In recent times, we have developed a peace-loving, soft-spoken, tame and harmless brand of Christian of whom the world has no fear and for whom it has little respect. We are careful, for instance, never to speak in public against any of the false cults lest we be thought intolerant. We fear to talk against the destructive sins of modern civilization for fear someone will brand us as bigoted and narrow. Little by little we have been forced off the hard earth into a religious “cloud-land,” where we are permitted to wing our harmless way around like swallows at sundown, saying nothing that might stir the ire of the sons of this world. That neo-Christianity, which seems for the time to be the most popular (and is certainly the most aggressive), is very careful not to oppose sin. It wins its crowds by amusing them and its converts by hiding from them the full implications of the Christian message. It carries on its projects after the ballyhoo methods of American business. Well might we paraphrase Wordsworth and cry, “Elijah, thou shouldst be living at this hour; America has need of thee.” We stand in desperate need of a few men like Elijah who will dare to face up to the brazen sinners who dictate our every way of life. Sin in the full proportions of a revolution or a plague has all but destroyed our civilization while church people have played like children in the marketplace. What has happened to the spirit of the American Christian? Has our gold become dim? Have we lost the spirit of discernment till we can no longer recognize our captors? How much longer will we hide in caves while Ahab and Jezebel continue to pollute the temple and ravage the land? Surely, we should give this some serious thought and prayer before it is too late—if indeed it is not too late already.
Verse
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. Isaiah 59:15
Thought
In our culture today there seem to be only two absolutes: (1) that there are no absolutes except that there are no absolutes; and (2) everything must be tolerated, since there is no absolute truth. As painful and uncomfortable as it is, we must stand up for God’s truth.
Prayer
Father, give me courage and boldness to lovingly and graciously stand for You in my sphere of influence. May I be Your ambassador.