Recently, a Canadian newspaper posted the headline: “We are living in a country where you daren’t be anything but gay-friendly.” Lobbyists for a gender-free-for-all have moved from seeking freedom, to being left alone, to demanding positive engagement by all. These days, those who don’t embrace the full spectrum of gay and transgender life are often silenced.
Weekly news reports cite incidents of Christians who have been censured for failing to align themselves with the gay agenda. Diabolical world-wide forces are at work demanding full endorsement of the LGBTQ agenda from all government staff and their citizens. In many quarters the “right” to object to their philosophies and practices is not a right, but a mark of intolerance and sufficient reason to deny positions of employment and participation in public life.
Let it be pointed out that, while it is a crime to break the law of the land, it is not a crime in democratic countries to speak against government laws, nor to work toward changing them. A politician has no right to expect all citizens to adopt all of his or her personal views no matter how sacredly or dearly he or she holds them. Yet this is what is happening through government agendas today. So, what are Christians to do in these times of deepening hostility to Christ and His truth?
Remember that the Lord warned His disciples of opposition from the world. He said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The apostle Paul also warned, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12-13).
So, we must not think it strange that the world will push its ungodly agendas while they are intolerant of the godly. Today, the Christian is called to patiently endure scorn from the world, because he or she chooses Christ, as opposed to courting the favour of men.
We can no longer rest on the assets of a Christian heritage. Sadly, the tables have been completely turned so that the heritage of truth and righteousness is looked upon with disdain. The Bible warns, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Social norms have been turned upside down.
Christians must urgently labour to sow the gospel in the world. The hour is coming when no man can work. Doors of opportunity will close. Children especially need to be taught the gospel and be grounded in the faith, lest they fall prey to the wicked agendas of the ungodly. Fathers and mothers must not waste the valuable years of childhood to fortify their sons and daughters with God’s truth. Children need to learn what is good and what is evil in God’s sight. If Christians don’t teach their children, the devil will. Each day’s efforts to instruct children in the truth is another faithful step toward, “pulling them out of the fire.”
As society sinks further into the sea of sin, Christians must stand firm on the Scriptures of truth. We need to lay hold upon God’s law as the rule of life. The ten commandments, which are the summary of God’s moral law, are the bedrock of our faith and practice, so they need to be firmly fixed in our minds and hearts. Today, the chasm between God’s law and the immoral social agenda of the modern man is deeper and wider than at any time since the first century. Yet we can be encouraged that in the first century, Christianity grew out of paganism amidst moral corruption and horrible persecution. This is a tribute to the power of the gospel and a beacon of hope for us today.
Christians should highly regard the ministry of the local church as a place of refuge. Your workplace may be a place of grief to your soul, but your church will be an Elim to your soul. Christians need to stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow believers who are warring a good warfare and fighting the good fight of faith. Then the church will be a place of refreshment to the world-weary saint, and totally unlike the world. Believers will happily enjoy the safety of fellowshipping with like-minded and heavenly-minded people.