WORLD WAR OR CIVIL WAR

Where is the real battle?

The recent ruling to uphold the band on gay marriage in California should be a reminder of many things. This conservative victory in the most morally liberal state of the union is a reminder that the majority of the people in the U.S. do not support gay marriage; however, it is also a reminder of how irrelevant this fact is to the persistence of those pursuing the gay agenda. It is a reminder that when traditional families speak up, victory is assured, yet it is a reminder of how often those who oppose traditional moral values are willing to stand for immorality. It is a reminder that the struggle is constant, and also it is a reminder of how consistently the adversaries of Christianity strive to promote evil. While a reminder that victory is possible, the ever narrowing victory in California is also a reminder of how much more methodical the enemies of righteousness are. These facts beg the question, “where is the real battle?”

The reality is that Christians often are attempting to fight a world war, when the dominant issue is a civil war. The battle is much less against gay-marriage proponents than it is against the church’s apathy. It has been truly stated that evil prospers when good men do nothing. Many have wisely described the church as a “sleeping giant.” While pulpit after pulpit rhetorically proclaims us to be on the verge of revival, anything but revival is occurring. This is because optimism is not the answer to apathy. We may look at the proverbial glass as half full rather than half empty; however, that is futile when the water is being drained from the glass.

Among Christians who are actively fighting is the tendency to assume that the church is not fighting hard enough; however, the truth is when the church is faithful and pure in her disposition walls will come tumbling down with little human effort. The battle with the world is never our battle, it’s the Lord’s; however, our battle is to maintain our own personal and social faith and purity in the context of the church.

The church must become radically unique in her position, spiritual violent in her method, and mystically unpredictable in her response to sin. This must occur first in-house and then it will irresistibly spread abroad. We must remember the God’s thoughts and ways are not in concert with the ways of men. The church is guilty of attempting to eradicate sin from her mist with grace rather than law. She seeks to operate in sentimental wisdom that is carnal and unbiblical. This is nothing less than a misapplication of grace; actually, it is a perversion of grace, creating a license for lasciviousness. In the Old Testament the law demanded that the sinner be put to death. This was punitive, purifying, and preventative in affect. While death was literal in the Old Testament, it is symbolically accomplished in the New Testament through excommunication.

The Reformers defined a true church by three signs: 1) the true gospel is preached, 2) the observation of the sacraments, and 3) church discipline. The lack of this last sign in the church today is very revealing. The Old Testament nation of Israel’s bondage was always a result of abandoning the discipline of the law.

Simply put, the church cannot be tolerant of homosexuality and expect to triumph against the world. There are clear instructions in the scripture as to how [all] sin in the camp must be dealt with in order to maintain God’s favor. When the church is ineffective in battle, it is never the world’s fault; there is sin in the camp and we have become Achan’s Army. Our leaders, like Moses, are unable to hold their arms up and the people are defeated antinomians.

It is high time that the church concentrate on the in-house war more so than the worldly distractions that Satan has used to infiltrate the church and sow tares while believers slept. Only then will we become manifestly the church over which the gates of Hell cannot prevail.