We live in a world of flimsy people. It seems nearly every week I read about a pastor or Christian leader who’s “evolved” on some issue related to the LGBTQ+ agenda or another hot-button topic. Rarely do preachers mention the reality of hell from the pulpit, and the demands of holiness are barely touched upon in their talking points. They cleverly discount the parts of the Bible they don’t like, and they amplify cultural sentiment over the time-tested truth of God’s Word.
For many churches, anything that might be offensive to a lost soul is softened or left out altogether. In the old days, that might have been for the sake of being “seeker-sensitive,” but in the current moment it’s more likely being done to avoid being canceled or to score points with cultural gatekeepers. The result has been that in the interest of not making waves, the body of Christ in America has been largely silent on many important issues the Bible speaks clearly about.
But we Christians are not supposed to go with the flow—especially if the flow of culture is moving people away from God. We were never called to be compliant to a fault, to be so peaceable that we are “tossed back and forth by the waves” (Ephesians 4:14) of an ever-changing modern code of “morality.” That’s not what it means to “be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1). Instead, even as our society moves toward Sodom, we are called to stand firm (Exodus 14:13; Ephesians 6:14). Our compass should never be the culture; instead it must always be our Savior.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood this. Even as King Nebuchadnezzar was leading all of Babylon into sin, to worship the image of gold he had set up, these three young men refused to budge. And their stand wasn’t virtue-signaling either for the respectable religious types either. They stood until they were brought before the fiery furnace and their very lives were on the line. Even then, with a chance to recant and fall in line behind everyone else, they wouldn’t budge: “But even if [God] does not [deliver us], we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:18).
Today, God is looking for men and women like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—men who will not bow down to the culture’s idols, who fear God rather than other people. When we stand up and refuse to bow down or sit, we tell the world that truth does not change and that the God we serve is the Author of that truth.
Why is this so important? Because as Jesus said, the truth has the power to set people free (see John 8:32).
Next week—May 6, to be precise—my very first novel will be released into the world. I’m so excited for you to read it. It’s called The Unlikely Intrusion of Adams Klein, and it’s the first in a trilogy of young adult sci-fi books.
It’s all about Adams Klein, a fourteen-year-old from the late twenty-second century who’s been hidden away in our time to escape the murderous reach of a global tyrant. Though he’s been instructed to lay low and not disturb the flow of history, Adams can’t sit still when he sees a tragedy unfolding before his eyes. Now, Adams and his new friends are on the run from the future, and all history hangs in the balance.
I hope you’ll check it out!
Pages of Joy // John Greco 
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