On this day in 1978 the following words were spoken by Alexander Solzhenitsyn at Harvard’s Commencement address:  “The West has finally achieved the rights of man, and even to excess, but man’s sense of responsibility to God and society has grown dimmer and dimmer. Must one point out that from ancient times a decline in courage has been considered the first symptom of the end?”

It is interesting to note that courage is a by-product of God-centered faith:

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.   I Corinthians 16:13

The ills that plague our society that Solzhenitsyn so aptly addressed are not combated with water-cooler whining or ballot-box strategies. No, the answer for a society drowning in a lack of courageous conviction is the Gospel itself. It is the Gospel that is the rally-cry of a healthy church. What does our country need today? We need God-centered, Gospel proclaiming churches. May God grant us the passion and power to continually be this kind of church.

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