A renewed call to Church and family loyalty
Throughout history, what made nations survive was strong family loyalties and strong family values. When family loyalty diminished and values deteriorated, nations began to crumble.
We are seeing today the crumbling of the spiritual and moral foundations of Western culture. Aggressive secularism, persistent paganism, and technological tyranny have banded together for the abolition of all traditional institutions, especially the Church and the family. The disintegration of moral values is in high gear.
While the answer to our moral malaise is complex, one thing is evident: We need a renaissance of family and church loyalty.
Not the kind that results in religious wars and clan feuds, but a renewal of what it means really to belong somewhere and to something.
Finding a religious belonging
The current cultural interest in ambiguous spirituality tends to be a private individualistic quest for experiential religion devoid of biblical or theological content. Creedal loyalty and church fidelity are maligned in many publications as ecclesiastic relics, best left ignored or archived in a museum.
Being loyal to the faith received is a part of what it means to be a biblical Christian. Click To TweetIndeed, it is not uncommon to hear, even from evangelicals, that Christ does not have all the answers. Such lack of loyalty has a devastating effect on the Church’s mission in the world, let alone the responsibility of Christian parents to hand on the truth of the gospel to their children.
Being loyal to the faith received is a part of what it means to be a biblical Christian.
When I was growing up, there was this freckled-faced, redheaded, pug nosed, bucked-toothed bully who took great delight in beating me up everyday. Day after day, in the fifth grade, I came home from school, bawling like a baby, with swollen lips and a bleeding nose.
My father, a preacher, was a pacifist for the most part. He didn’t believe in fighting. But one day, he had cleaned my nose once too often. He said, “Garry, listen to me. The next time, you stand up to him, or else when you get home I’ll give you something to really cry about.” In his own way he was trying to teach me to stand up and be a man.
Well, the very next day, the young Philistine informed me at recess that, after school, I was due for deep therapy. Sure enough, confirming my worst fears, he and his buddies caught up with me on the way home.
He then began to perform his particular ministry of the laying on of hands. Mustering all the courage I could, I said: “My Dad told me to stand up to you. So you better leave me alone.” He just laughed and with a sneer, instead of backing off, he just went ahead and cursed on my mother.
Now, what happened next probably shouldn’t be told in a Christian paper! But, suddenly, it was like I ran into a phone booth and changed clothes. All the family loyalty came bursting out. I jumped up on a nearby rock and somewhere between the time I struck him and the time he struck the ground God did a wonderful work in his life! Today he is a church board member!
A call to loyalty
Some things are worth fighting for. Family loyalty, whether in the natural or the spiritual, is a virtue, not a vice. This is not a call to sectarianism. This is not a call for denominational rivalry. This is not a call to create a militant branch of Christianity. I’m not a militant Pentecostal. It is a call to loyalty.
We need a firm loyalty to Christ and the gospel. Some have let the ungodly badmouth their Christian convictions and haven’t said a single word. Others have been pressured into silence by the cultural ideology that there are many ways to heaven.
Many Christians have lost their evangelistic potency and are afraid to stand up for Jesus. Wearing a tee shirt or posting the latest religious meme on Facebook won’t do it.
The world doesn’t care how many Christian tunes we know or how many worship concerts we attend. It will only be impressed by the impact of transformed lives that reflect the values of the kingdom of God.
If we are to see a national revival, we must be ever hopeful about the ultimate triumph of God’s kingdom. We must be ever focused on forsaking all and following Jesus.
It is time again for a call to radical discipleship, total commitment, uncompromised convictions, and absolute loyalty to Christ.
Can I hear a good Amen?
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