The Only Acceptable Strategy: Fighting Until We Win

I’ve just returned from a beautiful afternoon on Parliament Hill with a few thousand other people who agree that life is worth protecting. (see #WhyWeMarch). This was less than 24 hours after the leader of our Federal Liberal party declared that every member of his party is obligated to be “pro-choice”.  The reasoning is pretty straightforward. He, like many others, believes that there is nothing more to be said on this issue. Their side won, and our side can kindly shut up.

This isn’t the only issue that gets such one-sided treatment. There are any number of high-priority Leftist positions that are becoming the new orthodoxy. Disagree with them at your own peril.

Just ask the (former) CEO of Mozilla. Going to rehab for substance abuse, assaulting someone, or betraying a spouse are forgivable. But alleged heresy against Leftist Orthodoxy can be (nearly) as dangerous as heresy against the religion of peace. The biggest difference is the loss of livelihood instead of your life.  

The problem with such heresy, is that it’s trial by jury, with no rules of evidence, and no day in court.  You stand accused — and therefore, guilty  — unless proven innocent. Remember Paula Deen? After she was exonerated, were her losses restored? Nope. And that, PRECISELY that, is “Mission Accomplished”.

So whether it’s global — uh, sorry “climate change”, the myriad issues linked to gender, abortion, or novel definitions of marriage, there is nothing left for troglodytes such as ourselves to talk about. Shut up and get with the program. We are statistical outliers, and good riddance to us.  Right?

So what are we to do? Throw in the towel?

Some would say so.  Even some on our own side would go so far as to speak in that patronizing tone with unasked-for advice. Invariably it’s  “concede defeat in this battle, and move on. Turn your energies to where the fight is truly important, to the next fight, and really give ‘em hell in that next fight.” Only they wimp out there, too. Repeat the speech for the next battle they’re planning to pre-emptively surrender in.

It’s time we found our heart, and actually stood for something!

Do you really think this is the first time we’ve ever seen opposition? We’ve ALWAYS seen opposition, not only as conservatives, but especially those of us who dare call ourselves Christian! We are BY DEFINITION Counter-cultural. Period.

The reason we concede? We have traded pragmatism for principles.

What’s the matter, Sparky, did some mega-church preacher sell you the lie that the Christian life would be lollipops and rainbows? That living it in a culture that hates Christ wouldn’t be hard work?  In many parts of the world, discipleship means dying for what we believe. But here, we’re afraid to even LIVE for Him? Child, please! It’s time to realize that some things are absolutely non-negotiable.

In the first and second century, Christians saw the culture leaving infants in the wild to die, so we adopted them. It was the right thing to do. In India, we outlawed Sati (the killing of widows).

If a cause, any cause, is worth taking up and fighting for, it is worth fighting to its conclusion. That does not mean until the other guy wins. No. It means until your righteous cause finally triumphs.

Isn’t that what the other side does?

Does their side give a half-hearted attempt, and give up if things don’t work out? Or do they double-down when they see a setback, and call every triumph the new normal — like a first down. They treat any “territory” gained the same way Rome did, and Islam does. Once they claim a victory over an idea or issue, that ground is theirs and they will defend it to the bitter end.

For some reason, Christians have become “nicer than Christ.”  We do not seem to think “the good fight” is really worth fighting… or at least not worth fighting “for keeps”.

If we habitually fold like a cheap tent, a new, hostile culture will inevitably be thrust upon us, (it’s already begun) one with its own private definitions of right, wrong, good and evil.

William Wilberforce spent his entire life, from his youth, to his deathbed fighting to abolish slavery. It was the “settled” issue of his own day, affecting property rights, and people’s income. It’s impossible, they told him. Year after year he stood up in Parliament and demanded it be abolished. Year after year he failed. Until the one year he didn’t.  Do we have such persistence today.

There is a passage in the Bible (2 Kings 13:14-19) describing this same principle. Elisha’s last prophetic act was counseling King Joash about his conflict with Syria. The king was given an odd task. In the end, Joash was scolded for his half-hearted effort. That half-heartedness would later rob him of a lasting victory. (Any of this sounding familiar?)

Instead of turning tail like a scalded dog, as we’ve been doing, it’s time to start thinking more like the kid in Ender’s game. Remember the quote?

When he explained why he laid a merciless beating on the bully in his class, he said “Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win all the next ones, too. So they’d leave me alone.”

We’re not fighting against people. But we certainly are fighting against corrosive ideas and worldviews, and a whole lot of dark things that are deeply hostile to Jesus Christ, and his Truth. If we’re going to fight against those, we’ve got to fight to win.

Image: Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajguel/5216114147/