The Vision
by R.C. Sproul Jr.

Laurence is good with what he calls 'diagnostic questions." As such I try to be good with my answers. I didn't blurt out anything too quickly when he asked, lest I bare my soul. "What one word would you want on your tombstone to describe you?" he asked as if he just wanted to know the time. I waited, and thought, and then gave him two answers. There is one word I would want, and one word I should want. I should want the word "righteous" on my tombstone. The word I really want is "courageous." And what Laurence should have said is, "Wow, R.C. If it's any comfort to you, it took both righteousness and courage to recognize and confess your failure to want the right thing." Instead he said, "huh." And, I'm sure, in the quiet and safety of his own mind proceeded to jump to all sorts of conclusions about me.

The two are, of course, closely related. Righteousness serves courage as courage serves righteousness. Our desire to obey the Word of God is bolstered by courage, our failure often marked by fear. Our desire to be courageous is served by remembering that such is the command of God. His law requires it. A righteous man is a courageous man, a courageous man a righteous one.

Remember that when Jesus ascended to His throne He promised to send another comforter, or as some translators have it, another encourager. It is a sure sign of our limp wristed age that both those words bring to mind a mommy who kisses our boo-boos. Comforter is more literally one who comes with strength (com-with, forte-strength), and encourager, one who gives courage. The Spirit is more of a celestial drill sergeant telling us to buck up than USO volunteer holding the homesick soldier's hand.

Obedience takes courage if only because obedience is becoming increasingly counter-cultural. We are so awash in existential anti-heroes that to be truly shocking one must be a rather ordinary hero. Posing as the brave individualist, unhindered by connections, commitments or silly rules about right and wrong is the way of the masses. One is far more likely to be jeered and harassed by the cultural crowd for calling sin sin than committing it. Just as Ken Starr.

Here is where righteousness, courage, and the mission of the Highlands Study Center (to help Christians live more simple, separate, and deliberate lives to the glory of God and for the building of His kingdom) intersect. We need the courage to stand alone and declare that God calls us to stand together. We need the courage to go forth and be weird, or at least thought weird, by both those in the world, and by those in the church who love the world. We even need to have the courage to be thought cowards.

The concept of being separate, for instance, is a difficult one in our political times. Monastic or retreatist are among the pejorative terms given to those of us who refuse to run in the rat race. Paul Weyrich, the conservative political activist who founded the Free Congress Foundation has been raked over the coals of late for affirming that the culture wars have been lost, and lost because of conservatives massing at the political front, while being outflanked everywhere else. The mere suggestion that Pickett's charge isn't the best strategy, that cobbling together coalitions isn't as important as ministering in the name of Christ, and the guns turn about and fire. He, along with Cal Thomas who makes much the same case in his new book, has been painted with a broad yellow streak down his back. It takes courage to refuse to be carried out of the coliseum on a shield, because you're too busy raising godly seed, and building the household of faith.

It takes courage, both in the world, and in the church, to stand for righteousness. The world will vilify us, call us Nazis and tyrants, when we proclaim the law of God to them. Who is to say what is right and wrong? And while the church may not embrace ethical relativism in a creedal way, our understanding of loving one another leads us to embrace it in a practical way. Sure Mr. Jones may be carrying on with his secretary, but who are we to judge? Jesus didn't judge after all. We believe that love means never telling another that they must say they're sorry. We're so committed to the prophets who cry "peace, peace", that we face the blitzkrieg, the wrath of the church of peace at all costs, when we humbly suggest that there is in fact a war going on.

Our goal is not only to be courageous, but to be encouragers as well. Sure when we speak straightforwardly, when we take a rhetorical tack that leans toward the confrontational, we may drive away those who need to hear the message the most. We risk reducing ourselves to preaching to the choir. But choirs need to be preached to. They need to be encouraged. And wouldn't you rather hear from Patton than Richard Simmons before going off to battle? Wooing with the promise that our calling is only to be slightly more ethical than our neighbors is not the way to teach others to consider the cost.

Righteousness is a heavy calling. Doing battle with the old, fallen man is dangerous business. The arrows of the devil sting. The assault of the world is not a tame game of dodgeball. But our courage, our conviction that we can win the battle, is rooted not in our own strength but in our weakness. Our courage comes from the same place our righteousness comes from, the Giver of all good gifts. And from Him also comes the command to have that courage. Yes, be bold and strong, for remember the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The Captain of our Salvation is the true Captain Courageous.