I hear this question raised too many times:

“Why do people who call themselves Christians rarely find the courage to act upon that conviction when they’re challenged on a personal level?”

One could argue, of course, that there’s more than one reason.  But, asking another question might easily explain why there’s usually just one reason.

For example, why will people who call themselves die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fans fight to the death to defend the reputation of a particular player or the team?  Because, aside from the money they spend on team paraphernalia and season tickets, it doesn’t cost them anything to do it.

That’s not to say passionate pursuits aren’t without emotional forfeiture from time to time, but the ones which could really cost us, we tend to avoid, and being a die-hard faithful disciple of Jesus Christ isn’t cheap.

Think about it.

Our congregations are stocked with principled, faithful members, many of which fearlessly defend unborn children, the Biblical institution of marriage and the authority of a moral system of governance.

However, embedded in these bastions of Christian fellowship are bargain-hunters looking for a discount on the price of inevitable conflict. They seek challenges to confirm their faith by responding solely to the charitable needs of the Body of Christ—good works which are indeed critical, but demand little expenditure of defensive, emotional capital.

But they don’t have to look far.  

The Great Deceiver sits among them in the pews, passing out the coupons. And he has the ability to convince them that any formidable resistance in the face of evil is a high-risk enterprise, and that simply being a nice guy and doing nice things is all that’s necessary to do the Lord’s work effectively.

Sin has the power to persuade me to stay in my comfort zone.  And I can testify from personal experience that an immature disciple is an easy target for this type of emotional manipulation. Hence, the otherwise virile man is rendered silent in the face of evil.  But that doesn’t mean he’s capitulated to its ideology.

Oh no, he really does hate it. He’s just decided that the price of acting to stop its advance is too costly.

And, on the basis of that high expense, he somehow justifies his decision, even though  “…any decision Jesus Christ’s disciple makes not to stand up in the face of evil is an open denial of our Lord’s authority to accomplish an effective line of resistance through the actions of that disciple.”  

[Read how this is happening today:  Are We a Body of Cowards?]

The reality is that, even though He could accomplish anything by His own devices, God clearly uses men and women He’s called to help prosecute and defend His divine plan for the ages.  [see: Titus 2:11-14]

So, I have to ask myself:  If I consider His expectations for me not to be worth the cost, I wonder how He‘s gonna’ consider mine when He returns?

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.  God will not hold us guiltless.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act.”  —Dietrich Bonhoeffer