The Christian culture that has underpinned Western society for centuries has been eroded. We're now at the point where to disagree with people on issues such as marriage and sexuality is seen as hateful. Christians are no longer seen as honorable, but as bigots. But history testifies that the more people try to destroy Christianity, the more it grows. So we are entering an exciting period of time because we’re back in the place where Christ’s church can thrive – at the margins of society.
Here are 25 quotes from Matt Chandler’s latest book, Take Heart that will give you the courage you need to live in an age of unbelief.
- “I’m convinced that if we have a God-sized, God-given courage, then we will be freed up to be the people of God, living out the mission of God, marked by the joy of God.”
- “The church thrives on the margins. That’s why our cultural moment doesn’t need to be viewed as depressing but, instead, exciting. It’s not bad news. It’s good news. We’re now back in the place where we have always flourished best.”
- “Marginalization is the space where we find out where our loves and our allegiances really lie”
- “It’s hard to be brave in the dark. But then again, it’s only in the dark that you can find out that you’re brave. Anyone can play tough guy when it’s light.”
- “The church before Christendom was made up of individuals who had a courage that could not be quenched by the fires nor torn apart by the lions. It was made up of ordinary people who together unleashed an unstoppable multiplication of churches through the known world.”
- “This idea might blow your mind, but the future is not a time that God knows about: it’s a place where he is.”
- “To tell God the Father that he should do things differently is to step into a three-hour long movie for two seconds, and then step back out and lecture the director on the storyline. That’s what it’s like. You just don’t know, and he – the fountain of life – does.”
- “We may feel anxious as we head into the age of unbelief. Who knows how long it will last, how hard it will be, or what will come next…well, God does, actually.”
- “God has got a bigger, greater plan in place that will not be stopped or hindered.”
- “You don’t get courage from looking deep within yourself. It doesn’t come from being mad at the world or from keeping your head down in the world. It comes from experiencing God.”
- “Our God does not always make the storms of opposition go away, but he is always able to make us stand up for righteousness and truth in these storms.”
- “God is far greater, far more eternal, far more sovereign, far more wonderful than anything this world may take from you.”
- “We have been invited by God to reign and rule with him through Christ, pushing back darkness and beckoning people into the light.”
- “The church is on the right side of history because we are on the side of the Lord of history.”
- “We do not wring our hands over the progress of some culture war if we know the result of the cosmic war.”
- “Grace tells you that you are loved by the Creator of everything, forgiven by the Judge of everything, overseen by the Sovereign of everything, and privileged to be used by the Sustainer of everything.”
- “When Satan says he’s taking everything worth having away from you, grace says he can never take what you most need – God.”
- “Grace laughs in Satan’s face, grace overcomes fear, grace breeds courage.”
- “Courage means we look different and distinct. It means we live righteous lives. It means we don’t deal with people in shady ways. We let people know we’re living and working for something that’s bigger than us and that’s bigger than that paycheck.”
- “Courage gives us the ability, in this age of unbelief, to speak positively and seek unity, to love those who disagree with us and seek to malign us, to be unsurprised and not angered when a society that rejects Christ does not line up its laws with those of Christ – and to keep on living and seeking to bless.”
- “The end of Christendom may have surprised and scared many Christians, but it has not taken Him aback. Our God is greater than us, and our God is greater than any cultural norm or pressure.”
- “It’s no mistake that we’ve entered the age of unbelief – it’s all part of God’s plan.”
- “It was on the margins where Christ lived, died, and rose again. It was on the margins that he built his church. It was on the margins that his church spread like wildfire.”
- “Take heart. We serve a God of infinite riches and knowledge. We are small, but he is able.”
- “You were, quite literally, made for this moment. This is a great time to be a Christian. Take heart.
This post originally appeared here and is from Matt Chandler's book, Take Heart: Christian Courage in the Age of Unbelief.
