It is easy to be discouraged, to grow battle weary. The war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent has been going on for millenia and may continue for millenia more. In our own corner of the kingdom, in our own stage of the battle we are watching the saltiness of the body washed away in a storm of worldliness, while the world grows more putrid and more dark. When, however, we find ourselves surrounded by our enemies we can at least give thanks for the target rich environment.
Which brings us to the first blessing. We have plenty to do. Our Lord has blessed us with an abundance of opportunities to see Him at work through us. We’re not in a time or place where coasting is an option. Real damage is being done by the enemy which makes the real healing of the balm of Gilead that much more needful.
Second, our culture’s decay has made it increasingly difficult to confuse the city of God with the city of man. Augustine wrote his famous work, The City of God, in large part to help God’s people understand that the fall of Rome was not the fall of Christ’s kingdom. The more influence God’s people have on the broader culture the more that broader culture looks like God’s people. That can be a good thing. But it can also be a bad thing because we often confuse what we are with what we should be. No believer under Nero faced the temptation to wrap the gospel in the Roman flag. The devil’s faux kingdom is removing its mask, revealing the ugliness that was always there.
Third, the culture’s decay makes our message increasingly distinct and therefore, easier for unbelievers to hear. The more people sink into sin, the more their lives push against the image of God that they bear, the more difficult it becomes for them to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. A man leading a quiet life like Mr. Cleaver could, like the rich young ruler, persuade himself that he’s doing well enough to earn God’s favor. A man dragging his friend-with-benefits to the killing center to snuff out their unborn child’s life knows what he is. As does she.
Last, the culture’s decay makes our message increasingly distinct and therefore, easier for us believers to hear. We who have already confessed that we are sinners, who have already cried out for God’s mercy in Christ, will on this side of the veil always need to confess that we are sinners and cry out for God’s mercy in Christ. The corrupt culture around us isn’t just around us but in us. To win the battle we must ask Him to go before us, and to come against us. For what we fight out there we find in here. And He alone gives the victory.
I’m not, of course, arguing that culturally speaking we should sin all the more that grace might abound. There are great hardships that come with living in a decaying culture. He, however, has not left us, nor forsaken us. And He has called us to be of good cheer for He has already overcome the world. Things are not as they are supposed to be, which is precisely how they are supposed to be. To God be the glory.