We are now two weeks past the election (though some ballots are still being counted, as suspicious as this must seem to sensible people), and those of us who are concerned for the moral fiber of our nation have once again been shocked to discover that majorities in several states count “freedom of choice” more important than the life of a full-term baby. And our Congress is set to further destroy the definition of marriage codifying what prior generations rightly called, sodomy—after the behavior of those inhabitants whose city the Almighty overthrew long ago (Genesis 18:22-19:29; Jude 7).
So what are Christians to make of this? How are we to understand this and respond? Well, we are reminded once again that this is a broken and sinful world—a place which is not our home. And thank God! This is why the Apostle Peter calls us “elect exiles” dispersed throughout the world (1 Peter 1:1). And this title we must embrace if we are to protect ourselves from becoming too familiar with the ways of world. We shall always be a minority before our Lord returns (Matthew 7:13-14). Indeed, God’s people are a minority from Genesis to Revelation and throughout Church history. Furthermore, we must remember that the “sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8). In other words, in this world, we tend to lose—if “lose” is defined as pagans getting their way more often than not.
And why is this? Why do pagans embrace the lies of “reproductive freedom,” which is only a cover for sexual immorality and the slavery which comes with it? Because this world is their home; it’s all they have. And when something is all you have, you cherish it above all things, you embrace falsehoods wherein the promise of salvation lies, and thereby cling tooth and nail to the trinkets the world bestows. It’s the natural impulse of unregenerate man.
“But it’s so unfair!” Yes, for them. But it is a world they gladly choose and a way of life they gladly embrace. In moments of deeper reflection, they will admit something is wrong with themselves. But in the end, they return to wallowing in the mire since it seems to them a well-watered garden. They must have sex even to the murder of its natural fruit, and they must have unnatural sex even to the ruin of their bodies. And it all leads to the eternal destruction of their souls.
“But they call us, ‘Semi-Nazis, Deplorables, uneducated buffoons clinging to guns and their religion.” Yes. And they called the early Christians incestuous, cannibals, and atheists. This is the way the world’s minions demonize those who disagree with them, especially when it concerns matters the world deems sacrosanct. The West has worked long and hard over more than two centuries to free sex from the confines of husband and wife in the lifelong covenant of marriage. They’ve succeeded and are not about to let that go. Thus, we must endure the puerile behavior of a President screaming epithets at us across the playground. We are called a threat to democracy for speaking on behalf of the unborn, upholding the biblical and natural family, championing religious liberty (funny, liberals used to care about that as well), advocating for fair elections, and for a border that allows the most vulnerable to enter while shielding the population from the most dangerous. Meanwhile, justices are harassed against the law and churches and crisis pregnancy centers are vandalized with impunity. Such lawlessness is the measure of their resolve.
Indeed, such venomous accusations, and in some quarters persecution, is actually proof of our calling. And it will only get worse. So we must: 1) Embrace our status in this world as pilgrims and sojourners; 2) Understand that the world is merely behaving as the world behaves; 3) Pray for the strengthening of the Church as pagans grow angrier and more hostile; 4) Pray for those Christians who have been fooled by the world into embracing its values thereby jeopardizing their salvation; and finally, 5) Trust God to bring us through these dark times. Many will be threatened with compromise and harassed, many will lose their jobs, some will forfeit their goods to rapacious courts, some will lose custody of their children, and perhaps in the not-too-distant future some will perish. But we must remember that our patrimony is in heaven, and the sufferings here are a mere trifle to the glory that shall one day be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). So look up, dear Christian; Your redemption draweth nigh.
