Orders Remain Unchanged

Back around 2002 our family took an “East Coast” vacation hitting places throughout Amish country in Pennsylvania, a few days in the “Big Apple”, and finally a few days in our nation’s capital. As part of our time in and around Washington D.C. we various monuments, museums, looked in the chambers of Congress, peeked into the Supreme Court courtroom, and had a tour of the capital. But visiting Arlington National Cemetery I have to say was one of the highlights of the trip for me. There is this endless sea of white crosses which all serve to remind us of the very real price of freedom. If you visit, you have to see the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” and stay long enough to see the changing of the guard (it happens every 30 minutes). There is this simple ceremony where one guard passes to the next the honor of guarding this tomb which is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you happen to be close enough, you will hear the departing guard say three words to the guard taking his place; the same three words that have been said since the tomb was built decades ago. The three words are “Orders remain unchanged.”

There is a simple sermon for the church in those three words. About 2,000 years ago the Lord Jesus looked into the faces of His followers and gave them their “marching orders” called the Great Commission. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Right before His Ascension He again repeated the orders by telling them they would be “witnesses” to Him beginning where they lived and extending out to the ends of the earth. Jesus could not have been any clearer in His orders … take the Good News of the gospel to all people of all nations until all have a chance to hear. 

Stay with me here because this is important. Even though we live in a world that is rapidly changing in so many ways we need to know that our orders, orders from Him, remain “unchanged”. There are many “battles” we face today as soldiers in the Lord’s “army”; battles such as pornography, abortion, the disintegration and redefinition of the family, immorality in all forms of the media, crises of character in the lives of our religious and political leaders, and a culture that has forgotten God. Many believers have chosen to bury their heads in the sand and try and ignore what’s going on. Others shake their heads in disgust, lamenting the state of our nation but doing little else. 

But now is the time for action, especially with the world looking more and more like Jesus said it would immediately before His return. There are battles raging on every front and the soldier of the Lord’s army then faces a dilemma. Which battles should we fight? And what should be the weapons we use? 

While these are legitimate questions, our Lord’s order remain unchanged. We are to take the gospel to “the ends of the earth”. How did 1st Century Christians face the evils of their day? With Christians being burned at the stake or being used as lion food in the arena, how did they respond? There’s little evidence if any of those believers mounting any type of campaign against the evils of their culture. No, instead what we find is them speaking about Jesus any and every chance they had. What was the result of this? Cities were changed one life at a time, to the point they were often accused of “turning the world upside-down”. 

There is no question that we are to be salt and light and let our light shine every chance we get. But we cannot spend all of our time, energy, and resources on things that at best will bring about a temporary change; a change that ultimately still results in people entering eternity lost. 

Do I have outrage over the morality of our day? Absolutely! But the answer is not outrage but outreach. Our culture is dying one life at a time and the only way to stem this is to see people reborn … one life at a time! 2000 years have passed since Jesus passed on the orders of the Father to His first disciples. Those orders were handed down and passed down to us through the inspiration of Scripture. When it comes to changing this world for Christ, our “orders remain unchanged” … Go ye therefore and make disciples … beginning in Judea (where you live) and going to the ends of the earth.