Onward, Christian Soldiers
When I was boy in grade-school, we would begin every school-day by singing the song, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Even as we pledged our allegiance to the country, we would pledge our allegiance to the cause of Christ and follow it up with the first stanza:
Onward, Christian soldiers,
marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
see his banner go!
Onward, Christian soldiers,
marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
going on before!
The language of this song strikes some as over the top – the experience of the American Christian seems a poor match for the language of war. We have lived in great comfort, attended church services at our leisure, and only battled temptations common to the life of every human being who has ever lived. What is more, we have enjoyed the freedom to evangelize to whatever degree we are willing to do so. While some individuals have experienced great hardship, corporately we have experienced very little. We’ve had it made.
Now, it feels like things have changed.
Every day, I am revisited by the shock that I cannot gather with my church family. We have taken on this burden freely, out of concern for one another and for our community. We are striving to act in obedience to that command akin to the greatest: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[Mark 12:31 NIV] As followers of Jesus, we have been called to carry a cross, and we are carrying it in this moment. This hardship, our distance from one another, brings with it temptation. I think of Jesus as He wandered through the desert, alone and without food and drink. His 40 day fast was as righteous as it was dangerous. As I consider our situation, the sacrifice of our physical fellowship is righteous, and even full of opportunity, but likewise full of danger.
After this season, will sheep be missing from the flock? As we walk in this desert, will one of my brothers or sisters despair and become entangled in sin? These questions and more haunt me. But I believe in God. I believe in the promise of my Lord Jesus when He told us, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [Mat 16:18 ESV] I believe in the work that Christ has already accomplished and will bring to completion in my brothers and sisters.
You and I are soldiers of Christ and this hour is our fight. Our church must press onward, determined to build up the Body of Christ, even at a distance. We must be ambitious, eager to scratch and claw for every opportunity available to us even now to proclaim and live out before others the good news of Jesus Christ, His reign and saving power. Our ancestors, our brothers and sisters from ages past, have faced down even darker days. We stand today in their tradition and by the power of Christ we shall do the same.
As a boy, we didn’t sing the last two verses of “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” I wish we had. Together, let us march onward with these words as our anthem:
3 Like a mighty army
moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
where the saints have trod;
We are not divided;
all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
one in charity. [Refrain]
4 Onward, then, ye people,
join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices
in the triumph song;
Glory, laud, and honor,
unto Christ the King;
This thro' countless ages
men and angels sing. [Refrain]
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.