The photograph that you see is of a shipyard worker who refused to give the Nazi salute. Never underestimate the courage that it took for this man to refuse to salute evil. There was a devilishly simple yet brilliant strategy that compelled all of German society to give each other the Nazi salute. Fail once to return the salute would arouse suspicion, fail a second time and you would more than likely have the Gestapo knocking at your door and looking into your background. And so the Nazi salute had become a kind of social litmus test to see if you were loyal to the state. I want you to ask yourself this question. If you, as a born again Christian, were alive in Germany during the war, would you give the salute or not? Would you have the courage of your convictions? Would you simply rationalize it away with thoughts like ” well I know it does not really mean anything so why cause a stir?” Wrong, it does mean something. It is symbolic and it was an issue of conformity. This is how evil rises. The inability to stand apart from the crowd. Do not be fooled, we are already in the midst of a society that is compelling us to conform. Will you conform, will you bow to the gods of this world?

At a church I attended for about ten years, early on the Holy Spirit convicted me not to stand and applaud for any man. God alone deserved me standing to my feet and He alone deserved my applause. You may not agree with my conviction, but it was just that, my conviction. It never got easy. Every single time I was aware that I was the only one seated in a room full of people standing and applauding, sometimes wildly. I felt the eyes of those around me on me. I could almost read the thoughts. “Who does he think he is?” “Look, he is too good to stand.” I could actually “feel,” the pressure to conform. My own nature working against my spirit along with the spirit of man. We identify this in teenagers and call it peer pressure. We know that it is powerful. This thing called peer pressure never leaves us. There is something in us a men and women that wants to fit in, to be popular or at the very least, not to be hated. No one really wants to stand out in a hostile crowd. Yet is that not exactly what we are called to as born again Christians?

In 250 AD the Roman emperor Decius issued an edict to the Roman world. The edict demanded upon pain of death that everyone in the Roman empire must perform a sacrifice to the Roman Gods and call for the well being of the emperor. Typically burning incense would be good enough but here is the kicker, it had to be performed before a Roman magistrate who would then issue a signed certificate. You might think this was a disaster for the Christian community and would totally decimate it. Yet, in Carthage, so many “Christians,” showed up on the particular day to perform the sacrifice that it had to be extended for two days. This caused a serious rift in the Christian community that never healed. Those who sold out to the state were seen by the minority or remnant as traitors who had committed monstrous tyranny by denying the Lord Jesus while acknowledging the gods of the Roman world. This would not be the last time events of this magnitude occurred and the sifting would continue.

I would like to put it to you that we are seeing similar events taking place now which will only increase in intensity. Litmus tests and the gods of this world are, as we speak, demanding that those who hold to the name of Jesus bow down to them. Denominations of varying sizes are falling and many are falling over themselves, just as in Carthage, to join in and be identified with the world so as to have their favor and avoid any of the consequences of standing up to they tyranny of conformity. Yet, in every village and in every town and the great cities of the world wherever the name of Jesus is named, there will always be a witness that refuses to be identified with the world, who refuses to give the salute, to bow the knee, to burn incense to the gods of this world. Daniel threw open his window and prayed openly in defiance of the world and its edicts as did the Hebrew children. What say you saint? Will you refuse to stand, will you refuse to bow down to the gods of this world? It may cost you everything in this world but you will certainly gain the next.