Open War Is Upon You - Pt. 1

“Whether You Would Risk it Or Not”

The fight we’re already in

In Peter Jackson’s adaptation of “The Two Towers”, he captures an exchange between king Theoden of Rohan and the ranger and soon-to-be king of Gondor, Aragorn. Theoden is reluctant to lead his people into open war, but Aragorn sees what Theoden has not. In his stupor and under the spell of an evil wizard, Theoden has failed to see the truth…open war is already here.

This is the first article in a group of articles about Christian engagement in a hostile world. It has been adapted from a sermon I preached on the fly as our Pastor recovered from being attacked by a local satanist in the downtown of our rural town just outside of Kansas City, KS. I hope that in sharing this, you will be encouraged as was my hope in delivering it the first time.

Sight of Martyrs

Brothers and sisters, in the days we live in, it is easy for our souls to be wearied. The fight is exhausting and we return from our battles, our jobs, our schools, even our churches, battered and frayed. But our hope is in the Lord. Jesus is and remains King.

In Acts chapter seven, the first Christian Martyr, Stephen, finishes  preaching the truth of Christ into the darkness of the hearts of the people of his day and this is what happened.

"54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep." - Acts 7:54-60

We are quickly walking into a world where faithful Christians are, by necessity taking on a Stephen-like character to their ministry and daily life. Abolitionists on the front lines of the fight against the murder of children being falsely accused of crimes in order to silence them, their private businesses picketed, and attempts to drive them out of the towns they call home. Routine character assassinations come from both inside and outside of the church. Families implementing simple practices like family worship and biblical family structures are questioned at best, or put on the defense against accusations of misogyny, oppression, and hate.

Perhaps these things are a far cry from a public stoning, yet the persecution is real and the persecution grows. And because these are the problems of the church of today, the church of yesteryear forgot to ask the questions necessary to handle them. Because there was a relative peace, the church never planned for open war. “But open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not.” And as implied by our good friend Aragorn, open ware requires a response.

Engage The World

In part one of this series, we will look at our first response: Engage the World.

It's very common to hear Christians in the world today preach something that sounds very much like "Just don't involve yourself in anything." Whether it be politics, faith debates, or even just basic stances of right and wrong. This is a stance of "Who am I to judge?" or even more "Well that's the world so what say do I have?"

But we believe that Jesus rules over all of creation. We see that in the passage that I read earlier. When Stephen is being stoned and he looks up and sees Christ Jesus standing at the right hand of the throne of God the Father in heaven. To the first-century person, to say that someone is "at the right hand" of the Lord is to say that they have all authority and power even to judge all things. And we see Jesus claim this authority in his final instructions to the Apostles before his ascension into heaven, to that throne.

"And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

So even as Christ is giving the marching orders to the church, the marching orders which still apply to this day, He roots the reason for those orders in His authority. 

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore…"

The entire mission of the church, the very good news of the gospel, is that Jesus is King and everything he accomplished as such. And that has far-reaching implications in every area of life and to every person. And all of this because Jesus humbled himself to become a man and was obedient to the Father even to the point of death on a cross.

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:9-11

I even went KJV because a “shall” just felt right in this case. And this is where I think the church has gotten our understanding of the gospel a little wrong in recent years. We are not salespeople. We are not to go out into the world and sell fire insurance. We are ambassadors and heralds of King Jesus. We don't beg people to consider a dead savior, we are calling people to bend their knee to the King before He comes in judgment. And He will. We are called to proclaim the truth of not only of His salvation for those who repent and submit to Him, but His justice. And we seek to see that justice in the earth because . . . according to Jesus, He has all the authority here as well!

Part of that proclamation looks like doing the right things. It looks like speaking truth to evil. It looks like telling someone it's not appropriate to speak wicked, vulgar things to children. It just may look like putting your own body between evil people and those who are vulnerable, those who are innocent, and shielding them from the wickedness in the world.

In our passage earlier, Stephen the martyr was killed because he spoke the truth to a world that didn't want to hear it. My fear is that we've lost the courage to speak what is true and stand for what is right in the world because we don’t truly believe that Jesus has the authority, the power, or the victory that He bought by His own blood on the cross.

He expects us to tell the world. He expects us to speak the truth into the darkness. Not just of His redemption for us, but of His righteousness, His goodness, and holiness, and to push back the dark and profane when and where we can. The truth is that King Jesus has rights over all creation, seen and unseen, and this is the foundational principle from which all reality stems.