What is the importance of proclaiming the Christian faith? Many times in our society we are urged to exercise "tolerance" and encourage people's "autonomy." In other words, we are not to stand firmly on a point of view and we should not try to influence others to take on that point of view, especially if that point of view disagrees with our predominantly liberal secular and anti-Christian establishment. But Jude reminds us in verse 1 to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (ESV). And Isaiah 29.13 tells sorrowfully of people whose "fear of me is a commandment taught by men" (ESV), i.e., it is not something they have adopted and held to themselves, but which they follow as a mere cultural idiom.
God calls his people to wholehearted commitment - contending for the faith. We are to do all we can to influence our society to take on the Christian faith, not simply as a societal pattern but as a similar wholehearted commitment. That's the call God has for his people. The very idea that sin is real and that it can be atoned for by death, specifically by the death of Jesus on the behalf of every sinner is repugnant to our world. But that is the faith which has been delivered to us. That is the message we are given. And it is the only message Christ's Church has borne throughout the millennia.
Will we hold to Christ's message wholeheartedly? No. We will fail. But we can try, trusting our Lord for the strength to engage our world in the battle for people's hearts and minds. And as we try and fail we can show the repentance and receive the forgiveness that is so very foreign to our culture. Let's go, knowing that God's kingdom is real, his promises are real, and he will never leave us or forsake us.
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