In all the daily conflict we see between progressive liberal activists, secular humanists, atheists, gay activists, and radical Muslims versus Christians—I am speaking to Christians—as followers of Christ, we must always be mindful of our marching orders, and from whom those marching orders come.

Do not rejoice at our victories, and do not despair at our defeats. The culture war isn’t about you anyway. It’s about the souls of those who are perishing.

Persecution in all forms will come to us as Christians. Jesus said it would happen.

Speaking to His disciples, Jesus said in John 16:32,

“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

Then he said, for all of us in the next verse,

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 15:18-21

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

We must not be greater than our Master—in our own minds, or to project that image to the world. That means taking no delight in winning against enemies. They may be enemies of God, but they are also enemies of their own souls, and God takes no delight in that.

1 John 4:8-10

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Those who persecute us do not know God, yet we do know Him, and God is Love. We cannot delight in that which he does not delight.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

God has commanded us to be just in victory, humble in defeat, and merciful in power. Trust God in all things, because the outcome is His.

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Finally, where there are persecutions and slaughters, pray for strength and comfort for those the martyrs leave behind, and persecution hits your friends, do not stand idly by. When evil assaults our cities, our schools, our press, our society, our family and our friends, we must take a stand, even if it costs us personally.

Even if it costs our life.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

This is how Jesus intends the world to be overcome. Not by might nor by power, but by the Lord’s Spirit (see Zechariah 4:6).

There is no moral equivalence between Christians keeping their faith by good associations and purity, and progressive liberal activists ruining the lives of Christians who do so. But we are called to have our lives ruined at times, while at all times showing love and grace. And through that, they may see God, who delights not in evil, but rejoices with the Truth.

The Truth costs, but we must buy it at any price. So be joyful, for the Truth has come, and He has overcome the world.

(Image: Salome with the Head of John the Baptist by Caravaggio)