It Is Time to Face Goliath and Win the Culture War
By STEVE WIKE

“We’re losing the battle. Let’s stop whining and get on with it.”

You know the cliche, “there’s something wrong with this picture”?

Well, there is something wrong with this picture – the one on my television every night. And it’s not the reception.

Right now, my television is delivering a clear picture of society. And it doesn’t look good.

The Culture War is going full strength. The Church is losing the battle. And like Goliath taunting the Israelites, Hollywood is daring the Church to send out it’s best to fight.

But rather than fight, many in the Church have caved in. We’re frustrated with the way society has gone, but we’re fearful and not sure we can change things. Like the Israelites taunted by Goliath, we hear the evil one threatening us:
* “If you join those right-wing conservatives, you’ll look stupid.” Well maybe it’s time we did look a little different than the rest of the world.
* “If you step out and take a stand, you’ll lose a lot of your constituents.” If we lose our followers and the income they might provide for our work, so be it. God promised that we would get back – in this life – 100-times whatever we give up for His Kingdom (Mark 10:29-30). And we’d gain eternal rewards as well.
* “If you fight, your sins will be exposed and everyone will know you’re just a hypocrite.” Well, confess your sins and forget your past. Sadly, you don’t have anything on the rest of us. Beth Moore is having a powerful affect on millions of people, and yet she has said she needed “to apologize to other people in ministry for lowering the bar of leadership criteria.” I agree with her completely. Without the grace of God – the totally undeserved favor of God – none of us would be where we are. (Some of us wouldn’t even be alive!)

The truth is, it’s time to stop whining and worrying and take action. Like David did with Goliath, it’s time we picked up a small stone and put it in our slingshot and went out to battle, regardless of our fears.

There was a time not long ago when I felt the only way to change society was to change hearts. My reasoning went something like this: “If we don’t have a full-blown revival from God, there’s no hope for our nation. He’s got to do it, or it will never happen.”

I even published a newsletter for almost ten years, dedicated to motivating and inspiring others to pray and seek God for revival. And I invested a couple of million dollars in it.

But you know what? He didn’t send revival.

Oh, He has done wonderful things. And I still love to hear when several thousand kids attend a Greg Laurie Harvest Crusade once a year. But then I realize there are millions of kids who are watching MTV every single day.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe God can and will send revival. We need to keep praying that He will pour out His lovingkindness, shower His grace and mercy on our world, and dramatically change us.

But for some reason He’s chosen not to do it right now. And I believe it’s because He’s waiting for us to get off our knees and do our part.

No, I don’t believe in salvation by works. I believe we’re saved by faith in God’s grace alone. But I have learned that God expects us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”

In spite of our fears of looking stupid, losing constituents and being exposed as sinners, we need to courageously go forward and fight the Culture War to WIN. Let’s risk it all and fight for a cause worth dying for – His Kingdom and His Righteousness. Let’s light a fire under ourselves and our constituents.

The Stone for Your Sling
We’ve all got our pet peeves. Mine is the media, and especially cable television. It’s delivering more and more of the wrong stuff into our homes: from biased news reporting to sensuous primetime programs, and from blatant homosexuality to anti-Christian commentary.

But finger-in-the-dike efforts aren’t working. Boycotting one or two companies that are advertising on a suggestive prime-time program isn’t having a lasting affect, and certainly hasn’t turned the tide in the Culture War.

I believe it was Chuck Swindoll who once said, “drastic situations take drastic action.” And things are drastic, so I’m suggesting we do something drastic.

Let’s have a real “Boston Tea Party” that will never be forgotten and force some change. Like the early American colonists, who despite their addiction to tea dumped it overboard, let’s fight our addictions and cancel cable TV – or at least drop back to basic cable.

Like any addiction, those of us who are news junkies, or love reality shows, or whatever, will have some short-term side affects. But the long-term affect will be well worth it: producers will be forced to shape up or ship out.

Think of cable like this: We know Christ is coming back for a pure, spotless bride. And as fathers, we wouldn’t want our daughter dating a Hell’s Angel. So why are we letting the whole gang park in our living rooms?

If you’ve got the courage to throw the bums out of your living room, pick up your telephone and call your cable company. Don’t wait ’til you’ve heard that it’s “caught on” around the world. Be one of the first. Take a big step on your own. And then forward this suggestion to other people who want to change the world.

It Is Time to Face Goliath and Win the Culture War. By STEVE WIKE.

This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”