Several years back, while visiting Savannah, Georgia, with my family, we stumbled upon Colonial Park Cemetery, a resting place for some of the early citizens and patriots of Georgia. One of those famous men laid to rest within its borders was Archibald Bulloch, great-great-grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt. A fiery patriot who became President of the First and Second Provincial Congress in Georgia and delegate to the Constitutional Congress, Bulloch was praised by John Adams for his “abilities and fortitude.”
A historical marker bearing Bulloch’s words from his speech to Georgia’s Provincial Congress in June of 1776 not only caught my eye but bored its contents into my spirit in an unsettling manner. His words have risen to the surface of my heart time and again throughout the years. And always bring conviction.
“This is no time to talk of moderation; in the present instance it ceases to be a virtue.”
It is no exaggeration to say that words such as moderation and tolerance have become catch-phrases in our society. We are continually being told to accept things that grate against the very roots of this nation’s establishment and our consciences — all in the name of tolerance.
Moderation is to be used in approaching anything of a “questionable” political or moral nature. Truth has shifted from what is sure and certain to a trait relative to one’s own interpretation. It has not merely slipped from its governing position in weighing what is acceptable or not. It has jumped over the edge of reason, hellbent on crashing and burning at the bottom of this steep slope of dulling consciences.
And honestly, I’m just plain tired of it. I’m tired of being told I must be tolerant of things that war against morality and against the very commands of God. Yet, I must admit to speaking this truth with tongue in cheek.
Because as much as I despise being told by others what is right or wrong, I am the very one enforcing this spirit of moderation upon my own belief system.
I am the one who has allowed apathy to sneak into my faith life.
I’m the one who has tempered my beliefs, seldom implementing this dynamic power available to me through the gifting of His Holy Spirit burning within.
While I say I’m tired of this state of cradle-rocking whimsy, am I willing to be awakened enough to actually do something about it?
Am I willing to not just break this mind-numbing indifference but to take a stand against it, knowing it will cost me my much-coveted spiritual nap time?
Ouch! Stepping on my own toes can be an uncomfortable waltz, indeed.
Thankfully, no matter how much my tendency toward spiritual slumber, God continues to call me to awaken. Though I’m content to lie down among green pastures, He shakes my shoulders. Rousing me to the fact that I’m not resting in a secure place but trying to nap upon a battlefield.
This struggle between truth and relativism is a raging war between light and darkness, and I am here as a warrior, not as a spectator. It’s time to don the battle gear, beloved.
Now, I am not saying to pick up a sword and begin swinging haphazardly at anyone that comes into your peripheral. One must be wise in wielding such powerful weapons as we’ve been granted. And sadly, we Christians have become rather good at slicing arbitrarily into others with great finesse.
That’s why it is imperative we remember our battle is not against flesh and blood.
It is not a war between you and your detached spouse, or your defiant teenager, or your difficult in-laws, or your co-workers, or your political adversaries. The root of the strife runs deeper than human nature. It stretches into the heavenly realm between forces of demonic and angelic hosts, and we live caught in the crossfire.
While the battle rages, we sometimes forget just who it is we are fighting against.
And what we are fighting for.
And that truth and righteousness are more powerful weapons than all the lies that pile up against us.
We’ve allowed moderation to tempt us to believe that things just must be the way they are with no hope for change.
We’ve permitted the truth to slip from our grip, causing us to hang our weary heads and slide into a slumber of our own making. One that nods its approval at the apathy and ceases fighting for what is good and right.
After all, does it really make a difference what we do?
YES! The answer to that question is a resounding YES!
It does matter what we do.
It does matter how we live out our beliefs.
It does make a difference.
It makes a difference in our lives.
And in the lives of countless others who are inadvertently counting on us, waiting for us to fulfill our God-given purpose as it overlaps their own.
So what are we to do with this knowledge?
Wake up and start living your faith.
Begin applying the call to move forward in truth, rushing to meet the enemy head-on in battle rather than pretending there is no war being fought.
It’s time to rise to meet the challenges before us. (Ironically, the best stance to do that is on our knees.)
To equip ourselves and ready ourselves with a power that comes from He Who is Greater than all else.
It’s time to tear down strongholds of distorted thinking in our own lives and raise the standard of Jesus to its rightful place.
It’s time to reclaim and occupy territory long overrun by the prince of this earth. And that generally begins on the battlefield of our thought-life.
It’s time to cease acting with insecurity, tempering each call toward faith with the moderation of our own rationale.
Since when has true faith ever looked rational to human logic anyway?
Today, I’m challenging myself (and you if you’re prone toward the same spiritual slumber) to respond with faith to the following words from Matt Redman’s song The Awesome God You Are:
Let Your Majesty speak peace to me and chase my fears away.
To my heart, I preach Your sovereignty and the power of Your name.
I’ll stand in awe of You alone.
God, let hope arise and faith become the fortress of my heart.
I will lift my eyes and see You as the awesome God You are.
Believe You as the awesome God You are.
(emphasis mine)
I consider this to be a sermon to my own heart as I preach God’s sovereignty and power over my life. In this meek attempt to change, I pray I am also challenging those who struggle along with me. May we begin to implement the very beliefs we proclaim as truth.
May your hearts be filled with the assurance of God’s love and power at work in you, dear friends, and may you rise to the call of moving mountains with the seed of faith that you have.
It is enough because He has deemed it so.
Let’s cast aside this temptation to live a “moderate faith” in Jesus Christ.
In the present instance, it ceases to be a virtue.
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FOR REFLECTION
It can be hard to own our faith (or the lack thereof). But it is beyond time for Christians to rise up and begin living the truth we profess to believe. To honor God and be thankful for the measure of grace and justice He holds in complete and total balance. And to let it show by the way we live.
In the words of Francis Chan:
The world needs Christians who don’t tolerate the complacency of their own lives.
It’s not enough to love Jesus and remain silent. We must stand for righteousness and live with integrity in a world that does not.
What one thing will you do this week to raise the standard of truth in your circle of influence?