The Sleeper Must Awaken

"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."  

-Romans 13:8-14 ESV

          Everywhere we look, darkness infiltrates society. This is not news to anyone. We see it every time we turn on the news. We're browbeaten with it in movies and on television. The depravity of mankind is permeating the world. As Christians we ask ourselves "Why? Why is this happening? Where is the good in society?" We cry out in desperation, but the simple truth is that we have lost something very important. We have lost our boldness. We claim that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but by the same token we hesitate to stand up for him when we see him run down in the media, or even in the public square. We sit back and let the world call us intolerant, as if that was a pariah. In short, we have let our fear of being shunned by the world make us ineffective. 

           This is no new thing. Fear has paralyzed Christendom for decades now. Christians are afraid to speak against what they know is wrong, simply because they do not want to look bad to the world. It's strange that this tendency is also part and parcel of why the world doesn't like us to begin with. They call us hypocrites, and worse yet, they are not wrong! We profess to believe in something that we are unwilling to defend. That is not belief. It is hypocrisy, and I am just as guilty of it as anyone else I could name. When have I been any different? 

          This is what the sovereign Lord says, "The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now that when we first believed." As Christians, this is our wake up call, and it came from the mouth and the pen of the Apostle Paul in the first century. We have hit the snooze bar long enough, I think. The bride of Christ has slept overlong, and it is time for this giant to stand on its feet and say enough is enough. "I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more!" (Words of the great teacher Popeye).

          Christ himself told us in the tenth chapter of the book of Matthew, "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father in heaven." (Matt 10: 32 & 33 ESV) Every time we stand by and allow someone to tell us that we are being intolerant, we are allowing them to slander our savior, and therefore denying Christ. When we engage in hypocrisy, because it's convenient, we are denying Christ. When we stand by, and let the world tell us we are wrong for pursuing righteousness, we are denying Christ. Yet still, we expect him to honor the requests we pile at his feet as if they were free prize claim tickets. 

          We bear the name Christian in the same way that I bear the name of my father here on Earth. I wear the name Brown everywhere I go, and I wear it proudly. I came from a family that did things the right way. My parents raised three respectful, and now respectable children. My older siblings were ARE fine examples of Christ to me and to their children. I am proud to be a Brown. Still, as fine a man as my father was, Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, is better. He was and is perfect. How can I not be proud to bear his name everywhere I go? 

          History tells a tale of Alexander the Great, who one day decided to preside over the military court under his rule. A young man is said to have been brought in for dereliction of duty. After hearing both sides of the argument, the evidence clearly demonstrated the young man's guilt, and the great conqueror asked the young man his name. The young man gave a slightly embarrassed smile and replied "Alexander, sir." With a stern expression, Alexander the Great replied to the young soldier, "Then change your name, or change your attitude." We call ourselves Christians, which in Greek meant little Christs. It was meant as a derisive term, but we made it a badge of honor. Now we take it for granted. It is time for us to wake up, and either change our name or our attitude. 

          All is not lost. History also tells us of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, of the Empire of Japan. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he wrote in his journal this famous statement. "I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." His fears were proven true over the next four years. Christendom is even now a sleeping giant, but the alarm has sounded. The time has come for us to awaken, and be filled with a terrible resolve. A resolve to stand firm for our beliefs. A resolve to show the world that our intolerance is the intolerance that a fireman has for fire. The desire to protect, and keep safe from harm. The resolve to show the world that the road down which it hurls itself seems right to man, but in the end leads to destruction. The resolve to earn the name we wear.