REDEEMING THE RAINBOW

2. Learn Your DutyThe church has forgotten that it has a mission to defend and promote God’s laws in the world. It hasretreated into the church buildings and given all of its attention to the more feminine ministries:caring for the poor and broken hearted, healing the sick, strengthening families. These are allnecessary ministries, but only part of our duty.We also have the duty to go out into the world and fight the agents of sin. It is like the example ofDavid, the shepherd who became King of Israel and is known in the Word as “a man after God’s ownheart.” Much of the time, David stayed with his sheep to guide and nurture them. But when he sawan enemy of the flock prowling in the area, he went out and killed it. These were not easy battles.He fought lions and bears, who could, instead, have killed him. He was a MAN of God and he showsus the example of masculine Christianity.Now we know the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:3-5). I am certainly not talkingabout physical battle with the “gays.” That would be stupid and un-Christian to do. But the weaponsof our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and everyhigh thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.Our duty to pull down strongholds and cast down arguments is not with carnal weapons like gunsand bombs, but by our prayers, our intellects and our physical service in God’s work.We are told in Ephesians 2:10 that we, each of us, are created in Christ Jesus to do good works thatGod has prepared in advance for us to do. The works do not give us salvation: we have that by beliefin Jesus alone. The works give us purpose and a practical means to help build God’s kingdom whilewe are on this earth.What works are we to do? Only the Holy Spirit can tell you which works God has prepared for youto do, but I suggest that if He has brought this message to your attention, it is the work of rebuildingthe Godly foundations of this society.It is like the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Every family wasassigned its own section of the wall near where they lived.The need today is for believers to compete for influence: in government, in education, in media, inbusiness, so that the rules that are made and the conclusions that are reached reflect godly values.Proverbs 29:2 tells us that when the righteous rule the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule theymourn. We know this is true, but do we understand that it is our obligation to promote righteousrulership?In Romans 13:3-7 we learn that the purpose of government is to be a terror to evil.Redeeming the Rainbow 175