Royalty does not bow to the mob (Authentic Servant: What I Learned from the Life of David Brainerd Part 4)

In my recent trip to a country that has a constitutional monarchy, I became fascinated with the royal family’s confidence and steadfastness to their role in society regardless of the international media’s heavy criticism. The late royals, in particular, epitomized true noblesse oblige. 

Professionals cower before thought leaders. Influencers get driven to public meltdowns when criticized. Commoners mudsling each other to “raise their stock” at the expense of another. But the monarchy of this country remains standing — dignified and unwavering. They do not cower before the public because of their firm belief that they were born to represent the gods of a higher world. 

Yet the God that we genuine Christians serve is the One True God. He is the King and Lord of all. Earthly monarchs can be deposed, and empires fall. But the Lord Jesus reigns forevermore! Hence His Word is true and His commands are just. Popes, kings, and scholars have laid their hands on the Scriptures to destroy them. Those men are gone like a vapor. But the Word of God still stands. 

Uncompromising

The Bible, though reviled by most, is the solid foundation of life. It is therefore a travesty that we Evangelicals are constantly trying to dilute its message to accommodate an ungodly culture. We deceive ourselves into thinking that we can make the Gospel more palatable to the crowds by compromising with wicked philosophies just because they were published in some journal or parroted by a personality whom we idolize. 

Then in the place of obeying and teaching the entire counsel of Scripture, we concoct all sorts of programs that treat the symptoms without addressing the cause of it all: sin. How unfortunate it is when this error is committed in the name of missions! That’s why we must emulate ministers like David Brainerd for being uncompromising in teaching Biblical truth.

Brainerd did not have fancy programs that sought to fulfill all the felt needs of the Native Americans. Rather, he catechized them with the Scriptures. Brainerd did not try to “establish common ground” with them by accepting their religious rituals as one of the ways to worship God. No, he called those practices for what they were according to the Bible: demonic! 

From the seeker-centered perspective, Brainerd committed a grave error that would prevent people from accepting Jesus. Yet history shows us that spiritual revival broke forth among the Native Americans because of his Biblical preaching.

The Foundation for Brainerd’s Noblesse Oblige

Because Brainerd held a high view of the Scriptures, he pressed on with teaching them to his flock regardless of the depression and anxiety that he felt. Never once did he deny his feelings — he just never allowed them to rule his life. He could’ve fled to the comforts of the life of a haciendero. Instead, Brainerd prayed to the Lord about his struggles and studied the Word. The spiritual strength that emanated from abiding in Christ empowered him to obey God’s will for him to remain in the mission field even when he did not feel like it. Brainerd then found joy in knowing Jesus more as he served among a people ostracized by society even when he received neither money nor validation.

In our current cultural climate, feelings are prioritized over truth. The ultimate virtue has become the protection of emotions, whether ours or those of others. But the more we bow to feelings at the expense of our integrity, the more people will find microaggressions that offend them until no words of comfort, no apology, no validation is ever enough. We consequently find ourselves constantly fearful that we might not please the crowd. Or if we are obsessed with our feelings, we get trapped into morbid introspection about how oppressed we are by a terrifying world even if we are blessed far more than what we deserve.

The ultimate cure for all these fears is to replace them with a greater fear — the fear of God Himself, for He does not bow to the mob. They that live by their feelings will one day be devoured by the monsters that they create. But they that obey the Word of God despite the wrath of hell will receive the King’s just reward! 

“It is impossible for any rational creature to be happy without acting all for God. There is nothing in the world worth living for but doing good and finishing God's work, doing the work that Christ did. I see nothing else in the world that can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing His whole will.” (David Brainerd)

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. 

REFERENCE:

Edwards, J. (1949). The Life and Diary of David Brainerd (P.E. Howard, Jr., Ed.). Baker Book House (Original work published in 1749).