The Courage to Resist Conformity

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
01/15/06 - Sunday Morning

Courage

It was not until the early 17^th century that the English word “courage” became narrowed down in application to “bravery”. Buried beneath the English “courage” is the Latin word “cor” which means “heart”. In like manner, I want to remove some modern myths about courage in the search for the real thing.

It is not an absence of fear

The idea that the true hero is not afraid of anything is naïve, actually the person who is not afraid of anything is naïve, “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naïve go on, and are punished for it” (Proverbs 22:3); “The prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naïve proceed and pay the penalty” (27:12). Courage is not an absence of fear; rather, it is being afraid and yet continuing to do the right thing in spite of the cost. Jesus endured agony in the garden, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44), yet He still proceeded to face the torture of the cross and die for our sins.

It is not pure optimism

Some people act courageous because they have mentally convinced themselves that they know the outcome or that nothing bad can happen to them. Instead I admire the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These three men refused to bow down and worship the image constructed by the king of Babylon, even though they had no assurance that God would protect them from the fiery furnace. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

When nothing seems to be happening

Often it is hardest to remain courageous when it seems that nothing is being done to change our difficult circumstance, and when we are able to see no light at the end of the tunnel. “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:13-14). The big danger when nothing is happening is to make the wrong thing happen (1 Samuel 13:8-10). The devil can use such periods, but he also fears them, because during such periods a man or woman can develop into the sort of creature that God wants them to be even more than during “peak” periods. “Hence prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best” (Screwtape Letters).

When the glamour is gone

Even though Hollywood often portrays the hero as surviving the battle or at least dying at a moment of glory, real life is often far different. “They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:37-38). I think of Jonathan who died with his father in defeat (1 Samuel 31:2),or Moses who spent the last 40 years of his life wandering in the wilderness with a group of complaining individuals and who never was allowed to enter the Promised Land. I think of prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah who were never appreciated by their contemporaries, John the Baptist who died at any early age and never saw the coming kingdom. Jesus reminded His disciples, “For I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them” (Luke 10:24). I think of the courage of brethren who continue to labor with a struggling congregation out in the middle of nowhere. Such brethren deserve our respect and appreciation.

The courage to remain behind

Joshua said to his contemporaries, “And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today who you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). After many of the disciples of Jesus left Him because of the cost, Jesus said to those who remained, “You do not want to go way also, do you?” (John 6:67). Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (6:68). We need to be reminded that it takes courage not to go along with the world (Romans 12:1-2). The following is a conversation that appears in the book The Great Divorce:

“Go on, my dear boy, go on. That is so like you. No doubt you’ll tell me why, on your view, I was sent there (to hell). I’m not angry”.

“But don’t you know? You went there because you are an apostate”.

“Are you serious?”

“Perfectly”.

“This is worse that I expected. Do you really think people are penalized for their honest opinions? Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that those opinions were

mistaken?”

“Do you really think there are no sins of intellect?”

“There are indeed. There are hide-bound prejudices, and intellectual dishonesty, and timidity, and stagnation. But honest opinions fearlessly followed—they are not sins”

“I know we used to talk that way. I did it too until the end of my life when I became what you call narrow. It all turns on what are honest opinions”

“Mine certainly were. They were not only honest but heroic. I asserted them fearlessly. When the doctrine of the Resurrection ceased to commend itself to the critical faculties which God had given me, I openly rejected it. I preached my famous sermon. I defied the whole chapter. I took every risk”.

“What risk? What was at all likely to come of it except what actually came—popularity, sales of your books, invitations, and finally a bishopric?”

“This is unworthy of you. What are you suggesting?”

“Friend, I am not suggesting at all. You see, I know now. Let us be frank. Our opinions were not honestly come by. We simply found ourselves in contact with a certain current of ideas and plunged into it because it seem modern and successful. At College, you now, we just started automatically writing the kind of essays that got good marks and saying the kind of things that won applause. When, in our whole lives, did we honestly face, in solitude, the one question on which all turned: whether after all the Supernatural might not in fact occur? When did we put up one moment’s real resistance to the loss of our faith?......You know that you and I were playing with loaded dice. We didn’t want the other to be true. We were afraid of crude Salvationism, afraid of a breach with the spirit of the age, afraid of ridicule, afraid (above all) of real spiritual fears and hopes” (pp.35-37).

Applications

· It is not courageous to reject the Bible or ridicule a Biblical doctrine, because that is the flow of the mainstream of the culture. Rather, it takes courage to remain behind, to remain as did Joshua and his family and continue to serve the Lord after everyone else has left.

· It is not courageous to be an apostate, because the world often rewards apostasy, “And many will follow” (1 Peter 2:2); “They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3).

· Thus it does not take courage to ridicule Creation, remove prayer from a high school graduation, remove the name of God from the pledge of allegiance, push for homosexual marriages or abortion, because none of that is an uphill fight, rather it is simply a downward flow. One does not have to take a stand, rather one only needs to be willing to drift, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1). It is not about standing up for noble principles, but rather giving into the lowest impulse (Romans 1:26). It is not about being honest enough to face the truth, but rather being willing to believe a lie (Romans 1:25 “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie”).

· Notice how Paul describes the life of sin: “In which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).

Observe carefully that sin is about all “conformity”. It is not about being free or being “you” or a unique individual, rather it is all about conforming to a specific path, “the course of this world”. It is the path of least resistance; it is the cultural drift, going along with crowd, not making any waves, not putting up a fight; no courage, just plain resignation. The next verse says, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Ephesians 2:3). No fight here, no courage, just weak surrender. Nothing unique, nothing special, nothing courageous.

1 John 5:19

“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one”

In light of the above truth, that the world reflects the values of Satan and that the world is not resisting but rather surrendering, we need to ask some meaningful questions:

· What then would be courageous worship?

· What would be courageous attire?

· What would be courageous fashion?

· What would be courageous speech?

· What would be courageous evangelism?

· What would be courageous musical tastes?

· What would be courageous dating?

· What would be courageous parenting?

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017