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.
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]