By Eric Anderson
Have you noticed that in a highly Therapeutic age, one way we express disappointment, even real (or perceived) injustice is a hopeless Lament language?
Case in point: a few years back, myself and a few discerning (and snarky) friends had a challenge to see who could predict the number of “The Gospel Coalition” articles that would come out in a given month which used the words “lament, weeping, or sorrow” as related to injustices (real or perceived), while simultaneously not addressing them with Biblical clarity or moral courage, according to His revealed and holy Law. Meaning: No God-inspired conviction and call to dry your tears and get to work under the Crowned rights of King Jesus.
Notice how this has become a given type of language for the general evangelical voice: Baptism, Communion, and Defeat-ism are the expected marks of the church. (following a nice-guy effort at pietistic reform).
Last Month TGC (The Gospel Coalition) published a dangerous yet deeply pietistic sounding article purporting that Christians be losers (not losing your life in the expansion of Christ’s kingdom) but accepting cultural defeat-ism as a necessary, even good thing. Where is the attraction in that? As Christianity becomes smaller and less and less distinguished from the worldly, depraved, and destructive, Marxist culture.
Lament has become the language of this new sacrament (defeat-ism); the public and “virtuous sounding” language expressed by increasing privatization of personalized-only faith (the new Pietism) Support Government and the experts, declare we are personally against something, but not publically in a costly way. Straw-man and flog the fellow Christian who says otherwise, declare that they are idolizing politics, family, or male/female; or are mean-sounding; all the while lamenting about the defeat.
I fear this is a humble-sounding yet incredibly self-deceived way of affirming ourselves. If we sound sorrowful, we tell ourselves, must be in the right and signal to our neighbor our “empathy.” Lament the injustices wrought to our neighbor while refusing to stand up for our same neighbors to the PC Cancel culture or the increasing tyranny of the government which is erasing their rights to work and live in freedom.
The Truth is in the distinction: We are Losers, yet we also victors at the same time. We willingly lose our entitlements to living life on our terms, our worldly ambitions for our own sake, our indulging in fleeting pleasures at the same time as we identify with The Victor, King Jesus.
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”
Romans 8:37 37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”.
Psalm 2:7-9 “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
There are difficulties in this life, particularly which correspond with godly obedience, and masculine, strong feminine Christianity doesn’t deny these, or rename them, but accepts the hardships associated with our responsibilities as we lament the injustices to others and the lies against us.
Do we understand how potent not only words of Truth are, but also dispelling lies, and the institutions of Created order given and redeemed by the Truth Giver: The Family, the workplace, and the church. There is nothing lamentable about these, They shine like a bastion of light against the destruction of the world of woke-ness, cancel culture, and the depravity represented by Cardi-b. Better yet, they are God’s given normative ways of cultural change. Doing ordinary things well, taking upon ourselves these God-ordained responsibilities, is how Christians win, not lose.
Yes, We lament, but we lament in the same prayer as asking for God to bring judgment, mercy, and strength as we fulfill our calling and responsibilities. We lament as we ask God for his Kingdom fulfillment and judgment upon the evil and evil-doers and understand our necessary responsibility to fulfill this mandate. all the while seeking to win. This is true Godly ambition.
I Corinthians 15:22-28 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.”Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.