Nobody needs me to list reasons for worry. I am worried about the state of the Union, the direction of the global economy, and the rise of Christian persecution. All true, all requiring prayer, and none of it going away.
And yet Jesus is Lord.
Think of it: history is moving in His direction, not the direction of vice. Once the cool kids of Russia all wanted the Soviet experiment, now the Soviet Union is gone. Fascists were cool once, thank God mostly the geriatric are true fascists now. “Are there problems in the church,” the old song asked.
“Let the church roll on!” was the response.
And rolling on she is.
Does the church face competition from new and old ideologies?
The church is experiencing explosive growth globally. American churches face challenges, but there are signs that the bottom has been reached and vibrant congregations are growing again. Let the church roll on.
Does the church experience hostile social media from “new atheists?”
Christian apologetics programs are thriving and driving the opposition into craziness and marginal intellectual status or best of all to Faith. Visit Christian Thinkers Society and see it grow.
Holly Ordway, Nancy Pearcey, Evan Getz, Mary Jo Sharp, Mike Licona, Jerry Walls, Kristen Davis, Bill Craig, Jeremiah Johnston, Michael Ward, Melissa Travis, Lee Strobel, and Phil Tallon say: let the church roll on.
Does the church see moral decay?
Millions of young adults have not changed theology to match polling, despite great pressure to do so. As many as forty-three percent of the next generation hold fast to traditional values. We are learning better ways of speaking about a theology of the body and losing the prejudices that made it hard to hear a message of holiness and love. Just as it took twenty years to begin to counter act the pro-abortion establishment, so it will take time to counter the decadence of this age, but it is happening.
That message is being prepared: let the church roll on.
Is the church being persecuted?
Americans are blessed to live in a land of religious freedom, not all the church faces such opportunity. We must stop worrying about our inconveniences and start standing in solidarity with the dying church in Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and North Korea. If we experience attempts to infringe our rights as Americans, we must appeal to the Constitution, but let the church roll on.
Every age has been rotten. My grandparents faced Hitler, we face ISIS: cut rate Nazis without the weaponry or power. My grandparents faced Stalin, we face North Korea: clownish Communists with gout. My grandparents faced the Great Depression, we face the great recession: the only turn down where obesity is more worrying than starvation. My grandparents lived with segregation, we face finishing the work of racial reconciliation.
These are problems. We must face them. They are serious, but the church will roll on. I can get on the train and ride or I can stand on the side of the tracks and cry. I am a sinner, I often do not do right, but there is power in the forgiveness of Jesus: let the Church roll on!
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