“We cannot pray for the purification of the silver, and then despair when we begin to approach the furnace that removes the dross.”
The Other Direction
“We were taught to pray that the kingdom would come to earth, not that the kingdom would float off into the sky. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Not Thy will be done in Heaven when we get there.”
Mere Christendom, p, 240
God’s Resurrection Move
“The West is dead. Long live the West.”
Like Dead Flies
“Far too many of us have lamented with the Psalmist, ‘I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree’ (Ps. 37:35). And when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do (Ps. 11:3)? Their eyes are fat like grease, and their press secretaries lie like dead flies on a window will.”
Some Things Don’t Change
“Our problem is not globalization, for pity’s sake. Our problem is unbelief, and it is a very boring and ancient form of unbelief. We are about as unique as a pint of salt water a hundred miles off the coast of Hawaii.”
No Excuse for the Surprise
“Cultural decadence is something that has happened routinely to civilizations for millennia, and it is a sign of our cultural narcissism that we are somehow surprised by it happening to us. The surprise is not sincere; it is not honestly come by. Somebody really ought to read a book.”
You Can Be Free on the Inside
“By religious liberty they mean your freedom to think whatever you want about God and man, just so long as it stays completely behind your eyes and mouth, and between your ears.”
And Here We Are
“Cultures apart from Christ cannot avoid the abyss. Cultures apart from Christ cannot stand . . . Cultures apart from Christ must eventually call down the chaos. And here we are.”
The Assigned Task
“He didn’t say copy the nations. He didn’t say run from the nations. He said disciple the nations.”
Our Only Task
“The Christian response must be to insist that all of their idols have to be overthrown. That is what true Christian cultural engagement is. That is the only thing that Christian cultural engagement can ever possibly be.”