Are you too afraid to take action?

"But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses . . . (Exodus 4:10, 11, 14a ESV)

If God was angry with Moses because of his resistance to take action, what do you think that means for Christians who are on this side of the cross, who have the full revelation of the Scriptures? Not only this but all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18), and He tells us to take action and make the nations disciples.

What would you do if an abortion clinic opened across the street from your church or Christian school? If your community were bombarded with a wave of prostitution and pornographic flyers, which institution should step up to the plate and lead a campaign against it? Not too long ago, the church would have risen to the occasion and taken charge. It would have been an instantaneous reaction by the church. Yet overwhelmingly, the church today would respond as one apathetic Pastor in a conservative California church, who said, "We can't get involved in social action projects" [1]. The church shouldn't do anything officially because we'll lose focus of the mission of the church. And what is the mission of the church? Preach the gospel and make disciples, but we can't get involved in any social action, because God's people may forget their purpose.

Since the end of the civil war, the church has been forgetting their purpose and losing their mission. There is a misconception of what is included in the "mission of the church." Jesus said, “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." And that's exactly what's happening today. The church, God's people, because of their impenitent hearts, are trampled under foot by a secular, Christ-less society. Every area of life belongs to Christ, and the church should feel shame and regret for not occupying the ground that was won for them in previous generations. 

How is it that Christians have been losing ground since the civil war? Think about this for a moment, in the 12th and 13th centuries it was the church who came up with the idea of the university. The university is "one of the greatest engines of social advancement and cultural enrichment ever conceived" [2]. And we go back to the future only to find backwoods Bible colleges where students end up having to go to a "secular" university to learn so-called "neutral" subjects from a evolutionary worldview. Subjects like Keynesian economics, Freudian psychology, and evolutionary anthropology. And the sad part is there are professing Christian professors at the Christ-less universities who teach the evolutionary ideas to their students. On the upside, there are some Christian colleges out there who are trying to reverse this trend [3]. Teaching from a Christ centered perspective and ridding evolutionary concepts.

The advent of the reformation challenged a whole culture. God's providential hand (side note: no such thing as the invisible hand that Adam Smith talked about. It's actually God's providential guiding hand) brought about the printing press and with it Martin Luther challenged the foundation of Western Civilization. Meanwhile, Calvin was rebuilding Geneva. Locals in his time were desperate and wanted a city governed by the principles of God's Word. And Knox was up in the north freeing Scotland with the Gospel through pen and sword. Literature by these reformation giants still survives even in secular classrooms because it changed the world. Christian literature set the standard of excellence, nothing has surpassed the King James Bible in this regards. What book in our modern world has come close to reaching this kind of impact? None. 

Back in 1974, Gary North sent a manuscript to a Christian publishing firm in Great Britain. The manuscript challenged secular presuppositions dealing with mathematics, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, economics, and education. This manuscript contained essays in all these fields of study by writers with advanced degrees, most having a Ph.D. North got his letter of rejection that explained how the publisher is generally wary about publishing in these types of fields because they do not have any one on staff that is competent in those fields of study. The publisher went on to state that "we see the first concern to address ourselves to the prevailing piety in worship, prayer, and preaching . . ." [4]. 

Why is challenging secular culture so scary for Christians? Secular culture has no foundation to stand on. "Has there ever been a culture less sure of its own beliefs, less confident of its own powers, more confused concerning its own destiny?" [5]. Relativism pervades this culture and they have no answers. The media, universities, and governments are grasping at straws and lead people to think nothing more than defeat by putting hope in fallen man. And when a positive, encouraging piece of literature is picked up by the media, secularists are called upon to give their interpretation and wisdom regarding it. Media should be calling on Christian scholars not secularists. Where are all the Christian scholars? Where have they gone? What are they doing? My guess is most are prevailing their piety in worship, prayer, and preaching." When the media wants to get a Christian answer, they'll appeal to a neo-orthodox liberal who discredits the authority of God's law and the Gospel. 

When Christian scholarship is contemplated, what do you think of? Do you think of seminaries? But they only focus on biblical languages, church history, theology, evangelism, counselling, visitation, church budgets, etc. "Apart from the Wycliffe translation program, there is hardly a single explicitly Christian endeavor that has impressed the secular world with its competence" [6]. Christians for the most part tend to be second or third rate when it comes to excellence. Why? As North contends, its because of the stubbornness of God's people and their refusal to learn the whole counsel of God, that every area of life belongs to Jesus.

If a book like R.J. Rushdoony's Institutes of Biblical Law had been written 200 hundred years ago a culture would have flowered and we wouldn't be in the mess we are today. A void has been created and left to secularists who are standing in the gap, whom Christians should have filled. God's people today think that they can retreat from culture because "Jesus is coming back soon" and as a result they are socially impotent and therefore socially irresponsible--just like the previous generation and the one before. 

Society with its rampant lawlessness, corruption, pornography, murders, abortion, witchcraft, and the like are a product of nihilism and relativism that has eroded the fabric of our nation. And Christians are to blame. The good news is that the gospel can reverse this, and it is being reversed. Society can be restructured according to God's ethical standards. Nothing else will work. Secularism has dug its own pit and is about to be buried. God calls His people to leave the stench of Egypt behind. Don't be like Moses who at first was reluctant and cried, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (Exodus 4:10, 11, ESV) Moses ended up having to do what God told him in the first place. Likewise, God has told us. We Christians have the the full testimony of Scripture for our guidance and the Spirit as our helper. "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37, ESV) We have no excuse.

No Excuses,
​Tony




[1] "Backward, Christian Soliders? Gary North, p.1
[2] ibid. p. 2
[3] http://www.nsa.edu/
[4] ibid. p. 3
[5] ibid p. 5
[6] ibid p. 6