declaration

The above image is one of the most iconic photographs ever taken.  That eventful moment in time occurred seventy years ago; yet, the image is still widely recognized ~ as the raising of the U.S. flag on the south Pacific island of Iwo Jima.  "Planting" a flag is a highly symbolic act.  When the first humans set their feet on the surface of the moon, one of the first things they did was to raise a flag.  But not just any flag.

A flag symbolizes something more than a particular, national identity.  A flag signifies a particular society, its government, its principles and values.  A flag embodies a declaration, as if to say: "This is who we are; and, hitherto, we have prevailed."

The men in the above photograph risked their lives ~ in the midst of a war that had not yet then been ultimately decided, to raise their flag.  What was so important to them that they did risk their lives, in order to raise a piece of cloth to the wind?  It was that they wanted to make a declaration ~ both to their friends, as well as to their enemies: "This is who we are; and, hitherto, we have prevailed!"

Some doubtless would say that what those men did was a foolhardy act.  But every man on that battlefield, on that day, on both sides of that hilltop, recognized that was an act of manliness and great bravery.  It demoralized the enemy whilst, at the same time, it uplifted and emboldened those whose flag it was.  Sadly, such ideas don't seem to matter much, today.  Western societies have been emasculated; to put it very bluntly.  And that trend is bound to continue to worsen, "with mathematical certainty" (as Francis Schaeffer used to say).

Where is the Christian "flag" to be seen in America?  Where flies that ensign which belongs to the society of Blood-washed, Bible-believing, disciples of Jesus Christ, which declares: "This is who we are; and, hitherto, we have prevailed!"  No, I don't mean a blue banner with a red cross on a white background, hanging on a flagpole somewhere in rural Indiana.  I mean we need some brave Christian soldiers who will put everything on the line, to raise up the Standard of Truth ~ notwithstanding a hail of enemy fire that will surely come at them from every direction.

I can almost hear the jeers: "Hyperbole! rhetoric! bombast!"

There once was a man whose hyperbolic, bombastic rhetoric helped to inspire and provoke a nation (which had been led to the brink of destruction by an effete prime minister,) to rise up against overwhelming odds and not only resist but, ultimately, defeat their mortal foes.  Here are just a few examples of Winston Churchill's hyperbolic, bombastic rhetoric:

• Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. 

• If you're going through hell, keep going. 

• You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

It's not as if we, the Church, have no heroes nor role models.  On the contrary: the caliber of the Church's heroes and role models is such that the Church in America should be ashamed, were our pitiful condition to be contrasted with our spiritual forefathers' devout conduct and their courageous deeds.

Or dare we compare ourselves with such heroes and role models as we have a record of their character and deeds, in Scripture?  Take, for example, the apostles; of whom, the apostle Paul wrote:

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh."  (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

In that same letter to the Corinthian church, Paul admitted, concerning himself and other of his companions, that: "[We] were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life" (2 Corinthians 1:8).

The apostle Paul ~ despaired.  "Even of life."

But he didn't quit.  He didn't even slow down.  He continually went through hell ~ and kept on going.  Paul had lots of enemies ~ because, Paul stood up for something.  In fact, an enraged mob once stoned Paul and left him for dead (I suppose they had sufficient experience to judge whether he was actually dead).  Where after, Paul's friends dragged his body (corpse) outside of town.  And (the Bible says that) while those men "stood round about" Paul's apparently lifeless, bloody body, all at once Paul stood up, dusted himself off, and said: "Now, where were we?  Oh, yeah, we were preaching to the folks in Lystra...."  And back he went! (Acts 14:8-21).

I, too, have despaired.  A lot, actually.  I, too, have felt as if my beaten, bloody body has lain lifeless in some nameless street in America.

But something inside of me is saying, "Arise, shine."
Something ~ that can't be killed; that cannot die.
Something ~ that cannot surrender to defeat.
It is not in His nature.