The news seems to be filled with disturbing and even frightening items that would once have been unheard of, yet have become commonplace and normal today. What was once considered moral behavior is now labeled intolerant as people hijack and seek to change definitions. Holidays are being created to celebrate idolatry and sexual immorality. And what we see, literally before our eyes is what is stated in Daniel 7:25: “He [the beast] will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law;”
I am not proposing that we are in the great tribulation by any means. Yet as we get closer and closer is it any surprise that the way will be paved such as we can see in society today, as people, despite Isaiah’s warning centuries ago, call evil good and good evil? We, as a people, are continuously upping the ante on evil at an alarming rate. Yet knowing, as we do, that this world has been given over to satan, a being of light who displays himself very attractively and subtly, should we really be surprised at how we came to be in this predicament?
It is not going to be a popular observation, I suspect, that the church must bear a large part of the responsibility in society’s ills today. We can blame atheists, scientists, a woke generation and all the other “usual suspects” but the fact is we have been advised, told, warned and admonished by God through scripture of the coming storm and yet still have made little to no preparations to buffet against the onslaught. What do I mean? The church has allowed the enemy to divide it very successfully over the centuries through gradual erosion, squabbles over doctrine, and his own infusion of false gospel through the wolves he has been able to walk through our very front doors. And through fear, intimidation and a desire to be loved and loving rather than the maligned term “judgmental,” we have watched and overlooked much in the way of aberrancy and downright falsehood. The result: a majority that has stopped evangelizing and apologetics out of fear, a few who have attempted to take up the slack and labeled extremists and downright wackos, and a body that is, in many ways, sick or ineffective against a world that, thinking itself wise, has run rampantly foolish and outpaced us.
We have lost our teeth. A popular phrase I hear often is that we cannot “beat people over the head with the gospel.” And this is true. But did you know the gospel is a hammer? Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers who ever lived, spoke of the gospel as a hammer and a flame, useful for wearing down non-believers with continual hammering or chipping away, melting away the influence of the enemy.
“I have an opinion that there are a great many persons in this world, whom we give up as hopeless who have never been really tried and tested with the gospel in all their lives. I am afraid that there are in this place persons of whom we speak as unlikely to be converted, who have never been fully brought under the influence of the fire of God’s Word, or beneath the fall of the hammer of the gospel (Spurgeon, 1886).”
It is not about “beating someone” with the gospel. It is about persistence in truth. It is about speaking without fear of offending. It is about being willing to challenge the notion of those whom we are attempting to correct that we are “intolerant” and pointing out the actual intolerance of their own stance. Our hope is to melt their steel hearts with the flame of the gospel. The fact is we have, over the centuries, softened our stance on preaching Christ crucified. We have softened our stance on confronting sin. We have done so in the name of tolerance but also in the misapplied use of love. God’s love is correction. His love is grace, mercy and salvation through belief in Christ and correction of our sinful lives. Yet we often misapply this love by replacing it with a form of man’s love which is FAR inferior to God’s. Why do we do this? We were given the model. We were given the example through Christ and the apostles. Many would say, “but that is outdated, antiquated, and offensive doctrine that has no use today.” Alas, this echoes precisely those who seek to frighten you away, Christian.
Spurgeon noted that, in his time, the doctrine of “to love gentle Jesus” was being given to children in Sunday School. Today, this is the message taught to EVERYONE. But there is much more than love to be taught! Read the scriptures of the New Testament thoroughly and you will readily see that Christ and the apostles would NEVER shy away from pointing out sin, apostacy, hypocrisy and the need for correction. They NEVER avoided the topic of the gospel and the church flourished, and in areas far more prone to persecution than here in the United States.
Christ Himself gave us not only the examples but the directive to point out sin. “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
We are to point out sin and point out false doctrine! There is no room, especially today where our very children are being threatened in the morality mix, for fearing being labeled intolerant when you point out the truth. It may be difficult. “That person is so nice. I hate to offend him or her.” “What will people think of me? They will think I am attacking that person.” “That person went to seminary. He or she MUST know something I don’t.” These are all dangerous reasons for ignoring false gospel. The gospel is simple and God’s Word stands on Its Own. Truth is still truth even when it is not popular and even when the powers that be attempt to regulate it out of existence.
Romans 16:17-18 tells us: “Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such people are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”
Ephesians 5:11 says, “Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;”
Even if they seem very trustworthy and credible, if the message is contrary to scripture, it must be confronted, not just ignored. 1 Timothy 5:20 warns this: “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.”
Why is confronting necessary and not just overlooking? Because, doing nothing is the same as allowing or endorsing the evil! Consider this quote from utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill, who delivered an 1867 inaugural address at the University of St. Andrews and stated: “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”
Do not be afraid to confront lies with truth. You have a belief in your heart in Christ Jesus. You KNOW He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. You KNOW that no one comes to the Father save through HIM. This truth MUST be sown into society again, now more than ever. Do not allow yourself to be swayed by fancy words, aggressive behavior and posturing from those who would ultimately victimize and silence you.
Colossians 2:8: See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.
2 Timothy 4:3-4: For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
As we approach the end, the noose will tighten. As we approach the end the hate spewed in our direction will grow. It is uncomfortable. It is sad and it is sickening. But we must not turn away from our God-given duty to save as many as will be saved and protect as many as can be protected. Stay strong in your faith.