It's time to gird your loins!

Warning: I'm going to be harsh – read at your own risk. There comes a time when we have to say "Enough is enough."

For any of us to live within the holy cocoon of a church while the world rots around us is, I believe, cowardly. Convincing ourselves it wonπt get any worse is naÔve and dangerous. Think back over your life — has evil gotten more prominent, while our faith and values are increasingly denigrated? Have Christ-likeness and biblical faith become outmoded and an easy target of political correctness?

Obviously, spiritual warfare has existed since the fall, but in one generation it seems to have gotten the upper hand in our homes, our schools, our community and our government. I donπt want to impugn those Christians and churches that are actively making a stand for righteousness, faithfully sharing the gospel, serving the community with compassion ministries, and even equipping members to engage the political, legislative and judicial realms. I am thankful for them. But from my vantage point these churches are a small, lonely minority compared to the bulk of sleeping ≥Christianity.≤ So, where is the war? I think there are three theaters of battle we need to gird our loins to engage before our light to the world is shamefully overrun by darkness.

The first fight: Cleaning our churches. More often than not, weπre a weak, shallow, cowardly people. Where are the pastors and ministry leaders proclaiming the Word of God in its fullness, not in a seeker-sensitive, watered down, no-offense-at-all-cost way (Col. 1:28)? Where is worship focused on glorifying Christ (Matt. 22:37) and ministry focused on changing the world (Matt. 22:39)? Why do so many churches cater to unbelievers instead of providing deep, biblical food to undernourished members (Heb. 5:11-14)? Why is there fear of preaching and teaching clear scriptural admonitions for members to engage our hostile society, government, and political realms for Christπs glory? Why are men and women equipped to be godly spouses, workers, and evangelical but no further? If God be for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31-39)? How dare our spiritual leaders withdraw from the fight and leave us ill-equipped to face the world when all the promises of God are our inheritance. Since when does Godπs Word only apply to personal matters of faith and ignore the devastating carnage all around us for lack of truth and courageous godly influence? Our righteous fervor is dying — pray and work for it to be revived.

The second fight: Cleaning our homes. We have given ground to the ungodly for too long. Weπve allowed the Internet to bring pornography into our homes; weπve allowed TV, movies and music to pollute our minds with worldly philosophies and vulgar, immoral images. How can we give our children over to a godless government school system and expect them to thrive on their own? We go along to get along at work so that we wonπt risk our jobs or a promotion or what people will think of us. Weπve allowed the world to evangelize and corrupt us and our family instead of us influencing the world for good. Clean house — remove what is eating away at our spiritual health. Why are divorce, abortion and drug abuse so high amongst Christians? Why is there so little difference between many of us and the world? Itπs time we make a spiritual inventory of our lives and compare ourselves to the biblical standard weπre called to live by. If youπre life isnπt being challenged at your place of worship, find one that will shake you to your core so the light of your life and actions will shine bright.

The third fight: Pushing back. Itπs not enough to just defend ourselves and our family against the vile passions of an ungodly society. Are we going to wait until weπre outnumbered like Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah? We should be demanding reformation of government, we should be lobbying strongly for public schools to return to basics and no longer be indoctrination centers for every new immoral and bankrupt political and social cause. We should be studying, researching and learning how to apply conservative values throughout society and government that are wholesome and will benefit our children, families, marriages and our future. After all, objective research is on our side! We should be growing and mentoring the next generation of leaders for our schools, city governments, state and national offices. This applies to the next generation of pastors as well! If our spiritual leaders are unwilling or incapable of leading in this fight, theyπll answer before God. But remember, weπll also answer for how weπve invested our lives to the glory of Christ.

Where is the offense, the indignation, the revulsion towards those things that denigrate our faith and values? Why do we tolerate foul language or taking the name of the Lord in vain? Whereπs the indignation when public figures, newscasters, newspapers, movies, radio, fellow workers, and even neighbors denigrate our faith, values and Lord directly? Obviously, our response must be gentle and articulate, but firm. Doing nothing, however, only invites more boldness against us.

Let reformation begin in our churches, let us not tolerate any further degrading of our society and nation, and let us engage actively to turn back the wave of putrid evil that will do anything in its power to destroy the cause of Christ.

As someone has rightly asked: if we wonπt fight for righteousness, who will? If we wonπt stand up now, when will it be more convenient?

o

Frank Kacer is executive director of the Christian Citizenship Council of San Diego. He can be reached at frankkacer@hotmail.com.