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Faith apart from works is useless. James 2:20
D.L. MOODY
You may very often see dead fish floating with the stream, but you never saw dead fish swimming against it. Well, such a fish is a false believer. Profession is just floating down the stream, but confession is swimming against it, no matter how strong the tide.
ERWIN LUTZER
I like Moody’s phrase, “profession is floating down the stream, confession is swimming against it.” Confessing Christ as Lord brings with it a transformation of the heart, a transformation of values. We begin to hate what we once loved and love what we once hated.
Yet the cultural currents are swirling around us. Solzhenitsyn recounts a chilling tale from Russia: A deputy’s fervent praise of Stalin led to a standing ovation that went on for minutes without end. After a factory director dared to sit after eleven long minutes, he was imprisoned for a decade. Solzhenitsyn’s point? Freedom dies with “thunderous applause.”
We cannot go along with the cultural currents that conflict with our Christian convictions—especially if evil is accepted and applauded. We need heroes who are willing to stand against the culture. Just because you are under pressure does not mean you should ever violate your conscience. The Bible says, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
Churches need to stand against the current of society, even if we become known as counter-cultural for what we stand for.
Let us be faithful to our conscience and to the Word of God, swimming against the stream of the sins and confusion of our culture.
PRAYER
Father, I seek not just profession but confession, with my faith firmly rooted in you.REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How do we practically discern the line between an inconvenient cultural compromise and a genuine violation of Christian conscience?What does a church look like that successfully stands against societal sins without losing its gospel witness and love for the lost?