COURAGE TO STAND

 

 

Holding your ground against intimidation and rejection is not easy. When you are treated like trash, you feel like trash. This is because we are social beings. When we are demeaned, we naturally try to submit and to regain the approval of the oppressors. However, as we mature, we should begin to recognize that there are more important things, namely truth and our integrity.

How can we stand against the militant opinions and their shout-downs if we think that we are standing on the shifting sands of the evolving opinions of man? Sadly, an increasing number do not stand on solid ground:

·       “More than half of respondents to the State of Theology survey say that religious belief is not about objective reality. However, fewer people expressed this view in 2020 than in 2018. It isn’t clear why this is the case, but it may be that our chaotic cultural moment has prompted more people to turn to religion for objective truth,” LifeWay researchers said. https://www.christianpost.com/news/most-us-adults-say-religious-belief-is-matter-of-personal-opinion-study.html

If religious believe is personal and just pertains to me, it is allowed no place in public discussions. This same confusion about whether Christian beliefs depend upon blind faith also afflicts evangelicals:

·       The Christian Post previously highlighted from the survey how more than half of American adults, including 30% of evangelicals, say Jesus isn’t God, but most agree He was a great teacher.

If we believe that Jesus is only a great teacher, our foundation is not the solid Scriptures. As a result, we are easily manipulated and controlled.  “If we don’t know where we stand, we will fall for anything,” according to one perceptive saying. Without this assurance, we are also vulnerable to all kinds of temptations, promising new psychological therapies, and pretentious philosophies. This is why the Christian needs to be grounded through the teaching of the Word of God:

·       And he [God] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11-14)

Without this Biblical foundation, we can longer influence society, which then falls prey to many destructive philosophies and practices.

A Jewish epidemiologist surprised me. She explained that epidemics only can spread if a critical mass of the population goes without inoculations, perhaps 50%. She then likened this to the critical mass of serious Christians within a society. Once their percentage falls below a certain level, the society becomes vulnerable to an array of social ills. Therefore, Jesus called us to be the light of truth:

·       “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

When our light shines, our communities see our “good works and give glory to your Father.” However, there are no good works without good teaching from the Word of God. Nor will we have the necessary confidence to live sacrificially, especially amid the inevitable persecution (Matthew 5:10-12).

How are we to withstand persecution without folding? Only with the assurance of the truths of the Scriptures:

·       But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. (Isaiah 50:7-8)

Our confidence must be in the Lord whom His Spirit makes increasingly real for us through His Word.