The Cost of Following Christ: Why I Wish the Church Would Stop Giving Ground

I'm not a pastor. I'm not a theologian. I'm a guy who reads his Bible and takes it at its word. And from where I'm standing, the church has a problem.

It keeps giving ground.

The Retreat

Not every church. Not every denomination. But broadly — across the Western church — there's been a slow, steady retreat from conviction. A softening. A willingness to bend on things that aren't supposed to bend.

Evolutionary thinking creeps in, and instead of standing on Genesis, the church says "Well, maybe God used evolution." Muslim thinking creeps in, and instead of declaring that Christ is the only way, the church says "All Abrahamic faiths worship the same God." Feminist thinking creeps in, and instead of holding to the roles and structures God laid out, the church says "We need to be more inclusive and modern."

Each concession seems small. Each one is framed as compassion, or progress, or relevance. But each one gives away a piece of the foundation.

And here's what I know from construction: you don't notice a cracked foundation until the walls start leaning. By then, the damage is structural.

What I Wish

I wish the church would stand stronger on what it believes.

Not louder. Not angrier. Not meaner. Stronger.

There's a difference between yelling at the world and standing firm within it. I'm not asking churches to start culture wars. I'm asking them to stop surrendering the battles that matter.

Stand on Christ. He is faithful and true. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Not a way. Not a truth. The way. The truth. When the world says that's arrogant or exclusive, the church shouldn't flinch. It should say: "He said it, not me. Take it up with Him."

Stand on scripture. The Bible doesn't need to be updated. It doesn't need to be reinterpreted to match the current cultural moment. It has survived every empire, every philosophy, every movement, and every attack for thousands of years. It will survive this one too. But only if the church keeps standing on it instead of stepping off to chase relevance.

Stand on truth. Evolution will be shown to be incomplete. Cultural philosophies that contradict scripture will be shown to be lies. Not because Christians are smarter than everyone else, but because Christ is true — and everything that contradicts Him eventually collapses under its own weight.

Why This Matters for the End Times

The book of Revelation describes a church in the last days that is lukewarm:

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." — Revelation 3:15-16

Lukewarm. Not hostile to God — just not committed. Not atheist — just not on fire. Comfortable. Moderate. Reasonable.

The church that gives ground on Genesis becomes the church that gives ground on the resurrection. The church that says "all paths lead to God" becomes the church that can't explain why the Tribulation is happening. The church that bends on everything eventually breaks on the one thing that matters.

The Standard

Christ never gave ground. Not once. Not to the Pharisees, not to the Romans, not to Satan himself in the wilderness.

When tempted with power, He quoted scripture. When pressed to compromise, He spoke truth. When facing death, He didn't negotiate. He endured.

That's the standard. Not perfection — endurance. Not having all the answers — having the right foundation. Not winning every argument — refusing to abandon the truth even when it costs you.

I wrote Surviving the Antichrist because I believe the church needs to wake up before it's too late. The Tribulation is coming. The Antichrist will demand worship. The mark will demand allegiance. And the church that has spent decades giving ground will not suddenly find the strength to stand.

But the church that stands firm now — on Christ, on scripture, on uncompromised truth — that church will produce believers who can endure anything. Even seven years of hell on earth.

Stand firm. The ground you hold today is the ground your children will fight on tomorrow.

Surviving the Antichrist is available now on Amazon. 40 chapters of prophetic fiction. 15 chapters of survival training. 500+ pages.