Today the notion of a war bond program is hardly the “in” thing in Hollywood; however, sixty years ago it captivated the hearts of celebrities ranging from Lucille Ball to Fred Astaire. Together with grassroots organizations and every day people celebrities then underscored the necessity of a war bond drive that ended up facilitating the manufacturing of military machines. This proved to be decisive in the overthrow of the evils of Hitlerism.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle in the current War On Terrorism is simply convincing the public that there is such a war to be fought in the first place. What is true in the war against terrorism is equally true in today’s battle for truth. Indeed, we could well say that Truth Is Under Siege and for the most part Christians have been AWOL! This despite the fact that the West is in a systemic cultural shift in which truth itself is up for grabs.
Consider for a moment this tragic reality. The most famous person on the planet has gone as far to redefine the very notion of sin itself. While biblical orthodoxy defines sin as being out of alignment with God’s standard of perfection, Barack Obama defines sin as “being out of alignment with my values.” [1] If our President is correct, then Obama, not the Almighty, is the arbiter of what is right and what is wrong. Put another way, if sin is being out of alignment with our President’s values, then all who oppose the painful killing of a partially born child have sinned and fallen short of the glory of Obama! Furthermore, if sin is being out of alignment with one’s own system of values, one would be hard pressed to oppose Hitler and one of the most significant atrocities in all of human history. After all, in Hitler’s perspective Semites were sub-human and Aryans were Supermen. Moreover, if sin is being out of alignment with one’s own personal value system, then truth is regulated to a mere matter of personal preference or opinion and that is precisely the problem.
Truth is that which corresponds to reality. As such truth does not give way to a personal system of values. Nor does it yield to size and strength of the latest lobby group. Truth is true even if everyone denies it, and a lie is a lie even if everyone affirms it.
All of this really is prologue to say that at the Christian Research Institute and Bible Answer Man we are calling this week “War Chest Week.” A week where we’re asking people who love truth to invest in what would be the spiritual equivalent of purchasing war bonds sixty years ago.
As an organization CRI has been standing in the gap for half a century and countless lives have been rescued in the war for truth, but this war has never been more crucial than it is right now. As an organization we have the spiritual resources necessary to prevail in this battle for truth; what we don’t have is the necessary financial resources. This is precisely where you come in. As thousands of us stand together in the battle for truth we can turn the corner in Western Christianity’s demise. We can see light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
I’m reminded of Abraham Kuyper’s challenge to the secular unbelief that the French Revolution unleashed against the Christian faith. I memorized this statement from the Dutch Prime Minister a long time ago, who was born in the same city I was, Leiden, and he said,
When principles than run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith. [2]
As we fight in this battle for truth, would you please join us by supporting us? You can go to our Website at www.equip.org or call us at 1-888-700-0274 to see about the different ways we have of supporting us this week.
[1] Steven Waldman, Beliefnet, “Obama’s Fascinating Interview with Cathleen Falsani”, a transcript of a 2004 interview Obama gave Chicago Sun Times columnist Cathleen Falsani when he was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois. (http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/11/obamas-interview-with-cathleen.html). Accessed January 22, 2009.
[2] Abraham Kuyper, as quoted in Charles Colson, Against the Night, Living in the New Dark Ages (Ann Arbor, Mich: Servant Books, 1989), 163.