belong to the pagans under this theological view. It is actually just another form of Gnostic dualism that divides the Christian life into two separate spiritual and earthly domains. According to this pietistic view the Bible and Christianity only apply to the spiritual life. Cultural leadership in the earthly life literally gets handed over to the rule of the pagans under some vague form of natural law.
    I encountered this theological view when I attended Westminster Seminary. I was shocked that this view was predominant at a conservative protestant seminary, especially after what Schaeffer had written. But then again, this explains why Christian leadership is non-existent when it comes to cultural leadership. If anything, the theological and cultural leadership issues have gotten even worse since Schaeffer’s earlier expose.
    The tragedy is that Westminster seminaries are not unique. Other seminaries and institutions teach the same dualistic view. Many of these institutions have educated the current leaders of our protestant churches. Many of these church leaders accepted the dualistic view that the lordship of Christ applies only to the spiritual life – not the culture. As a result of this dualistic thinking, their congregations were never educated on the biblical principles and ethics needed to live within both this world and our culture. The result is that these churches and their members are irrelevant when it comes to addressing what is happening within our culture. The salt has lost its savor, and as Jesus stated – it has become worthless.

    References:
    The World is Christ’s: A Critique of Two Kingdoms Theology Paperback – August 18, 2017
    https://www.amazon.com/World-Christs-Critique-Kingdoms-Theology/dp/0994727968/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RO4N5NKLEGW6&keywords=the+world+is+christ%27s&qid=1574397436&s=books&sprefix=the+world+is+christ%2Caps%2C196&sr=1-1

  4. Excellent comments Eric! Priests should be taking a leadership role in the RIGHT VALUES. There was one priest I knew who seemed to be in favour of gay marriage before the Australian plebiscite. How can this be Christian? Homosexuality is not allowed in the Christian religion. There seemed to be a very strange thing going on with this priest! Sodomy is an unpleasant thing and causes health risks. Gay men with many partners have very high rates of disease. Some gay men have had 100 or even a 1,000 partners already in their lifetime! This is normal apparently in the gay community. Syphilis causes the patient to have sores on their body. The AIDS virus can enter their body through the sore. There are some cities in America where syphilis rates had gone down and now they are increasing. How is this healthy? There are about 20 diseases that are specifically related to gay men. If SSM is legalised then we are saying that gay sex is OK. This is not Christian. I realise that people are human and that they make mistakes. The law should encourage a good lifestyle and not a bad one. SSM is honouring and glorifying gay sex. I do not think that priests should be in favour of gay marriage. Gay people never wanted to get married in the history of the world until modern times. If they needed to get married why didn’t they do this thousands of years ago?

  5. God bless you, faithful servant of our King!

    And know there is always space for you and yours, and our brethren in Christ in distress as the Lord leads, chez nous!

  6. It may not be the end of the story if you read Franklin Graham’s report in Faithwire dated 21 November where he rang up Dan Cathy from Chick-fil-A.
    You are right on as some Australian “Christian” organisation’s such as Mission Australia make it very difficult for Christians to manage their faith. Eg in Orange they used to begin the day in prayer. One person objected so it was stopped!

  7. Thanks Bill

    You expressed my feelings exactly. Law suits, protest, arson, vandalism, and violence toward Christians. We are not protected by the activist judges here in America. Law enforcement is weakened by progressive secular leaders and do not react to these crimes. Sadly the truth of all this is in the Bible.

    2 Timothy 3: But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

    I have resorted to having nothing to do with these people. Here is what really shocks me, when they declare their love for Christianity but are not will to defend it. Just look at the Democratic party in America. They are now referring to scripture to defend their blasphemous views.

    Christian not willing to fight for their religious freedom because they keep trying to tell us that they know how the story ends.

  8. I’m in tears of conviction at the moment. In the past two days, I have had opportunities to both share my faith in Jesus Christ with a “moderate” muslim who was losing his wife to cancer and to stand up at a 2020 Consensus meeting to express my concerns about illegal aliens being encouraged to be counted and vote. I remained mute in both cases. Thank you so much for this, Bill. You’re right…it is intentional.

  9. Dare I say one of your best posts ever!! I am going to print this out and read it and read it and read it until I am totally convinced that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I prize wisdom more than I do popularity.

  10. As I leave a church, I was able to get out of an “interfaith thanksgiving service” with the following participants: wiccan, unitarian universalist, Hindu, Buddhist, and islam. They will walk into a Christian church carrying their symbols to “show unity and inclusion.” A muslim will read their prayer although they substituted “allah” for “God.”

    Guarantee the place will be packed and people think it is all warm and fuzzy blinded to who is really behind all this.

  11. Yes, a good article that hits the nail on the head. Sadly many Christians in many denominations are fearful of standing up when a challenge happens due to fear of having to leave their comfort zone.
    ‘Compromise’ is the catch cry for many Christians these days.
    Keep up the good work Bill.

  12. Good to hear that you managed to avoid that nonsense Belinda.

    The use of the word “interfaith” is just a polite way of saying syncretism.

    It is not compatible with Christianity.

    I have heard that a popular analogy for those espousing the “interfaith” worldview is that we are all essentially climbing the same mountain, we’re just taking different paths to get there…

    We know however that this is nonsense.

    “Now the Lord spoke all these words, saying: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.'” ~ Ex 20:1-3

    “…At that time it was told you, ‘I am God, and there is no other besides Me; there is no righteous Hod and Saviour in addition to Me.’ Return to Me, and you shall be saved, you who are from the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.” ~ Is 45:21-22

    “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out if my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” ~ Jn 10:29-30

    “Jesus said to him ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” ~ Jn 14:6

  13. A very well thought out and important warning to Christians. Thank You! For over 5 years I have been trying to warn of the same things you mention. The responses have not be kind, even from family, but we must labor on. I will finish with one response by a Lutheran pastor I spoke with. Yet, it is sadly the truth. The reason he gave why he did not teach prophecy, about social issues affecting Christians or the real message of the gospel was, “No one wants to hear the truth.” The average Christian has become too compromising, apathetic, and complacent to todays moral decay and corruption. Now I understand why Scripture says in the end times, there will be a Great Falling Away from the truth of the Gospel. Most Calling themselves Christians, have chosen the broad path to hell and do not even realize it. THERE IS NO LONGER ANY FEAR OF GOD IN THE LAND” !

  14. Persecution of Christians has already come to the USA. I was terminated by a major retail corporation from their corporate offices because I refused to pass out, company sponsored, San Francisco Gay Pride Parade tee shirts or support their PRIDE resource group. I had to make a choice. I had worked for them for 26+ years. I am not looking for a pat on the back for my choice, but I am telling other Christians that we MUST love our enemies while NOT compromising our faith. God will take us up when others reject us and He is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. I was terminated just about a year and a half before my husband was due to retire from the same company. Because God is faithful, my husband was able to retire and the Lord has never told me to go back to work, in fact quite the contrary. I help my husband do work on our country acreage and am a minister of the gospel. God is good. Do NOT fear what man may do to you. Stand up for what is right!

  15. Many supposed “Christians” are of the Disney Cotton Candy Variety: Love Everybody, Accept Everybody, Forgive Everybody & if you pray just right to Jesus you’ll be Rich like Joel Osteen & Kenneth Copeland. I’ve also noticed that amongst this group if you Dare raise a word against the LGBTQFUKU or mention having to Destroy Evil these Holier than Thou Hypocrites talk about Turning the Other Cheek. In The Old Testament GOD Commanded Evil Leaders, Evil Tribes & Evil Nations be Destroyed & if you Go Against GOD You Will Be Destroyed Unless You Repent. Diversity is Division & Perversity, Tolerance is the Acceptance of ALL EVIL. Read The Bible & Pray to Jesus, Follow The 10 Commandments. But hey Many “Christians” want to Win the Lottery, Eat McDonalds & have their Porn too. A lot of “Christians” follow Satan they’re just Too Selfish & Stupid to Know it.

  16. Bill. I love you my brother in Christ and have been reading you for many years ..

    Please be aware that THERE IS NO SUCH PERSON AS HOLY GHOST .. King James’ translators chose a wrong word all those years ago and (a very few) publishers have perpetuated their error since.

    A ghost is the spirit of a dead person. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, who are both very much alive, hallelujah!

    I see that only showy / flashy preachers use the ‘Holy Ghost’ term, and fortunately not many of them .. I believe that it is dis-respectful, as well as being incorrect ..

    bless you in your courage, thoughtfulness and ministry

    John

  17. Anyone & Everyone – pls take note – KismetBnB in Geelong is open to those persecuted ones……
    Now and in the Future…..
    God ALWAYS provides!
    Love & Blessings in Jesus Mighty Name Melinda

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