Talk of a “new golden age” notwithstanding, the new year got off to a violent start with the terrorist attack in New Orleans, followed just hours later by a bizarre suicide and Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
The 42-year-old jihadist in Louisiana and the 37-year-old Tesla driver in Nevada were both Army veterans. Authorities believe the former was radicalized and the latter likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Both incidents were sober reminders that evil is ever-present in this fallen world, and that Americans and American law enforcement must remain aware and vigilant in their ongoing efforts to protect and defend the country.
Watchfulness is always necessary for nations, but the coming year will also require something of Christians: courage.
Merriam-Webster defines courage as a “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” For the Christian, it’s certainly not less than that, but it’s also a lot more.
Christian courage includes a willingness to be “fools for Christ” (1 Cor. 4:10), to resist the popular, ignore the elites, go against the grain, and hold to contrarian viewpoints in the face of ridicule and mockery.
It was C.S. Lewis who wisely observed, “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.”
Heading into 2025, Christians will be required to ignore claims that we’ve lost our minds, that we’re intolerant, irrational, ignorant, hateful, or even worse.
It takes courage and strength to stand against the tide of overwhelming public opinion. It takes guts to stand up and speak out against sin and evil.
Criticism will come from a variety of sources – members of the press, academic elites, political radicals, even people who may claim a Christian faith all the while embracing personal feelings and sympathies and ignoring what Scripture has to say about a particular issue.
As believers, it’s helpful for us to remember that the world is also full of those who are very good at hiding reality.
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis and a longtime board member of Focus on the Family, once observed:
“The wise man is ignorant, and the strong man is weak, and the rich man is poor who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ because Christ is the center and circumference of all that you need and seek.”
But it takes courage and discernment to see through the fog of culture.
Christian courage is accepting God’s Word as inerrant and infallible. It’s opposing abortion, protesting the redefinition of marriage, and defending and protecting children from policies that threaten to confuse human sexuality.
Courageous Christians can be liberal with their fellowship but are conservative with their theology. They don’t go along to get along.
Christians with courage aren’t concerned about the world’s opinions but pay very close to attention to what God says about an issue.
The Christian with gumption agrees with D.L. Moody, who once said, “Our greatest fear should not be failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.”
Of all the resolutions you may make in this coming year, few will take you farther or lead to greater fulfillment than praying for and possessing great courage in 2025.
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