It is ugly out there. We live in a world where money is debt, boys are girls, babies are burdens, libraries are kiddy strip clubs and free speech is considered too expensive. A man is sent packing from the Temple of Consumption, the Mall of America, because his t-shirt says “Jesus Saves.” Newscasters weep on the air over the horror of a hockey player who won’t “wear the ribbon.” The marginalization of conservative evangelicals is racing forward with all the care of the Pamplona bulls and all the speed of a bullet train.
The devil has us just where he wants us, fighting the temptations of a surrender driven by despair or a carnal counter-assault driven by disgust. What in the world should we do? Repent and believe the gospel. We repent for our decades long defense of our own standing, wherein we sacrificed our witness in order to be heard. We repent of seeing the world as a safe, neutral space. We repent for being so dazzled by the bells and whistles at Vanity Fair that we wouldn’t see, just behind the facades the death camps being built. We repent for turning the wanton murder of millions of unborn into a chit in our political negotiations.
We also, however, believe the gospel. We start with believing that we need to repent. We are not in this mess because of the failure of the world. It is simply doing what it has always done. We are here because of the failure of God’s people. We move, in believing the gospel, to rejoicing that He forgives the repentant, because of Jesus and His sacrifice for us. From there we believe the Good News, that Jesus Christ is Lord, that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto Him, that our enemies are but paper tigers soon to drown in a lake of fire.
The Pharisees hated Jesus not because He insulted them, nor because He disagreed with them. They hated Him because He was upsetting their patrons, the Roman Empire. Christians were expelled from the synagogues because it wasn’t politically safe for the Pharisees to be seen with them. Before long Christians were being crucified by the thousands, burned alive, their deaths providing entertainment for the patrons of the stadia. Not because they believed in justification alone. Not because they believed in the trinity and the incarnation. Not because they believed the Roman gods to be demons playing dress up. But because they believed Jesus was Lord.
Every bit of cultural decline is both that for which we must repent and that which is part of His sovereign plan, for our good and His glory. Because He reigns. Now.