There is a War

Introduction

Our goal tonight is not to increase your political participation (if you do participate politically, I hope your participation is affected by what we say tonight).

Our goal is to be knowledgeable about our surroundings.

We are not in a culture war. I could almost call this sermon, there was a war. We lost (on the temporal plane).

We are not trying to figure out how to win that war, we are trying to figure out how to live in occupied territory (Jn. 14:30).

This is something I don’t think I had a firm grasp on 12 years ago. I think I understand it better now. I’m not depressed by it. In fact, I think I see the goal more clearly because of it.

Defining Our Terms

Christianity:

There are plenty of examples of people who believe or practice very little of what Jesus said and yet call themselves Christians.

Here I refer to the most liberal minded sorts of people who would make Jesus out to be a militant black Marxist, a la the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

They believe Christianity is not about teaching people to live lives that are purified and freed from the shackles of sin but of affecting social change and bringing justice to the downtrodden.

These are the people whose Christianity is perfectly acceptable and even works in tandem with the forces that would oppress a more traditional Christianity.

There are others who preach Christ but only in the most innocuous and unoffensive way possible.

These, while not favorites of the attackers, are not likely to be as frequently targeted.

They keep their heads low and preach the same “do-gooderisms” that could be spoken by anyone of any belief (or non-belief) system.

In essence they preach a common morality.

Then there are those who believe that the Bible is God’s word and that God is THE lawgiver.

This doesn’t mean that everyone who believes this interprets those laws the same, but they all believe they are laws nonetheless.

They believe that God has given man standards that go beyond the wisdom of man and that we must appeal to God to truly discover the final word on what is right and what is wrong.

These are the primary targets who are under attack today.

These are the people I will be referring to when I use the word Christianity.

War:

War is defined as a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state:

Of course this is hardly the nature of the war we are discussing.

We are not involved in a physical war (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

But there is a conflict and there are different sides to be taken and defended.

We will use the word attack generally to refer to a purposeful action meant to bring harm to the cause of Christianity.

Who is the Enemy

Our enemy is the devil (1 Pet. 5:8).

The enemies are abundant.

Some point to Islam as our greatest enemy (“they hate our freedom”)

The reality is that the far greater threat comes from our depraved leaders and influencers of our own country.

Physical threats have been rare (Acts 8:4).

The more effective attacks aim at our hearts (Matt. 26:51, 69-74).

Getting the Message Out

Propaganda is “chiefly information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view:”

It doesn’t have to be misleading but the more outrageous the cause the more misleading the propaganda must be to get the point across. For instance, if you want to promote the idea of throwing a whole class of people into ovens to get them out of the way, you don’t just come out and say that. We know that there is propaganda all around us.

The question is - can we point it out? The best propaganda is the message that you don’t see. It is in fact the most dangerous propaganda. We find ourselves in a unique period not for the messages that are presented (there are no new ideas) but for the way they are able to get those messages across.

It is what Daniel Patrick Moynihan called “defining deviancy down”

This is the idea that what was once considered deviancy no longer is. We might call it “lowering the standards of morality”. A good example of this can be found in the period of the judges (Jdg. 19:22-24). On the other hand, there is also the message of “defining deviancy up,” a phrase coined by Charles Krauthammer.

Here is the idea that what was once considered normal behavior is now considered deviant. Both of these messages have been preached for ages (Isa. 5:20; Matt. 27:20).

The Nature of the Message

Pushing the envelope.

This is where they go beyond what is acceptable only to pull back but not to previous levels.

This is a constant struggle as the envelop has now been pushed so far.

“Everything you know is wrong.”

People that you think are rebels are really the best people.

People that you think are righteous are really nasty.

Kids are smarter than adults.

Men are weak and women are the real leaders.

Your beliefs are absurd.

They aren’t laughing with you.

They are laughing at you.

They are also weird and scary.

Increasingly we are told that it is a form of child abuse to teach your children

NO ONE believes what you believe.

This is communicated through ridicule.

But more so through total absence.

What’s the Defense

Expose the messaging (Matt. 23).

Point it out.

Bring it to the surface and just say what they are doing.

They will deny it but we need to call out the reality of what is happening.

Exercise your senses (Heb. 5:14).

We need to pay attention to what we are consuming and not “turn off our minds” when we turn on the TV.

As one brother said, that is where you BETTER arm yourself.

We need to teach our children how to discern.

Be strong & courageous (Josh 1:7-9).

You are going to be ridiculed.

You are going to be “left out.”

Get over it.

Imaging being the leader at Jericho.

Saturate yourself in truth (1 Tim. 4:16).

We need to hear the truth more than the lies.

Our kids REALLY need to hear the truth more than the lies.

The truth always bears repeating(1 Thess. 5:1; 2 Pet. 1:10-15).

If something goes without saying for long enough, pretty soon it will go…without anyone saying anything.

We are now in a place where we have to state the obvious because it wasn’t stated enough.

Conclusion

There is so much more we could explore here.

The point is this, we live in enemy territory.

We need to behave accordingly.

Most people, living long enough in enemy territory, will acclimate.

We have the unenviable task to live here as pilgrims and not only survive, but to try and convince others to defect and join us in our pilgrimage.

They will find it hard to believe.

But the question right now is do YOU find it hard to believe? If you do believe there is a better place than this and you are willing to live like a pilgrim here to get there, then come.