Are Christians Too Nice? Why Christians need to stop being wimps

In a piece over at Fox News, Larry Alex Taunton argued that evangelicals “need to stop being wimps.” (A glance at the URL suggests that the writer’s original title may have been a bit saltier.) Taunton makes a vividly argued case.

As an example of wimpiness, he adduces Barnabas Piper, famous for being the son of John Piper. Writing at WORLD, Piper reassured the world that he’d not eat at Chick-fil-A to support a fellow-believer targeted by “gay agenda” activists et al for the compounded crimes of (a) being a Christian (b) out-loud and (c) in public. Piper was very concerned about being perceived as “divisive” – by the sorts of folks who do all they can to muzzle Christians like Dan Cathy (and Barronelle Stutzman, Aaron and Melissa Klein, and others), and to drive them out of the public arena and out of business. Piper suggested that publicly and materially supporting a brother persecuted for his faith would not serve “the Kingdom of God.”

Taunton is incredulous at Piper’s rationale and argues at length that it’s symptomatic of a growing evangelical disdain for meaningfully opposing evil, displaying the emasculation C. S. Lewis warned against decades ago. Evangelicals must be willing to fight, to push back against evil cultural influences, in the light of prevalent blasphemies, abortion, sexual degradation, and increasing hostility towards Christians. We may have the “do not sin” part of Ephesians 4:26 down pat, but we’re failing to observe the first two words: “Be angry.”

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Is Taunton right? Do I agree? Mostly yes, kinda no.

I have long observed that an alarming swath of public evangelicals seems to be driven by a consuming desire to be liked by the world.

Now, that is my characterization, not theirs. To their minds, they are trying to be good representatives of Jesus. They are focusing on “kingdom” issues. They eschew evangelicalism’s past mistakes of tying itself to various moralistic fads such as outlawing alcohol or opposing nylons and lipstick. They want to be sure that unbelievers know that they love them, that the GOP is not the Kingdom of God. They want to be seen as scholarly, cautious, nuanced, careful, measured, and helpful. They shrink from the thought of being seen as dogmatic, triumphalistic, or narrow.

Are those bad motivations? As stated and as far as they go, most of them are not.

However, I’ve come to fear that they mask fatal flaws. For starters, these sorts are willing to let their motivations be judged and dictated by the reactions of unbelievers.

Beyond doubt, we Christians want (or should want) to make Jesus and His Gospel the central issue. As I argued at book-length, it is the Gospel alone that identifies, targets, and solves our real and deepest miseries and brokenness and wrongs. Success in persuading unconverted pagans to become moral pagans is failure. True, it would make for a better life for them and society in the short run; but Hell will be eternally full to the brim with unredeemed moralists.

Yet are the evaluations, responses, emotions, and words of the lost our best gauges? Let’s see:

Christ and His Gospel sound like the very soul of stupidity (1 Cor. 1:18, 22-23) and smell like death to them (2 Cor. 2:15-16).

Yet – and here, I think, is the marrow of the issue – some of us really do want them to like and respect us. Whatever they think of God.

See, that’s a problem. James warns that the spirit of yearning to be friends with the world is a spirit of adultery and hostility toward God (James 4:4). The more faithful we are toward our Lord, the more likely the world is to hate us and want to silence us permanently (2 Tim. 3:12). Is that startling to hear? It isn’t said much, but it should be. In fact, I seem to recall the warning that the world’s applause and approval is generally a really bad thing to the faithful disciple (Luke 6:26; 16:15).

So I should expect that the world will, much of the time, hate Christians who are unapologetic, unwavering, bold, outspoken believers. I should expect it to mock us, try to discredit us, seek to silence us. I should never take my clues from such reactions (real or anticipated), but instead focus on believing, trusting, obeying, and seeking to please and glorify God (Deut. 6:5; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 1:9-10).

All that said, when the world hates me, I do want it to hate me for the right reasons. I don’t want it to hate me for actually being a jerk, a big mouth without a heart to show love or hands to serve.

Yet even there, my first love and service (God says) should be to the family of God (Gal. 6:10). And when they are persecuted by Christ-haunted haters, I should show believers sympathy and support, even if it means that I share the hatred and abuse they’re experiencing (Heb. 10:32-34; 12:3-4; 13:3). And I must testify to the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone.

That’s serving the Kingdom, God’s way.

How can we put that all together and apply it to the matter at hand? Let me break it down:

1. Biblically faithful Christians should not expect to be liked and respected by a world that hates and despises our Lord.

2. Biblically faithful Christian should not want to be liked and respected by such a world.

3. We should testify to the Gospel of Christ at all times and in all circumstances, expecting to be hated for it apart from a work of God’s sovereign grace.

4. We should take our cues from God and His word, and not from those who hate and despise both.

And, finally:

5. When the world tells us we’re doing it wrong, we should just figure it must be another day ending in “y.”

Old Law: any group that requires people to make purchases to become good members of the group.

New Law: the Lord’s group that requires people to make a commitment to the sacraments to become good members.

And neither law saves.

No law that man established and put in place of the old law can save any more than the old law could save.

Salvation isn't about becoming a member of a group by jumping through the right hoops.

Law doesn't save. Sacraments don't save.

Jesus saves and commitment to Him is the only way that happens.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Niceness has replaced Charity: the ruthless Love that someone like C. S. Lewis well understood.

Niceness is a Gateway Heresy to any and all other heresies.

Niceness is why I am no longer in ministry:

I was told by a long-time (now former) friend and minister that I was “judgmental and self-righteous” - and why was that?

It was because I demanded that my fellow staff, in the church where I served in a subordinate position, do something about an abusive husband in the congregation specifically, and about sexual immorality in the congregation generally, and risk losing parishioners, or even a civil lawsuit, in order to hold true to our First Love.

They refused. I acted. I lost my place there, but at least one abused woman was partially succored.

Niceness is shallow. Niceness is selfish. Niceness is carnal.

This is one more reason of what seems like a million.

Satan, through the world, attacks on a million fronts, but with the same method, worldliness.

Here’s another of the million reasons: the church and Christianity are caught up in being businesses in our part of the world. Businesses are like machinery, money-making machinery, often providing upper middle class jobs and success today while churning out Christian “products.”

And we come under the pressure of being ever less independent, and more and more “interdependent” and even dependent, most especially on those with worldly power, for jobs, or financial opportunities.

Attacked on a million fronts, we’re all more tempted and differently, and coming up with very much true unity is more and more difficult. Any application of Scripture is going to offend some people. On the other hand, because our worldly society is so individualistic and spiritually dark, and Christians are affected by it, we’re all at very different points in our understanding of God. Satan through the devices of this world is doing everything he can to widen the gap between the people of this time and place and God, and he seems to be succeeding in that more and more all the time.

Satan has made significant inroads on just about every of those million fronts in his war against those who have faith in Christ. Like the church has disappeared elsewhere in the world in different times, it could just about disappear here. Satan through the world has provided a million distractions, too, to take up people’s time and resources, to scatter the church in all directions after all sorts of worldly pursuits and concerns, to scatter us not only physically but also in heart, soul and mind, so Christians don’t come together to help each other fight Satan on those million fronts. There are many Christians at each of them, but without helping each other, believers get overrun. Satan is at war with us, but we aren’t on war footing. We start to think the war Satan is waging is to deprive us of worldly success, happiness, and our lives here, when it’s still to weaken and destroy our faith, and deprive people of eternal life.

God’s Word tells us we are to be ambassadors for Him, as we come from a different country not of this world, but when the world is defeating the church so much, and assimilating the church so much, including so many Christians, then it is time it seems to turn to God for correction on how we are to be ambassadors.

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