One thing the Church is good at is lobbing water balloons over the
trenches during battle (thinking that somehow we are doing something helpful),
all the while the enemy’s .50 cal is mowing us down. Worse yet, many stand back
thinking that they shouldn’t even throw a water balloon, let alone engage in any
form of battle. Unfortunately, at this point, I’ve already offended someone
with the analogy.
Our
aversion to cultural engagement comes from a thorough conviction that Jesus
would’t want it that way,
which is fueled by a quasi-Gnostic dualism that rejects any material “victory”
in history. After all, it is assumed, Jesus didn’t tell us to change culture
and deal with systemic injustice and racism, he told us to just preach the gospel. So
stop with all this race talk. (We really are this bad.)
Furthermore,
this type of thinking also stems from antinomian proclivities that teach
us not to
think much of the law of God. Now, the average Evangelical doesn’t really know
much about the law of God to begin with, and that’s because it isn’t taught
from the pulpit. It’s also nothing to focus on in seminary because, after all,
you need to discover the type of leader you are so that you can continue to
perpetuate the Pastor-as-CEO model that’s currently crumbling around us. But
alas, I have digressed. You get the point: We need to quit with the poo-pooing
of the law of God.
Now,
our aversions are nonsensical, and I do think we need to get over it. But
something we must do is actually fight.
David fought. Isaiah fought. Jesus fought.
Ergo, we must fight. The longer we hand-wring and sit in our slothful
disposition, the longer abortion remains legal, the longer the Police State has
time to grow, the longer we get to watch the family disappear. So fight, already.
I
want to point you to two incredibly important verses in Proverbs, say a few
words about them, and then get on with my Saturday. Here is the first one, and
I’m using the King James because it’s good:
They
that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with
them (Prov. 28:4).
Notice
the irony here: The person, culture, institution, and church that forsakes
the law of God doesn’t just passively ignore the wicked in their enclave,
they actively “praise
the wicked.” The sexual devolutionaries who parade our streets with the Noahic
Covenant symbol in tow are praised when
we forsake the law of God.
But
notice what is said in the next part: Those who do keep the law, who do teach, love,
observe, follow, strive for, and cherish the law of God, they do not praise the
wicked, they contend with them.
You want to know why the Church isn’t contending with the
wicked in this nation? We do not keep the law of God.
From
front to back, top to bottom, and side to side, we simply do not keep the law
of God. We don’t want it, we don’t want to teach it, and we’d much rather just
love people (as if love isn’t the fulfilling of the law of God! See Romans 13:10). It should also be obvious that
this verse presupposes contention.
But that’s also a dirty word, so we have to sanitize it, too.
The
very next verse is curious: “Evil men understand not judgment: but they that
seek the LORD understand all things” (v. 5). Our nation doesn’t understand
justice and righteousness because our nation does not care about the law of God.
Not only do we praise the
wicked when we forsake the law, we remove epistemological light and the
unrighteous sit there scratching their heads.
Secondly,
consider this:
Where
there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepers the law, happy is he
(Prov. 29:18).
Now,
I need to make sure we understand that this isn’t the model verse for the
attractional clowns who push their rebranding-of-the-local-church efforts. The
point of this verse is, when people do not have the moral, ethical, judicial,
and spiritual understanding of the law of God (“vision”), they die. When the law of God,
which is our tool of dominion in the world as the gospel goes forth, is snuffed
out, people die. Case in point: abortion. There is no vision, no law of God put
forth by the Church, so what happens? The past four decades of infanticide
happens. And we have nothing to give the world except our love and “Merry
Christmas” salutations.
This
is, quite frankly, why we’re in the mess we’re in. If we are going to contend
for Jesus Christ in the public square, then we simply cannot leave the law of
God at home. If we want Jesus Christ to be worshipped, adored, loved, and
acknowledged among the nations, then we need the law of God. We have to actually fight, and we
have to do it God’s way, which, incidentally, is . . . you should know by
now…the law of God.
So,
yes, we’re in a battle, and yes, it isn’t ultimately against flesh and blood,
though flesh and blood can be an enemy of Christ. Yes, we have the gospel of
grace and sinners can be forgiven. But don’t forget: we have the blueprints for
what it looks like to not murder
your children in the womb, how to have a healthy and true marriage, how to have
marriage defined God’s way, and lest we forget, we also know how to have
justice in the public square.