Today’s question is this: will you be silenced? An incredible pastor and theologian by the name of Erwin Lutzer—he was the pastor of Moody Bible Church in Chicago for 36 years—was speaking with me at a week-long retreat 7 or 8 years ago, and I had the opportunity one day to have lunch with him and hear his heart about the urgency of where evangelical Christianity was headed. At first, it sounded a little bit over the top. But today, nearly 10 years later, his words ring true like the prophets of old. That the evangelical church of today is sliding into both irrelevancy and apostasy is really beyond argument, but one thing about this slippery dissension that is seldom addressed is the almost complete lack of courage that Christian men and women of today have when compared to the saints of old.
Today’s blog is about refusing to speak the truth in love for fear of things like cancel culture, job loss, losing friends, angry relatives, etc. Think about it. Are any of these reasons to go off-mission as a Christ-follower? No, obviously not.
What’s Happened to Today’s Christians?
So, what’s happened to Christ-followers of today? Why are they so timid and compromising when it comes to God’s truth, the Bible? Believers of old wouldn’t budge on even the smallest theological point. Today, if someone threatens to unfollow a Christian speaker or hints that their words aren’t quite politically correct enough, the believer just caves. They, sadly, just draw a new line in the sand and learn to do life in an ever-shrinking Christian box.
Many pastors and even seminary professors are apologizing for calling out sin, even when “throwing Jesus under the bus” is demanded as part of said apology. Why? Again, what has happened to the spine of evangelical Christ-followers today? The answer might just lie in that moniker I just gave them: Christ-followers. Not many Christians use that label today. Well, Christians of old would have considered it a great honor to be known as a true follower of Christ.
At the same time, recent polls today show that over 75% of Americans consider themselves Christians. Well, that’s kind of weird. What’s the difference? The difference is that it costs nothing to fall under a universalist, no hell, all roads lead to heaven, God is love, judge not, offend not, kumbaya brand of Christianity. Most who see Christianity like this believe they have managed somehow to corner God into giving them a Get Out of Hell Free card that they can count on even while they spend their entire life on earth having nothing to do with God, who supposedly issued the make-believe backstage pass to heaven in the first place.
Are You Willing to Offend Holy Spirit to Keep the Peace?
The slide into apathy begins when we love the life of comfort and the American dream and things like that more than we actually love God. We need to do as Jesus said to the church in Revelation 3:2 instead. “Wake up and strengthen what remains.” In his book, I Will Not Be Silenced, Erwin Lutzer says, “How much of the culture should we embrace in order to redeem it?” That’s a great question, and that’s a question that has been endlessly discussed throughout the history of the church.
There are some aspects of the culture we can embrace, but there’s much that must be opposed. And our ability to discern what we can and cannot embrace is pretty critical to the continuation of our witness as a church.
My concern is that we’re submitting to culture’s most enticing temptations and justifying this in the name of compassion, love, social justice, cultural relevance, but we’re willing to be deceived. And all too often, we are feeling self-righteously good about it. We’re not willing to offend each other, but we are entirely willing to offend the Holy Spirit in order to keep up fake truths with the world.
Five Things You Can Do to Rise Above Today’s Mediocrity
It’s an odd time to be a believer in America right now. But I do have a few suggestions that might help us to rise above that mediocrity and still live all-out for Jesus:
- Confess our apathy. Just be honest with the Lord. He knows, anyway.
- Ask Him to forgive you and to renew your first love talked about in Revelation 2:4-5.
- Ask Him to give you opportunities to be bold and to speak up for the gospel.
- Commit to putting on the full armor of God, which is found in Ephesians 6 each and every day, so you won’t be susceptible to the fiery darts—that’s what the Bible calls them—of the evil one.
- Stop worrying so much about being canceled, and remember that Jesus forgave you and canceled your debt of sin.
There’s really nothing anyone can do to you now that God is your heavenly Father. Find your rest, peace, and hope in that. If you want to find more helpful ways to navigate the ways of today’s society as a Christ-follower, I invite you to check out my YouTube channel. In my Ask P-Ro series, I take relevant topics of today and tackle them with what the Bible says.
Until next time, Peace!
~Pastor Rob
aka, P-Ro