Writing · Faith
Standing Firm as a Christian
By Richard K. Marshall · Originally published
Being a Christian doesn't mean expecting rosy outcomes.
A lot of people think it does. They think faith means staying quiet in the face of injustice, or believing good always wins in this life.
That's not what the Bible teaches. I find myself living in the tension between faith and the hard realities of this world, so let's look at what it actually says.
Faith speaks up
The Bible is full of God's people speaking out against injustice.
Amos 5:24: "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Micah 6:8 tells us to "act justly and love mercy."
Our faith doesn't call for silence. It calls for action against oppression and falsehood.
Jesus himself overturned the tables in the temple. Righteous anger against corruption isn't just allowed. Sometimes it's necessary.
The world is broken
The Bible doesn't promise that everything turns out fine, at least not here.
Job was blameless and upright, and he suffered immense loss and pain.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 says it plainly: "I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all."
This world is flawed and broken by sin. Often the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.
The promise is heaven, not comfort
Christianity offers hope. But not mainly in the form of earthly comfort or victory.
Jesus said in John 16:33: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
The overcoming isn't promised in this life. It's promised in the life to come.
Revelation 21:4 speaks of a new heaven and a new earth with no more death, mourning, crying or pain.
Our true victory is there, not necessarily here.
Keep the faith anyway
Hebrews 11, the "Hall of Faith," lists people who never saw God's promises fulfilled in their lifetimes. They kept going anyway.
"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13).
We're called to endure. To keep the faith even when the world looks like it's falling apart.
What this means
Being a Christian doesn't make us naive about injustice. It doesn't mean we expect God to fix every earthly problem on our schedule.
It means we have a worldview that prepares us for hardship, calls us to stand for justice, and promises redemption, not in this life, but in the next.
We're voices in the wilderness. Lights in dark places.
Not because we think everything will turn out fine here. Because we know there's a greater justice, a perfect peace and an eternal reward beyond this life for those who persevere.
So don't watch from the sidelines. Get into God's redemptive story, and keep pointing to the hope beyond it.
— Richard K. Marshall Lexington, Kentucky
Originally published on X: https://x.com/RichMarshall/status/1829551454488584601 · . Refreshed .