RE: have we forgotten who the enemy is?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
> Behalf Of Terry M. Gray
> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 1:56 PM
> To: asa@calvin.edu
> Subject: Re: have we forgotten who the enemy is?
>
> I think that a close examination of church history and the history of
> missions will suggest that a generally theistic culture is favorable
> toward a *nominal* Christian faith and, consequently, to some extent
> unfavorable toward the true "counter-cultural" expressions of
> Christianity. Thus, to some degree, it is "easier" to be a Christian
> in an antagonistic environment because you must decide whose side
> you're on. This is one of the pluses of the secular university in my
> mind, you don't just get carried along by the prevailing culture, you
> have to choose to stand for Christ and that expresses itself in all
> sorts of ways: lifestyle choices, opinions, etc.

The command to be in the world but not of it has its own difficulties in any
societal circumstance. When the overall society or subculture is hostile
there is a tendency to overstress the antithesis. Take the greater hostility
of the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, Paul in Romans 13 instructed the
Christians to be subject to it. Thus, you have the dismay of your Christian
colleagues when you opposed ID at the CSU discussion group. For many people
you need to be for or against but a subtle combination of the two is too
difficult to fathom. It also requires a great deal of faith. We all want a
simple set of reductionistic rules but rather we are called merely to follow
Christ in faith. We each find ourselves in life situations where the degree
of hostility differs. Each situation has its challenges and its easiness.
Nonetheless, the answer is always the same: faith in Christ.
Received on Sat Feb 19 10:05:20 2005