Arise, Oh Man of God

Dear Bob,

So you like Every Thought Captive? Makes you laugh? Makes you cry? Can't wait until the next issue? Glad to hear it. We don't hear that from our readers often enough, at least enough for my ego. But my ego is a voracious beast that probably shouldn't be fed too much anyway.

I had a friend the other day call me up to ask me about some silly appeal letter she got from some silly leader of some massive ministry. She wanted my thought on the matter because she said, "You guys are out on the edge." She sure knew how to make me happy. Maybe we are, maybe we aren't on the edge. Maybe we're over the edge, or over the line, or maybe we've pushed the envelope over the top. We strive to be straightforward, to apply the tests of our purpose to every area of life. How can we be more simple? How can we live more separately? How can we think more deliberately? And we do from time to time come up with some shocking answers. My hope is that in giving those answers we might engender courage in our readers, that you might say to yourself, "Well, if they can live way out there on the edge, I could at least move in that direction." My fear is that you may instead, in reading ETC, be satisfied to live vicariously on that edge through us.

One is not living a more simple, separate, deliberate life simply by reading a publication that is dedicated to those ideals. Slapping an Every Thought Captive sticker on your bumper doesn't make you a soldier. And that's my concern about you, Bob. How easy it is to read a Family Circle article, give your mental assent, thump your chest a few times, and then go and abdicate in your real life. I know it's easy because I do it when I write these articles. I rattle my sword, give a rousing rebel yell, and then go forth and wilt. The problem is that a temporary conviction to lead does not immediately translate into having our wives and children being eager to follow. How easy it is, in reading Culture Matters, to scoff at the enticements of Vanity Fair, only to find our attention arrested by the smooth patter of the carnival barker. How easy it is to laugh at the nonsense of the government schools (I recently heard the phrase "Welfare Schools." Which do you like bettter?), and think that because we recognize it as nonsense, that we're safe in participating.

That's the devil's game, Bob. First he whimpers and calls uncle. And then when we relax, he attacks. Oh, how he laughs. And I don't like the idea of him using ETC for his tricks. So what are you going to do? We hope that what we give you are not merely hints on how to live the successful Christian life. We hope that what we give you is the law of God. Of course we're wrong sometimes. Maybe a lot of the time. But that's the test you have to do. Be a Berean, test what we say against God's Word. If we fail, then be a brother and let us know, and read even more carefully. If we succeed, though, it is not enough to say, "That sure was a stimulating and Biblical article." If we're right, you have to change. To the degree that what you find here reflects the Word, be doers and not just readers of it.

It all works together. We seek to live more simple lives because that serves us in our labor to live more separate lives. It's difficult to be set apart from the world while living amidst the worst of what it has to offer. That is that I'm less apt to be consumed by a consumer mentality while hunched over my cucumber mounds that I would be at the grocery store. It's just too easy to get comfortable and sloppy while sipping coffee at the PTA meeting with all the polite pagans. And the more separately we can live, the better we will be able to think deliberately about all that we're doing. When we are set apart from the rat race we have the time and the freedom to actually think about what we're doing and why we're doing it. And all of that serves the ultimate purpose of serving the King, of making visible His invisible kingdom.

Do you, when you wake up each morning, ask yourself "What can I do today to build God's kingdom?" Chances are you don't. Chances are that the first thought on your mind is the chores you have to do at work or at home. Chances are your first thought is wondering how many more weeks until that vacation, or that promotion, or how many more hours left until your favorite show is on. Sadly, most times that's what I'm thinking about. The kingdom building you can do, of course, is not limited to teaching strangers on the bus the Four Spiritual Laws. It includes your work, if yours is legitimate. But your work is not all there is. You exist as a husband and a father to prepare your wife and children for eternity. You exist as a son of the church to serve and purify His bride. And you exist as a student to renew your mind, and to take every thought captive. Do not be a spectator in the game of life. And don't believe for a second that it is only a game.

So what are you supposed to do? We have no programs, because programs are a part of the problem. And the problem is that they make our lives mere parts. And we are praying that you will be a whole man. Instead we offer this for you to do: fear God and obey all that He commands. Oh, and one other thing, keep reading Every Thought Captive.