Spirit of Resistance
Thomas Jefferson writing to Colonel Smith about civil disturbances in Massachusetts said, “What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance?” “Resistance,” the word seems so foreign today. Yet resistance to tyranny and despotism was foundational in the birthing of the Republic. The founders of our nation believed in the God of perfect liberty. When the spirit of bondage slithered into the Colonies something rose in the hearts of the people. That something was the reformer’s spirit.
Many admire Christ’s reformers after they are dead. To my mind this generation has forgotten what it’s like to take a bold stand for Christ amid a morally and politically corrupt world. Even the pulpit is lukewarm refusing to address depravity in the land and rather preaches a watered-down gospel that tickles the sinner’s ear and makes him comfortable in apathetic equanimity.
It’s clear the indifferent are committed to nothing in particular, not even the cause of Christ. When was the last time you heard the pulpit coming against sin, homosexuality, sexual bacchanalia or Washington D. C. corruption? It appears our preachers have fallen under the spell of celebrity Christianity that makes eunuchs out of Christ’s flames of fire. Hollywood Christianity might get you on television but celebrity Christianity will not turn the world upside down for Christ. What we need today is the reformer’s spirit.
Like many of you I am a Spirit-filled Christian and descendant of the Protestant faith. Our Protestant faith has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. History says this reformation began when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 on the doors of the Wittenberg church protesting Catholic false doctrines and indulgences.
Luther was the first of many reformers that included John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, John Calvin, John Knox, William Tyndale, Zwingli, George Fox and many others. Today these men are highly respected and their names well known. They have two things in common: They were all militant Protestant reformers and they are all now dead. As already said, people admire Christ’s reformers after they are dead but it was their “Protestant spirit” that changed the world making it a better place for you and I. That same spirit, the reformer’s spirit, needs rekindling today.
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Martin Luther reminds us what a reformer’s spirit is like.
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ however boldly I may be professing Christ, ------- Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefields besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
Unlike some modern leaders, Luther refused to keep silent on the great venues of his day, even if his opposition imperiled his life. In Luther’s words, “Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved.” Where is the loyal warrior’s battle today? I say it’s in the heart of those remnant patriots that hear God’s voice and are ready for action.
Jonas Clark provides commentary on Christian living www.jonasclark.com
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