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by Charlie Wolcott

I had an Old Earth Creationist with a PhD in geo-chemistry ask me, “Do you know what the scientific community thinks of you (referencing Young Earth Creationists)?” My response was simple, “Yes, and their opinion has value why?” My other response, should I get asked that again, will be something along the lines of, “Yes, I know what they think. Welcome to Christianity. Get used to it.”

There has been a big push in Christendom the past view decades to win people over to your churches with names, prestige, entertainment, activities, and other things. What used to be known as the “Emergent Church,” but now known as “Progressive Christianity,” is the big pushing movement on this. The idea is to get as many people in the churches, making confessions of faith, looking good to the world, and by all means NEVER being counter-cultural. Any such notion or flavor of this is nothing more than an attempt to have a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. It is an outright farce and it rightfully deserves to be a laughing stock from both God and this world.

As Christians, we are never called to appeal to the world or its way of thinking. Jesus repeatedly stated that his kingdom was not of this world, so why do so many church leaders insist on appealing to the world’s interests and way of life to “connect” with them? Yes, we must speak to them in a way they can understand, but we are never to embrace the world’s philosophies or ideas in doing so. You do not need to drink and get drunk to reach alcoholics. You do not need to go to an “adult night club” to ‘understand’ and reach prostitutes. Yet many people have this mindset in order that the lost might listen to us.

Christianity is meant to be counter-cultural. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the moral of society.”

We are meant to change culture to the norm that God has established. God never authorized to try to change it via political means (though participation and voting are most certainly proper responsibilities) but through spiritual means. We can set up our protests and petitions all we want, but it will never do anything. What is greatly missing in Christianity is POWER, and you will never find the power necessary to actually live the Christian life in the way of life, and particularly the way of thinking, of this world. In fact, you often will only find it after you make a complete and total fool of yourself in obedience to Christ.

God’s way of doing things is totally opposite of how we do things. He had Joshua march around Jericho in silence 13 times over seven days and then blow horns. He had Gideon shrink his army from 32,000 to 300 against Midian with a much larger army. Jehoshaphat led his army against three nations with singers and worshipers. Over and over and over again, God chose to do things the foolish way for the explicit purpose of not allowing any man to take glory from him. If we are going to be obedient to Christ, this world is going to think we are fools and idiots. Yet, when we are obedient, watch God move.

The label “fool” may not strike much meaning with us, so let me give some alternative insults we can expect to receive. Idiot! Dolt! Stupid! Uneducated! Primitive! Bigot! Liar! Science-denier! Insane! Child-Abuser! Blockhead! Ignorant! Moron! Dunce! Let me stop at that one because that’s actually a complement.

In one of his sermons (around the 20:00 mark), Eric Ludy explains the origin of the “dunce cap.” It was named after John Duns Scotus who lived in Scotland around the time of William Wallace. He wore the famed pointed hat which he said pointed to the One Way, Jesus Christ. He was also considered one of the most brilliant and most intelligent men who ever lived. Yet because of his bold stance for Christ, the dunce cap was named after him.

Rees Howells had to go through the foolish route. In the late 1800s to early 1900s in England, it was not only typical but expected to wear a hat in public. God told Howells to go hatless into London. It was a life-changing experience. He said this in response to this incident:
"The hundred and one excuses the flesh made! But the Holy Ghost would have none of them. He had planned all this to prove whether I would obey Him rather than man. People say very flippantly sometimes that it is an honor to be a fool for Christ's sake--but it is quite another thing actually to be called to do it by the Holy Ghost!" ~Rees Howells, Rees Howells: Intercessor, pg 107

Richard Wurmbrand, who started The Voice of the Martyrs, would not deny Christ in Communist Romania when all other pastors around him cursed the name of Jesus while guns were pointed at them. He spent 14 years being brutally tortured to the point where he could not wear shoes in prison. William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, would march through the East End of London, the most decadent place on earth at the time, and would have rotten vegetables, bricks, bats, and even feces thrown at him as he marched through to his destination. He often arrived bloodied and bruised and with a great smile on his face. These men were the laughing stock of their areas, but something followed them: the power of the Holy Spirit. Lives were changed and society changed with them.

As a young-earth creationist, I get mocked and ridiculed online quite frequently. I understand that it comes with the territory. So does being an authentic Christian who does not cave nor cower to the world or the world system. While I do not like being insulted, I am growing to appreciate it. After all, what greater complement can we get from the greatest fools of this world? Yes, I am saying all those educated scientists, philosophers, psychologists, politicians, teachers, etc. who reject the Word of God are the biggest fools of the world. That’s not my insult. That is from God himself: see Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1, and 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 just for starters.

Paul himself was labeled a “babbler,” a crazy-talker, for preaching Christ and Christ crucified in Athens. He was brought to Mars Hill not to give a message but so he could be made a public spectacle. And what did Paul do? He told the experts of the experts of the world at the time they were all wrong, and he directly attacked the very heart of their worldview. He did reference their beliefs, but he never embraced them nor sought to include his message into what they thought. He instead directly challenged everything they knew. The Old Earth PhD I referenced at the start of this post is not only preaching a false message of an old earth, but he has repeatedly demonstrated that he cares far more about the knowledge and opinions of secular man than he does about the Gospel he claims to promote. To be honest, he is ashamed of the very name he claims to follow, because the actual message God gave embarrasses him before his peers.

What about me? While I am certainly unashamed of preaching the Gospel as it fully is, how often am I preaching it in circles outside social media? It’s easy to speak out there behind the cloud or even on these blog posts. But to speak in public where people can see you always seems to come with an extra level of dread. I grew up on the mission field, and even then I recognize I tended to avoid being the speaker out on the streets in Juarez, Mexico. As Rees Howells said, it is easy to talk about being a fool for Christ; but it is something else to be called to be a fool by God himself.

Ray Comfort has learned how to be a fool. He recently released a video of how he has responded to some of the leading atheists out there singling him out for being a “fool.” I have not watched it yet, but it has my attention. Are you willing to be a fool for Christ? To do something which will completely embarrass you in front of your peers? For the Christian, that is part of the territory. If we don’t want that, perhaps we should examine why we claim the name of Christ. Let the world call us fools and idiots and any other insult. If we stay faithful and obedient to Christ, he will vindicate us and all those curses will return back to them. We don’t need to defend ourselves (I know it’s hard.) We just need to be obedient.

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