Most western believers in the Lord Jesus are falling back against the hordes of non-Christian forces against them, rather than taking the fight to the enemy, as the Lord promised we would (see Jesus’s promise to Peter in Matt. 16). So many of us are holed up in our holy huddles at least on a weekly basis, and take little to no action in wielding the sword of the Spirit against the demonic clutches that hold the unbelievers around us. What I’m saying is that so many western Christians — especially Americans — are lacsidasical, complacent, apathetic, and content to live mediocre and semi-normal western lives, all while the droves of their neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family members, perish in their sins and enslavement to Satan.
I picture the condition of most Bible-teaching and gospel-believing congregations in the West as faltering and fatigued defenders of their fortress-like assemblies, which are largely cut off from the unbelieving world around, and yet are constantly assaulted by the wicked attacks of the world. One of the greatest weapons of the enemy is his ability to make congregations think everything is going well with them, all while they engage in little to no preaching of the gospel and making of disciples, outside of their weekly assembly.
Hearkening to the second phase of The Lord of the Rings saga — The Two Towers — our situation reminds me of the human and elvish forces being beaten back by the hordes of super-orcs, so that we’re almost to the point of being completely wiped out. The enemies have entered our strongholds, multitudes of our forces our dead, and the enemy has almost reached the very heart of our communities. This is reminiscent of the many worldly and sinful influences that plague the western body of Christ. Some evangelical assemblies are so conformed to the unbelieving world, that they barely resemble anything more than a semi-religious rock concert and Ted Talk. But such worldliness isn’t confined to more progressive and seeker-sensitive assemblies. Even some of the most conservative congregations are weighed down with the burdens of pride, sectarianism, unbiblical traditions, and tolerable sins.
Obviously, in order for assemblies to be effective witnesses of the Lord, we must make sure that we are as pure as possible, and honestly striving to obey His will together, as we endeavor to grow in our conformity to His image. This is the first priority of Christians — holiness. And yet, holiness, or literally “separateness,” will always inevitably lead to evangelism and boldness. The main purpose of the weekly gathering is to remember the gospel, learn more from God’s Word, and help each other become more obedient, so that we’ll become better witnesses of the gospel, as we live our everyday lives.
Thus, it’s imperative that we take more deliberate action in figuring out how we can reach more people, more effectively, with the good news of the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our fortresses, and launch concentrated assaults on the strongholds of the evil one, in order to set the devil’s captives free, and give the freedom of salvation through faith in Jesus.
Along with this picture of us being cornered in the heart of our strongholds, while our outer defenses have been overrun, is the part in The Two Towers where the human forces finally break out, and launch a last-ditch assault on the winning enemy. The main motivation for doing this is because the wizard Gandalf has promised one of the human leaders that when the sun rises, they should look toward the East, and he will come with reinforcements to crush the assaulting enemy. After they break through the seemingly victorious sea of foes that are overrunning the fortress, this help arrives at the rear of the attacking force, and crushes them at their rear.
This is analagous to what I believe we are experiencing in the west. Although most of western Christianity is in a weak, compromised, and deceived condition, yet I see at least a few signs of revival and reinforcement. We need to “look to the East” and see the Lord’s help that’s available to us if we will go on the offensive against the enemy’s forces with the gospel.
For example, there is a huge renewal of interest in Scripture and biblical Christianity among major American politicians and thought leaders, especially on social media. Just think of the Christian influences that have accompanied the work of Donald Trump, JD Vance, Jordan Peterson, and Joe Rogan within the past several months, to name a few. Secondly, there is a rising movement among American biblical Christians to take serious measures to apply the Scriptures to every area of life, and to cultivate New Testament Christian communities in their churches. Increasingly, once shallow and complacent believers are coming to the knowledge of the more profound truths of the apostles’ teaching, such as God’s supreme sovereignty over salvation, and His New Testament pattern for church structure and function. Many American believers have recently come to see the emptiness and folly of such unbiblical concepts as decisionism, revivalism, emotionalism, egalitarianism, and the seeker-sensitive church model. Thankfully, the number is growing. Across the U.S., there are dozens upon dozens of relatively new online and real-life ministries there are helping Christians to learn the Word more effectively, and put it into practice. Finally, this revival of biblical learning and action has fostered more of a devotion to unity among different denominations and groups of believers, enabling us to be more willing and eager to partner with Christians of different traditions.
Given all these God-glorifying and encouraging developments, we need to look to our brethren in different areas, and with different styles of Christianity from our own, and see them as some of the help that the Lord has provided for us to make major gains in our fights against the enemy in the West. Granted, most of western Christianity is still in need of major revival and reformation, and yet there are surely clear signs of a mighty movement of the Spirit of Jesus in the U.S. and beyond. We must follow the Spirit’s leading, as they say, and strive to make concentrated efforts to make more disciples, and to preach the gospel to the unbelieving and dying image-bearers that surround us in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our schools, and places of business. So break through to the enemy, push them back, and lift your eyes to the hills, from which our mighty help comes — the help of the Lord through the Holy Spirit and His Scriptural truth. I urge you to seek that help as earnestly as if your joy, happiness, and flourishing depends on it, because it does.
To this end, please consider checking out my new book, The New Testament Revival of Western Christianity: How to Restore the Love, Leadership, and Learning that the Apostles Taught, available on Amazon in print and Kindle versions (or in PDF on this website):
BEARING CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RISEN 