Opportunity knocks
How shall we shine the light of Christ? That's always the challenge, but perhaps the choices have never been so stark. Our world is not pagan. Paganism is something we can deal with. The African church is thriving, as it shines the light in the darkness of witch doctors and assorted evil spirits. But our culture is beyond paganism. It is not only post-Christian; it's virulently anti-Christian, and along with a prosperity that makes madness possible, it is anti-nature, anti-male, anti-female, anti-children, and, in short, anti-human.
So what should we do? For starters, we need to see the world for what it is: the enemy of Christ. The world will hate you, Christ says. You will be hated by everyone, yes, everyone, because of me, Christ says. Even more so now as the time grows short. Perhaps we might think it's enough to defend, but what's left to defend? Girls sports? Ok. But what does it mean when you play along with the idea that Olympian Jenner is a woman? Social Emotional Learning and Critical Race Theory and all the rest of the indoctrination has taken over our public schools, which seem beyond redemption. But what then of our church schools at every level? Is it enough to say, well, some good things are happening there?
Why not instead say that in our schools, we will only teach the truth, that we will not be places where the lie has a home? There is a reason people are sending their kids to Hillsdale. There's a reason homeschooling has skyrocketed in popularity. We are no longer living in a time where we can make the best of things, where a little spring cleaning can make the house habitable. It's a deep rot that has set in, a dangerous mold.
We don't need schools where Christians are tolerated if they remain relatively quiet. We need to raise our children up in the Christian faith. We can no longer pretend that we are sending our kids to be little evangelists in a secular world, when in fact it's just tossing our little lambs to be feasted on by the wolves.
So what's left for us to do? Be Christian in every way. Stop pretending as if the world can be won over by a charm offensive or by being inoffensive. Stop apologizing and saying things like we can do better. We have the word that alone brings life, so we should act like it. Every professor at our school should be Christian and should renounce the devil, and the world, and, now, the world of Critical Theory and the Rainbow Pride. It's not enough to have Christian schools where good things happen. Instead, true goodness and truth should be the charter and hallmark of all we do.
The Left has been successful in taking over our institutions, and Christian schools are now on the brink. In such times, halfway measures are no good. There is no good to be had saving an institution for the sake of the institution. The cancer is far too widely spread. So, what, again shall we do? Be more Christian, not less. Be more Lutheran, not less. See the world for what it is, and what it has become, and save your family from it. Save your friends from it. And save your neighbors from it. How? Not by pandering, nor by apologizing for being who you are.
As a rule of thumb, the more difficult it is to speak a particular truth, the more important it is for you to speak that truth. The Church is under an incredible assault, but perhaps never has the opportunity been greater. The question is whether we wish to take it, whether we want to be salt, or whether we'll just mark time, leaving nothing but ruins for those who follow in our footsteps.
The Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer is chairman and professor of Exegetical Theology and director of the M.A. program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
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