“In such a fearful world, we need a fearless church.” –C. S. Lewis
While it has always been a fearful world, some of us are feeling that reality more poignantly right now. Many young people from my generation have not lived through extreme adversity. Freedom is to us what paint is to our walls—we live with it, but don’t often give thought to how it came to be there. Unlike the generations before us, we have not lived through something as severe as the Great Depression, the World Wars, or even the threat of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War. The cancerous spread of Communism is something we have read about in the history books. And yet, now, all of these historical events—from economic depression to totalitarian government—are beginning to look less like history and more like a revived reality.
When we look at history, we see that the Church has always thrived in adversity. The forces of evil have tried but have never succeeded in crushing the Church. Built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, not even the gates of hell can prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18)! In fact, Christianity has multiplied during adversity. In a fearful world, what is the Church to do? In II Corinthians 4:8-10, God used the apostle Paul to exhort the Church, saying, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” How can we, the Church today, be resilient like the Church of history? We can be resilient Christians when we hold onto three main truths found in II Corinthians 4 and throughout the Bible.
- We have a life that cannot be destroyed. As II Corinthians 4:8-10 says, because we have identified with the death of Christ, we can also share in the life of Christ. This life that we have in Christ is eternal. I John 2:25 says, “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” Nothing and no one can take that kind of life away from us. Romans 8:35 asks the rhetorical question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” At the end of the chapter comes the obvious answer, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, no any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The greatest threat that Satan had to hold over your heads—sin and death—has been destroyed by Christ. Satan and his tools of evil have nothing over you anymore. If our greatest enemy—death—has been destroyed, what is there really left to fear? We can now live in courage for the cause of Christ because we have a life that cannot be destroyed.
- We have a power that cannot be diminished. Not only do we have eternal life in Christ, but we have the life of Christ in us. II Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.” The earthen vessels are our mortal bodies and the treasure is Jesus Christ and His gospel. When we accepted the gospel, the Holy Spirit moved into our bodies. As temples of the Holy Spirit, we now have the ability to yield to the Holy Spirit’s control. When we surrender to the Holy Spirit, we can and will do the things that Jesus does. We can love like Jesus loves, give like Jesus gives, empathize like Jesus does, and comfort like Jesus comforts. Christ’s life in us cannot be snuffed out by any outside force. It is up to us whether or not Christ’s life will be lived through our bodies.
Remember, II Corinthians 4:7 said that this power we experience is “not of us,” but it is in us. The power is of God who is residing in us. I John 4:4 reminds us, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” The Holy Spirit can empower us to discern between the truth and false doctrine. He can give us the words to say in the moment we need them. He can give us power to resist temptation and do right every time. Because Christ has already overcome the world (John 16:33), we already have victory in Him. All we need to do is, by faith, claim that victory. I John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” It is our faith in Christ that gives us the victory over sin and every adversity we face in this life. It is our faith and His power that overcomes the world. Because it is God’s power, this power cannot be diminished by outside forces.
- We have a hope that cannot be dimmed. In II Corinthians 4:14, the apostle Paul encourages the Corinthian believers with the reality of the resurrection. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, so He will raise up those who are in Christ. “For which cause,” Paul says in verse 16, “we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” Every day, a Christian can wake up with renewed peace, joy, and hope. Why? Because the hope we have as Christians is not wishful thinking. It is a reality, albeit not yet fully realized.
I Peter 1:3-6 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” We may be in heaviness right now, but we can also be rejoicing because the heaviness is not eternal. It is not our ultimate reality. We have the resurrection, eternal life with Jesus, and an incorruptible inheritance in heaven to look forward to. Our hope is a lively hope because it is anchored in a living Savior—Jesus Christ.
With this hope in the forefront of our minds, we can press through temporary adversity. As II Corinthians 4:17-18 concludes, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Our affliction today seems light when compared to the weightiness of our glorious future. The most real things are not the things we can see right now. Right now, we can see trials, pain, suffering, wars, and threats of war. Those are realities, but they are only temporal realities. The ultimate reality—the eternal reality—is God and His plan of redemption. This is the reality that will win out in the end! So, why should we allow our perspective to be consumed with temporal realities that conjure fear? Instead, we should allow our spirits to be renewed daily with this lively hope—this ultimate reality—that will soon be fully realized. As Christians, we know the end of the story. And it’s a good ending for us. Our goal should be to invite as many other people into that happy ending as we can.
Just as the Church of generations past shone as a beacon of hope in a troubled world, the Church of our generation can and must do the same. There is more than one way to look at a troubled time. Yes, it is a time of discomfort and adversity. But it is also an opportunity to strengthen and add to the Church. During troubled times, people are searching for the greater reality. As Christians who are living in that greater reality, we are responsible to tell others about it, see them saved, discipled, and added to the body of Christ. Now is not the time to hunker down and hold down the fort. Now is the time to swing wide open the doors and launch out into the highways and byways looking for souls. Based on these three main truths, what have we got to lose? Church, it is our time to shine for Christ!