Christians and Their Pattern of Defeat

No one likes to lose, but we are losing big time. I'm talking about the Church, the people of God. We are losing our families, our country, our identity, and our hope for a godly future. We've got to stop, honestly face our failure, and do what we must do to win this war in which we are engaged.

Make no mistake. This war is real. Real people die.[1] Our way of life, our freedoms, and the future itself are the spoils that the victor will gain.

Why is it that the Christian community loses almost every cultural battle? We do win a few fights, but they are few and far between. When we do win, we celebrate our victory and we should since they are so rare. But while we party the enemy is right back at work trying to take back the ground they lost. Many times they do. Rarely do we gain back what we surrender.

We are engaged on many battlefronts in 21^st century America. We are fighting the war against abortion, pornography, homosexuality, sexual predators, bad government, and much more. But, we're not winning! Why?

I remember some six or seven years ago I was teaching a Sunday School class. In the process of teaching the lesson, without much forethought, I simply raised this question: On what battlefront are we winning? After a few minutes of contemplation and apparent shock, everyone in the class agreed-None! We're losing everywhere.

In the weeks that followed I talked to many friends, pastors, and national Christian leaders. They, too, agreed. We are not winning. No one was sure exactly why although each had theories.

Jesus made the promise in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church. By God's grace and power little David beat Goliath. Gideon's meager army defeated one over 400 times its size, Moses crushed Pharaoh, and Daniel survived the lions. Many other Bible characters, both men and women, survived incredible trials and defeated forces way beyond their capabilities through their faith in God. So, what's our problem? Do we just not have enough faith?

If you have read this far I guess you are at least interested enough to hear my analysis of our pattern of defeat. Actually, I don't think the problem is that complex or unique. In short, I think we have simply forgotten the basics. We've lost the ability to effectively use the weapons God gave us to fight the good fight. Although popular, quoting Scripture alone at a problem won't solve it[2]. We have responsibilities and specific tactics and weapons of war in our God-given arsenal. We must learn to use them.

Here's what I think. I think that far too many Christians don't really believe the Bible, or if they do, they simply choose not to obey it when personal pain is involved. They go to church, read Scripture, and quote it often, but when the rubber hits the road they will opt for some "logical" or "emotional" reason why their way is better than God's way. I've seen this repeatedly and this is a major problem.

Second, over the past few generations, we have, as a culture, abandoned a biblical worldview. The churches are not faring much better. We use the term "biblical worldview" but few really understand what it is. Simply put it is seeing the world, life, and every situation as God does, through His eyes. Scripture is the only standard.

We must go to Scripture to learn about war, love, family, government, business, law, economics, art, music, ethics, farming, employer-employee relationships and every other thing in life. It is a total and comprehensive philosophy of life. From this perspective everything in life becomes spiritual. The sacred-secular dichotomy doesn't exist. A major part of our problem is we think it does. This is why so many churches fail to address cultural problems because they don't see them as spiritual. They are.

In conclusion, we are losing the war; I'm convinced that we don't believe Scripture is the only standard in life. We either choose to not apply what we clearly know (disobedience) or we are lacking a biblical worldview (ignorance).

The solution is simple. If we learn what God requires of us and we do it, we will win. That's the promise. That's the hope. This is where we need to start-back to basics, Bible 101.

…men who understood the times, with knowledge of what

Israel

should do…. (I Chron. 12:32)

[1] I know that many people spiritualize the war for our culture and the soul of our nation. The aborted babies, the teenage suicides, the gang murders, and drug overdose victims; these are all casualties of this war. Many are dead because we have failed to do our Christian duty.

[2] I believe many Christians unknowingly practice what I call Christian magic. They encounter a problem, and then quote the appropriate Scripture at it. In their minds, that settles it. Like magic! It's really more like an incantation than a faith-laden exercise. Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that quoting Scripture is wrong or equated with witchcraft. What I am saying is that problems usually require more attention than simply quoting a Scripture. We have to follow up with the appropriate actions. This is the hard and neglected part of being a Christian.