6/21/2023
R.O.A.D. Explained
Introduction
One of the many things Mark Twain is famous for saying is, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” This quote certainly carries with it much wisdom as it mirrors Proverbs 17:28. However, I more or less was letting this quote dictate how I lived out my faith. I did not hide the fact that I was a Christian by any means, but I maintained a mind-your-own-business, leave-each-other-alone, libertarian mentality. I did not feel like I had any right to insist on God’s truth if not everyone believed it. I typically kept my mouth shut in order to not seem foolish.
The Covid-19 fiasco along with the Black Lives Matter protests did a lot to make me see the dangers of being a complacent Christian. Suddenly, you had to post a black square on you Instagram page or you were a racist. You could not opt out because they told us “silence is violence.” You had to wear a mask and not celebrate Christmas with your loved ones or you were going to kill grandma. Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom’s greasy dome could be spotted partying it up at the French Laundry. Many people had to get vaccinated or lose their jobs. People who were convicted to go against these things were left in the dark not knowing what to do. I was busy trying to understand how best to interpret Romans 13. We can no longer sit passively on issues. Christians especially need to be prepared to fight evil when they see it, because we have God’s Word. God’s Word is sufficient in all things, and therefore should be studied thoroughly so when the next steamroller comes, Christians will not be so easily moved.
The left has killed the idea of a libertarian society. We cannot just let bygones be bygones when the left insists on controlling language by silencing voices of opposition through cancellation, forcing everyone to respect pronouns that are biologically untrue, and by killing the “staying out of it” option by saying “silence is violence.” They have turned culture from the land of the free, to repeat after me. These people do not worship our God, in fact, they worship the false gods of old and the devil. In, Deuteronomy 12, God commands his people to tear down the high places and alters of false gods, take the land that he has given them, and rejoice and give thanks to God alone. God has blessed America, but we have allowed the high places of Asherah, and Baal, and Moloch, and Baphomet to stand. We closed our churches and neglected to gather. We have not embraced the freedom we have to study God’s Word in this country. We must repent as a nation and begin speaking up and see to it that these woke idols be torn down.
Of Infinite Importance
Another quote that put everything into perspective for me was a quote by C.S. Lewis. He says, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” This highlighted, for me, the foolishness of a complacent faith. At the end of the road, there is only heaven or hell. There is only forgiveness, or damnation. There is only Christ or chaos. There is no in between. Why do we not treat Christianity as if it were all or nothing? Not to get into a legalist vs antinomian debate, but shouldn’t we, like David, love God’s law? Shouldn’t we be delighting ourselves in the Lord?
My encouragement to Christians is to not be complacent and do not be afraid to speak out or stand up for truth. God is on our side. “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” Psalm 56:4 Study God’s Word and bring up disciples (some call this having children.) As someone who is postmil, I believe the Great Commission is a task to be fulfilled, and will be fulfilled before the coming of Christ. This means we have work to do. Christians need to start taking the command to disciple the nations seriously. We cannot do this by fulfilling our faith quota once a week on Sunday. Christians need to wear their faith on their sleeve, not be bullied into thinking the rot of our culture is okay, be a light shining in the darkness, and speak the truth of God’s Word and remove all doubt.