It’s often said that Christians are better known for what we are against than what we are for, as if Christians being for the good is somehow is in opposition to Christians being against the evil. As if we must choose one approach or the other.

But Christians can’t choose. Faithfulness in a culture like ours demands we be against many things even as we embrace the hope of the invading Kingdom of God. Otherwise, we will only offer the world a sort of moral confusion.

Take the furor over evangelical support for President Trump. It’s not an either-or situation. Moral clarity demands we be for personal integrity in our leaders as well as for the conscience protections of citizens; we must be against the taking of innocent, preborn life and for civility on Twitter.

As 2020 begins, let’s pray, as Paul did for the church at Philippi, that our love would abound with knowledge and discernment. To be faithful to Christ today, we will desperately need all three.