The modern world is obsessed with the illusion of a “neutral” ground—a phantom space where men might dwell without reference to the Almighty, as if the Creator could be politely asked to step outside His own creation while the creatures deliberate on its rules. This secular fantasy suggests that a society can function in a vacuum of “tolerance” and “human values” while severing the very roots from which those values grew. Yet, the scriptures afford no such sanctuary for the indifferent. We are reminded that “the earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). To suggest that any sphere of life—be it education, law, or the inner chambers of the heart—is beyond the jurisdiction of the King is not merely a philosophical error; it is a high act of spiritual treason.
The controversy of the Gospel has never been its invitation to a private piety, but its insistence on a public lordship. The world is quite content to allow a man to worship a “God of his understanding” in the quiet of his own home, provided that God remains a silent partner in the man’s public life. But the Christ of the Bible is no silent partner. He is the Sovereign who declares, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). This claim is absolute. It leaves no room for the partitioned life. When the believer stands for the sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, or the absolute nature of truth, he is not “imposing his views” upon a neutral state; he is acknowledging a pre-existing reality to which the state itself is subject. To remain silent in the face of the world’s rebellion under the guise of “neutrality” is to forget that “he that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).
We must, therefore, discard the cowardly notion that we can serve two masters by carving out a secular space for our civic duties and a sacred space for our Sunday mornings. The truth is a jealous thing; it demands the whole of a man and the whole of his world. If we truly believe that “by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17), then every thought must be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The friction we feel with the culture today is not a sign that the Gospel has failed, but a sign that the Light is doing its work in the darkness. We do not seek the approval of a world that is passing away, but rather the “well done” of the Master whose Kingdom shall have no end. In the final analysis, there is no middle ground, for the cross of Christ stands as the ultimate dividing line of history, forcing every soul to decide: is He Lord of all, or not Lord at all?