Refuse to Retreat – Part 1

How quickly do we retreat today when there is a threat of opposition? The Thessalonians were willing to suffer for their Lord and their commitment to Him. They refused to retreat, despite every attack. In doing so, they have become a great role model for us.

You may have heard of the three Japanese soldiers Hiroo Onoda, Teruo Nakamura, and Shoichi Yokoi. Each of them was stationed on a different island during the Second World War: Onoda as a lieutenant on Lubang, in the Philippine jungle; Nakamura on an Indonesian island; Sergeant Shoichi on Guam. But the three men had something in common: When the Allied forces landed on their respective islands in 1944 and 1945, these men withdrew into the jungle with their comrades. Giving up wasn’t an option; they intended to steadfastly obey orders until the end … but their isolation meant that they were unaware when the end of the war arrived. They continued holding down the fort by themselves.

This solitary steadfastness meant that Yokoi wasn’t discovered until 1972, vacating his post when it was long overdue—nearly 27 years after the end of the war. Onoda and Nakamura returned to their homeland two years later. They had managed to hold out for 29 years after the war’s end. Onoda’s case was particularly poignant, as he would not be relieved of duty until the authorities had located his former commanding officer and flown him to the Philippine island, to give the order himself. All three of them remained at their posts for nearly 30 years after the end of the war.

It’s an incredible story connecting these three men. How they managed to survive (murder and more), or the motive which kept each of them in the jungle for so long, is a story in itself. Yet, despite the peculiar and tragic elements of their story, what’s most noteworthy is the steadfastness with which these men maintained their positions in complete isolation. How are we doing in that regard? The stakes are incomparably higher than solitary endurance amid jungle warfare, in which you can’t help but doubt your purpose. But the steadfastness of those three soldiers ended in immense disappointment.

As followers of Jesus, we belong to the Lord of all lords and King of all kings. We’ve been given the greatest thing we can ever possess: Christ and His Word. And we know that, after all the darkness of human history, He will come again at the end. He has promised not to forsake His people for a moment, even when things become very difficult. Faith in Him doesn’t lead to disappointment, but to glory and a future beyond anything we can imagine.

Nevertheless, we’re in danger of allowing ourselves to be carried away by the trends and circumstances of this life. We could be enticed or misled by temptations, or misdirected by social pressure, trying to avoid stigma and exclusion. This isn’t just a modern problem, but one that has existed since the Church began. The Apostle Paul was concerned about the young church in Thessalonica, after a riot forced him to flee in the night. Thessalonican Christians faced a strong headwind upon converting. In 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Paul writes of how they received the Word of God with joy despite their great distress. Paul felt a burden to establish believers and teach them to be resilient, instead of building them castles in the sky. As he continued on his journey, he was very worried about this young church. Would the believers remain steadfast, or would they be blown away in the headwinds?

The Steadfastness of the Thessalonians

At the time of the New Testament, Thessalonica (known as Thessaloniki or Saloniki today) was a port and trading city in what is now Greece. It was on the Via Egnatia, the great military road connecting Rome to eastern Asia. When the gospel arrived in Thessalonica, the city already had 200,000 inhabitants. Because of its location on the sea, Thessalonica had a reputation for being vicious and corrupt. Acts 17:4 teaches us that many wealthy Jewish and Roman businessmen had settled there, because of its role as a trade center. And the presence of a synagogue in the city (verse 1) leads us to conclude that numerous Jews were living there at the time.

The emergence of the Thessalonian church is described in Acts 17:1-9. Paul and Silas, along with their companions, would have needed four to five days to walk there from Philippi, where they had just been flogged. Their bloody wounds and welts probably hadn’t yet healed. But despite their pain and weakness, they continued to spread the gospel by faith.

It was Paul’s custom to begin preaching in the synagogue. This allowed him to build on the foundation he shared with the Jews and Greek proselytes: fear of God, and knowledge of the Old Testament. Through the work of God, a large church arose in Thessalonica within about three weeks. But soon after it began, it was already experiencing suffering and persecution for the sake of Christ.

After Paul was forced to leave the city because of this persecution, he arrived in Athens via Berea. From there he sent Timothy to the Thessalonians, because he was unable to go himself. Timothy eventually returned to Paul in Athens, bearing the good news of the church’s steadfastness. This news was a great comfort and true joy for the Apostle, as he writes in 1 Thessalonians 3:7-8: “For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” John MacArthur notes in his Study Bible, “Pictured here is an army that refuses to retreat even though it is being assaulted by the enemy.”

Recall those three Japanese soldiers. They endured the most difficult circumstances for nearly 30 years. By comparison, how quickly do we retreat today when there is a threat of opposition, seeking cover or ultimately going with the tide? The Thessalonians were willing to suffer for their Lord and their commitment to Him. They refused to retreat, despite every attack. In doing so, they have become a great role model for us.

On his return from his third missionary journey, Paul again passed through Thessalonica (Acts 20:1-6), along with Aristarchus and Secundus, two brothers from that very church. Aristarchus not only became the Apostle’s co-laborer, but also his fellow prisoner (Col 4:10). This is another testimony to the Thessalonians’ steadfastness. They refused to retreat, despite every attack on their faith.

Paul also uses the term for “standing fast” in other places. In 1 Corinthians 16:13, he calls for the Corinthians to watch, stand firm in the faith, and to be manly and strong. Standing fast in the faith means holding on to divine truth, to apostolic teaching as the foundation. It is about refusing to retreat despite violent attacks, and not giving ground on any of the gospel’s positions, confessions, and biblical truths. The verse also calls for the Corinthians to “act like men,” which may offend some modern sensibilities. But the Bible means what it says, and the term includes being controlled and courageous, not simply giving in through a misguided delicacy.

We also find a call to “stand fast” in the context of spiritual armor, three times in Ephesians 6. In verse 11, Paul calls believers to put on the full armor of God, in order to stand firm against the devil’s sly attacks. In verse 13, the term appears twice: one in the exhortation to “withstand” on the evil day with the armor of God, and the other in reference to being prepared to “stand firm.” In verse 14, the Apostle again calls the reader to “stand” (to stand firm), before describing the individual pieces of spiritual armor. The term is repeatedly used in the context of spiritual warfare in discipleship, and holding on to the truth (or, in other words, the fight for the gospel and the faith).

In this regard, the young church in Thessalonica is a role model for us. Paul taught them from the start that suffering and tribulations are part of following Jesus (1 Thess 3:4). But we can also see that steadfastness isn’t a foregone conclusion, given his fear for them. How great was his joy when he heard that despite every attack, they stood firm and refused to retreat in their confession of Christ and the truth.

The Challenge for Us Today

Humans fear suffering; it’s in our very nature. I’ve yet to meet anyone who would happily undergo a root canal without anesthesia. Additionally, we’ve been significantly softened by society’s prosperity and religious freedom. We should be grateful for all our advantages, but we can’t overlook the risk of having our spiritual immune system weakened by too much of a good thing. We’re also surrounded by the spirit of the age, whether consciously or not.

As I mentioned before, anything “manly” is suspect these days. Anyone who stands for a clear position that contradicts the spirit of the age, will be quickly isolated and put through the ideological and media meat grinder. It’s better to remain silent and adapt instead of exposing yourself to these attacks.

Legal scholar Cass Sunnstein addresses this phenomenon in his secular book Why Societies Need Dissent. He demonstrates that organizations at all levels of society punish those who don’t conform to the accepted narrative (often to their own detriment). We can see how this plays out in society at large, by simply observing dialogue around the LGBTQ community, gender identity, climate change, and more. Those who refuse to march in ideological lockstep are belittled.

But for me, the issue isn’t government structure or any particular social movement. Rather, my concern is the spirit of the age, in which many people are unwilling to take a firm stand on issues of politics or ethics. Our sexual ethics aren’t a matter of compromise (a concept foreign to the Bible). What we’re seeing is the conscious destruction of the Judeo-Christian morality that has prevailed for centuries. This is happening in tandem with the postmodern zeitgeist, which rejects and combats any claim to absolute truth. It is nothing less than a full-frontal assault on the Bible as God’s revelation, as well as its claim to truth. This presents us with the big challenge: Do we remain steadfast in our commitment to Jesus and the gospel, defending biblical truth and all it stands for (including sexual ethics), or do we start to withdraw, adapting so we can be spared some of the hardships?

The last century has seen the rise of a “social gospel,” which applies Christian principles to many of society’s ills. While Christians absolutely seek the good of their communities and society, the movement has also led many to believe that Christianity has a duty to support every “social justice” movement, even when it is in blatant contradiction to the faith. This remains a present danger: Many Christians fall into the trap of believing that Christianity’s main goal is to promote the causes that the mainstream and the zeitgeist deem “positive.” We’d rather opt out of any stance that could meet with strong opposition, because our reputation in society could suffer damage.

Of course, we should be wise, choosing our actions prudently. We want to win people over. But being winsome should not come at the cost of concealing the truth, because of the backlash we anticipate. Do we still have the courage to talk about heaven and hell, salvation and damnation, sin and forgiveness, God’s love and wrath?

Do we quote the Bible selectively, leaving out the parts that could give rise to resistance? For example, at a funeral we may hear, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:18a), but not the remainder of the verse: “but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Or at a wedding, we may hear cheerful instruction on mutual respect and mutual submission. But do we dare to read Ephesians 5:21-26, where we are taught about a wife’s submission to her husband and the husband’s love for his wife, a parallel to Christ’s love for the Church?

We can conceal uncomfortable parts of Scripture in our interpersonal conversation as well. Do we have the courage to represent clear positions on sexual ethics from a Scriptural basis, in the face of opposition? Or would we rather transmit radio silence in public, only whispering about it in the privacy of our own churches? A few years ago, a theologian I otherwise respect stated in a lecture that if opposition to biblical sexual ethics continues to increase, it would be best for us to keep our discussion of it behind closed church doors. We could charitably assume this advice is well-intentioned, but it is fundamentally wrong. The more we censor ourselves in public, the faster the noose tightens. R. Albert Mohler’s 2015 book on the subject makes the point in its title, We Cannot Be Silent. As he writes: “We cannot be silent because we know that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He came to save us from our sins. We cannot rightly tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ if we do not speak rightly about sin and its consequences.” Think back to the image of the army refusing to retreat, though the enemy is attacking head-on. It is the very meaning of steadfastness.

Even in some of the inner circles of evangelicalism, some have lost their desire to contend for the truth. Taking a clear position has become a sign of unkindness, or is seen as a lack of mercy, humility, and unity. Obviously, we shouldn’t behave like troublemakers, militants drunk on self-righteous opposition. But anyone who clearly and objectively stands for truth will be quickly dismissed for disturbing the peace. We need to unambiguously represent God’s truth, even when it won’t be well-received and we’ll take a hit in the reputation economy. We’re living in a time when how you’ve said something can matter even more than what you’ve said.

It starts with the issue of the Bible (on which more and more people are floundering than ever before), and continues with issues of ethics or doctrinal boundaries. Firm stances are necessary. Is the Bible really inspired by God, word for word? Does it just contain divine revelations, or is it God’s own revelation? Is Holy Scripture only infallible as far as salvation is concerned, or also in its historical and scientific statements? So much of our common understanding has begun to unravel, and we need to have the courage to stand by the eternally divine, inerrant truth of Holy Scripture in all things.

Midnight Call - 07/2025