The Bible is full of stories of people who accomplished mighty things through their commitment to a cause and God’s power working in them. Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David–to say nothing of a handful of Galilean fishermen–turned their worlds “upside down.” Often their world was controlled by a great foe, such as mighty Egypt or the Roman Empire.
Sadly, the most that many Western Christians can accomplish today is to join a big stadium filled with screaming young people listening to upbeat music. When the music stops, they go back to their pampered lifestyles and whine about what they’re not getting from life.
Of course, there are some exceptional young Christians who seek God and His will with all of their hearts. They genuinely want to make a difference in the world. But for the most part, Western Christians lack a total commitment and a definable strategy to turn the world upside down as our Christian forbears did.
In the meantime, however, anti-biblical forces have taken the “change the world” baton from most Christians. But not only have they taken it, they are using it to beat Christians on the head, sending them scurrying in fear and intimidation.
For example, look at what a handful of LGBT college students have done in many Christian colleges. According to a recent article in The Atlantic, this small group has managed to radically change evangelical colleges across the country—colleges with a collective student body of more than 400,000. Through intimidation, they have managed to eviscerate the biblical principles upon which those schools were founded and funded.
Take the case of Gordon College in Massachusetts, which was founded by A.J. Gordon to train college students in understanding and underscoring the authority of God’s Word. Gordon College’s slogan has been: “Freedom within a framework of faith,” meaning that faith in Christ provides the power for freedom over sin.
But now a small student LGBT lobby has managed to persuade other students and some faculty members that they need not seek freedom over the sin of homosexuality.
And like all homosexual lobbyists, they have a powerful ally in the White House. President Obama may not possess the power of God, but he possesses great worldly power nonetheless.
Obama recently signed an executive order that forbids any federal contractor from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Gordon’s president, D. Michael Lindsay, hoping to protect the school’s religious freedom, joined other evangelical leaders in sending a letter to President Obama asking for an exemption to the order. But following the letter’s publication, voices from both outside and inside Gordon vehemently opposed the college president’s actions, branding the college and him as supporters of discrimination.
So now student LGBT lobbyists feel empowered. Although committed Christians in the past relied entirely on God’s power, today’s anti-biblical minority power is dependent on powerful people, such as President Obama.
As Christians, we need to reclaim our rightful supernatural strength by relying on the supernatural power of our Redeemer. Through Him we can bring the masses back to God and His ideals, including the ideal of sexuality belonging exclusively to a heterosexual marriage.
To do that, we must learn that God desires conduits who not only courageously buck the system and call sin sin, but who also completely depend on God to fight the public-relations battle.
Many modern Christians don’t fear God. Instead they fear that their image will be tarnished by being labeled as haters and bigots. Make no mistake about it, the anti-biblical forces are banking on that aversion to being scandalized for the sake of Christ.
For biblical Christianity to survive in the West, there can be no avoiding a full commitment. We must lose the fear of bearing the marks of Christ.
Michael Youssef, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, a worldwide ministry that leads the way for people living in spiritual darkness to discover the light of Christ through the creative use of media and on-the-ground ministry teams. Youssef was born in Egypt.
