We Are in Enemy Territory

Tuesday night was a rough night. And I believe things are going to only get rougher from here on out for a while. Tuesday night reminded me that we live in enemy territory. I think sometimes we forget that. The world is fallen. And we've fashioned a fallen man-made empire from the shards.

How fallen we all are is evident every day in the cruel way people treat each other, the way babies are aborted, the way so many marriages end in casual cruelty.

I think many Christians feel like we're losing ground. Abortion on demand, same sex "marriage," and restrictions on religious freedom weigh heavily on our minds and we fear we've squandered a grand inheritance from our forefathers. I believe we have. But here's the thing though - I don't think we were ever winning. Christians have always been called to battle against larger forces.

We are called not to rule but as CS Lewis said, to sabotage. We are not promised earthly victory. We are simply called to battle.

Abortion, marriage, and defending life at all stages. Those are the battles that we are fighting right now. Those are the battles that need to be fought now. As Christians, we have promised to fight, we have not been promised a victory here. And while things may seem hopeless at times, it is because we're putting hope in the wrong things. Tolkien wrote:       “I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”       Defending the unborn and defending traditional marriage are things I'm glad to fight for. And when I die I think I'll feel glad of my efforts. Others can defend how they thought preventing Republicans from slowing the rate of the growth of the budget 2% outweighed all the other issues.

I feel that I am on the right side of the battles that define my time. I feel that while I worry about the state of man, my eye is on the prize of eternal salvation. I feel that it is up to my family and me to act as lights in the darkness.

My main priority is to act in a forgiving manner to those who've done me wrong. To acknowledge my marriage as sacred, not only when I'm with my wife but everywhere. To love my children and accept them as blessings. To treat each and every person I meet not as a means to an end but a soul worthy of love. That's what I can do.

If this culture is to be saved, it won't be through legislation. You can legislate the destruction of a culture but you can't legislate the creation of one. For that, you need believers. And I know that as the ever expanding darkness spreads, the light of Christians will shine brighter. And some will come towards that light. And in such ways are cultures reborn.