I Can No Longer Hold My Nose…or the Fort

If you have been around church circles for any length of time you may have heard the phrase, “hold the fort”. The original use of the phrase “hold the fort” was a military order wired by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1864 to General John M. Corse at Allatoona during the Civil War. Records show that the actual words had been “Hold out, relief is coming”, but “fort” is what caught on and was further popularized when it was made the refrain of a gospel song by Philip Paul Bliss. It was the connection to this gospel song that in all likelihood made it a common phrase in church life. It basically means that if the commander of a fort decided for any reason to depart, he would have to leave some of his men to the charge of a reliable officer to hold the fort against any possible attack of the enemy while he was away. Of course, by all means, hold the fort. No officer or army worth it’s commission should willingly give up ground to the enemy.

Initially, I suspect, the phrase rallied the Church to maintain it’s long held moral positions with the culture and defend the ground it was holding by the invading adversaries of relativism and secularism. The fort can be a symbol of our values and freedoms that we have long cherished and believe a society is the better for upholding them too. Yes, it’s easy to make a case for “holding the fort” for the Christian in the 21st century living in America. It’s hard to argue that (no, let’s change it to impossible to argue) our Judeo-Christian ethic is making its last stand. The barbarians are surrounding us. Simple expressions of faith in the culture risk litigation from the all watching eye of secularism. Coaches who voluntarily pray are fired while celebrity athletes who disrespect our traditions are venerated. Part-time Christian pastors working in government positions are fired while Muslims with radical ties are welcomed and hired into sensitive government positions. A Christian studying for a psychology degree cannot say homosexuality is wrong without being ejected from the program, while a secularist in the same program can say (and is expected to) that Christianity is the problem and be awarded scholarships. Yes, the fort is being attacked and it’s easy to make the case to “hold the fort”.

But let this sink in…

If all you do is “hold the fort”…

If all you do is play defense…

If all you do is perpetually react to your adversaries…

You will never move forward…

At best, you might, for a season, maintain the walls that are currently erected…

However…You will never take new ground…

You will never reform a culture…

You will simply delay the inevitable…

Which is your captivity…

I can no longer hold the fort. I can no longer empower people to civic leadership of whom I have to hold my nose and only gain a fleeting moment of potential (not assured) reprieve as we watch the clock move to midnight. Oh, I hear the replies and have heard them stated ad infinitum concerning our children and our grandchildren. I have heard the pragmatism of two party realities and how unsophisticated and naïve I must be to suggest another route. Of course, I am vehemently opposed to Hillary Clinton and the godless democratic platform which is the root of all kinds of evil. However, my trust bridges are completely burned to believe that Donald Trump and the GOP are not pandering to evangelicals to convince us that one more time they are the ones to help us “hold the fort” when there is ample evidence that is not the case. We have been holding this fort for decades and the walls keep shrinking in upon us. We may hand our progeny a Trump presidency and assuage our fears that we did something to help them, but make no mistake that at best, all you did was infinitesimally slow the shrinking of this fort you are holding. And that may be the most deceptive part of all of this. We are normalizing and perpetuating the strategy of “fort holding”. We are entrenching the picture that we are more about political expediency rather than political courage. Instead of flipping the table like our Master was known to do, we capitulate to get our seat at the table. Instead of making our civic leaders come to us, we scramble with joy to lick the crumbs of promises they drop under that same table. Reformation is not perpetuation of the people and practices that got us to this place. Until we see that, our “fort” will continue to get bombed.

I have decided to vote for Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party. The state of South Carolina allows no write-ins for other consideration, but Castle represents a platform that moves my Christian concerns forward. He is qualified according to an Exodus 18:21 template. He represents the embodiment of the message that I am looking for leadership on the things that concern me, not patronization. And to some degree, it represents the breaking out of the “hold the fort” mentality.

Now before the comment section lights up…I have kids and grandkids too. I want the best for them and wish I could transport them all back to another time and place where their worldview was much more predominant…but that is not possible. Just as I am told that I need to accept political reality, I now look at the Church and it’s leaders to say it is time to accept cultural reality. I choose to show my heritage the courage of breaking free from the “hold the fort” mentality. I am teaching them that their era will demand more Daniels and the three boys. I am exhorting them to stand strong in Babylon for the Lord and His ways and not assimilate Babylon into their thinking. I am reminding them that holding one’s nose can be a manifestation of compromise if one is not careful. I am teaching them that there are times for the sake of the Gospel and the cause of Christ one must lay their life down. (Matthew 10:39, 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24, 17:33; John 12:25, 13:37; Philippians 1:21)

And while this election is only a week away, I understand the minds of people are ostensibly made up. Perhaps the thoughts on this blog site can be seeds in the minds of people in the years to come. I recognize that my voice is a small one which will be drowned out by pastors and pundits who are considered experts, but as for me and my house…we can no longer hold the fort. We choose to be reformers and not enablers.