No Time For Weak Men - Rev. Benjamin Glaser

A term that has grown in popularity among counselors and in psychological textbooks is gaslighting. One hears it on TV, reads it in print, and sees it used in any number of contexts. 

Gaslighting is the attempt to create a false reality which forces another person to accept or do something that they under normal psychological circumstances would never do. This term originates from a mid-20th century film (itself based on an earlier stage play) where the protagonist successfully convinces his wife, and others, that she is crazy by slowly dimming the lights and then denying it is happening, eventually leading to her being committed to a mental institution. 

Gaslighting is wicked and destructive. 

Yet, this is the way much discourse in the church and society at-large operates. Sometimes this shows up in passive aggressive attempts to motivate decision makers to move in the direction desired by the instigator, but usually it is a reactive action of a party trying to appease the ghosts of societal influence and boogie-men who neither care about nor desire appeasement. The hope is if one gives on this debatable point, which the gaslighted think is the actual lightning rod of grievance, that the gaslighters will then leave them alone to do whatever it is they have decided is more important. We’ve seen this cowardice in regards to historical monuments in the South. Many have thought that was enough, but the mollifiers were soon forced to give up even more. The people who engage in this kind of manipulative behavior really aren’t concerned about the particulars. That is not the goal or purpose of their behavior. 

They want power, and fearful men give it to them by their weakness. 

When it comes to the body of Christ and the mission given to her, the witness to these attempts at gaslighting are undeniably in the Book of Acts and they are the main tool of Satan and his minions throughout the book of Revelation. Whether it was Jewish or Roman authorities there are multiple attempts, either through bribery and threats or the enticements of men’s words, to move the disciples away from the hard edges of gospel truth into soft, weak accommodationists. This is of course the method of theological liberalism. Take away the mean words of Paul and Moses and leave the red words of Christ, yet the culture is not satisfied. We'll take Jesus, but not too much. Just get rid of that supernatural stuff, or the Bible's teaching on homosexuality, open-marriage, sexual intercourse at any time of life, etc... There is always an attempt by this line of thought to try and make Jesus safe for the world. If we only give in on this issue they will listen about Christianity. However, this is not possible. 

The Lion of Judah is voracious and powerful. There is no bargaining with Jehovah. 

Christ the Destroyer (1 Cor. 10:9-10) demands whole obedience unto Himself. There is no friendship with the world, nor can there be. The leaders of His church fool themselves if they believe one can have influence with those whose philosophies are founded in order to deny the sovereign and almighty power of God by playing games and cooperating with the world. Light and darkness have nothing in common. 

The Church must stand convinced of the rightness of its work and the indefatigable nature of its call.

In John 10 our Lord describes hirelings who run at the first sign of danger. As long as the pay is good and the trouble light, they are content and happy. When the wolf appears they skedaddle like Connecticut troops at Manassas. The wolf wins and the sheep are dead, but the shepherd is safe to ply his trade in the midst of another flock. He writes to his friends about his near escape and wonders at the weakness of his ewes. All are complimentary of his temerity. But the sheep are still dead, the wolves received their pound of flesh, and are encouraged to continue wandering to and fro seeking the next gathering to devour. The prophet warns of such:

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? – Ezekiel 34:1-4

This is not a time for jobholders seeking peace and quietude, to be gaslighted into ever surrender. 

Ministers of the gospel in this age need to be ready and willing to lose their place in polite society to boldly proclaim the whole counsel of God and defend the witness of the church towards the good news of salvation in Christ Alone, and the biblical holiness without which no man will see the Lord. When the people of God cannot even stand up for the righteousness of our venerable dead and bring a defense for the sanctification of sinners one wonders as to why that reason is? The enemies of Christ are never going to be at comity with the purveyors of truth. They hate truth, and want to see it destroyed. 

One cannot serve both God and mammon, the State, the popular culture, and the King of Kings. 

In Allen Tate’s, Ode to the Confederate Dead he writes: 

Night is the beginning and the end 

And in between the ends of distraction 

Waits mute speculation  

In this poem Tate has been meditating on the wastefulness of much of 20th-century life, and especially the quislings that seem to populate his world. He contemplates the mythic heroism of the men buried in the cemetery which act as his muse. In the stanza here quoted he is preparing to leave and is left with the sinking feeling that what the future beholds is more of the cowardly, to borrow a phrase from Lewis, “men without chests” that is of his present experience. However, this mute speculation is not the end. Not if men are willing to learn from the strong and the proud, who did their duty with honor and might, and now lay here quietly in their rest, awaiting the end of all things. The underlying question of this post is simple: What does the future behold for the Church? Will it stand tall? It is too easy, and a bit of a cop-out to say, “Well of course! Jesus wins!”. While true, and a blessed foundational truth at that, it doesn’t really answer the question. Are the disciples of this moment going to allow themselves to be gaslighted out of holding what is dear? Dumping the memory of the saints to be loved by this age? 

That is the real issue at hand. What is our true seeking? God or Man? 

 It is the day of the fire and the hammer (Jer. 23:29) not mute dogs who cannot bark (Is. 56:10-12).