Dave Daubenmire -- Stop Apologizing to the Devil

STOP APOLOGIZING TO THE DEVIL

Coach Dave Daubenmire
September 20, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

Is anyone besides me tired of being so nice?

That is what they are trying to convince us to be you know�.nice.

Funny, isn�t it? You can search the Bible through and through and you will be hard-pressed to find that adjective in reference to Christianity. Somewhere along the line we have become convinced that the greatest thing they can ever say about you as a Christian is that you are a �nice� man.

Nice may fit a Bible study, or a vacation with your family, but it is not very useful in war. That is one of the difficult things I am having trouble teaching our Christian football players. Nice has no place on the football field. Character is important, courage is demanded, tenacity fits, but being nice��pleasing; agreeable; delightful� is a sure-fire way to get the snot knocked out of you. (Is it okay to say snot? Probably doesn�t sound very �nice� to some folks.)

Nice also has no place in the cultural war. �All�s fair in love and war� the old saying goes. Well, for those of you who want to �love� your enemies and those who want to �war� against them; it is time to take off the gloves.

The media has been after me a bit lately. They hate the fact that I am not one of those �nice� Christians that the Devil is trying to convince us we must be. Have you ever noticed that? The Devil�s kids are the one always calling the names and explaining to us how a Christian should act. Most Christians can�t wait to perform penance for not meeting the Devil�s standards of Christian-behavior.

Hey, it is a free country. They have a right to voice their opinion. But why is it that so much of the church-world takes its cue from what they hear from the media? Does anyone want to debate who is in control of what we read and hear? The Scriptures call Satan the prince of the power of the air. TV and radio waves travel in the air.

Here�s what I don�t get. If it is really a war for the souls of men, and I believe that it is, why are we so focused on being �nice� to the Devil and his evil aides? He is the father, you know, of the ones who are lost. Why do we let the Devil�s minions tell us how a Christian should behave?

It�s time we stopped apologizing to the Devil.

A few months ago I wrote about going to the gay pride parade in Columbus. We were shocked to see so many churches marching in the parade in support of sodomy and those who practice it. I was struck by how deceived those churches were. See, they were convinced that if they would just be �nice� to those who were perishing in that lifestyle, then we would all be able to enjoy the love of Jesus together. In fact, the homosexual crowd (the Devil�s �kids�) applauded the �tolerant� churches as they marched. They spit at those of us who carried the Truth of God�s love to them. Sometimes God�s love hurts.

Is it just me or was there something wrong with that picture? The Devil�s �kids� applauding the church�.sort of like a Buckeye fan rooting for Michigan. But that isn�t what really amazes me. What honks my horn is the number of churches who are mad at me because we haven�t been nice to the Devil. We shouldn�t do that, I guess -- oppose the Devil and his followers. Just doesn�t seem very Christ-like�.er�nice. �Be nice, Coach. Please be nice. You are making Christians look bad.�

Yep. The Devil says we�re mean and that Christians shouldn�t be mean. Most Christians follow his advice. Gotta be nice, you know.

Well, a few of my pastor friends (yes I still have a few friends who are pastors) decided that we have been pointing our guns at the wrong crowd. Instead of spending their time calling the lost to account they made the decision to call �the church� to account. How did they do it? Well, they went to a couple of churches who had marched in the sodomite-parade. It seems one lesbian-pastor did not appreciate her fellow brethren-of-the-cloth calling her to account for preaching a different gospel. It was just too�.well�.mean.

So how did she respond? She called her daddy�s boys in the media and told them how un-nice these mean Christians had been to her. Next thing you know, three-different publications had done stories on how these �hateful� Christians had �crashed� the services of these nice, loving, defenseless, homosexual-Christians.

You see, the media wants you to know that Bible-believing Christians are hateful but homosexual-Christians are loving. That is the Devil�s mantra. Who do you think the cowardly-church believes? The letters to the editor in the following days was filled with letters from other �nice� Christians who wanted to make sure that the Devil knew that they were sorry that some of God�s children played mean. That�s not very Christ-like, you know. Christians must play by the rules�.even if the Devil makes them.

But God is gracious. He told us it was a war. He told us they would hate us. He told us He would never leave us or forsake us. Every attack of the enemy is a chance to stand-up for Jesus. Stop sucking on your thumb when the attack comes. The Devil doesn�t play nice. He�s counting on us to do that.

For two weeks I endured the assault of the �nicer-than-Coach� Christians and their apologies to the Devil in the local papers. They just couldn�t wait to apologize to the Devil for my opposition to his kids� behavior. By the way, did I point out that I wasn�t even involved in going to the churches? It didn�t matter. The Devil just wanted to make sure that everyone knew Christians like me were mean, and that anyone else who decided to speak up for Jesus could expect the same public smearing.

I hate to sound so prideful, but the attack just egged me on. I am not ignorant of his devices. I know when we have hit a nerve. I refuse to apologize to the Devil.

So, I wrote a letter-to-the-editor and to my amazement, they printed it. The Columbus Dispatch, the largest home-newspaper in Ohio, printed my letter at the top of the opinion page. I refused to do what so many do when attacked by the media. I wasn�t going to grovel for their approval, slobbering how sorry I was, how I had miss-spoken, and how I would soon be entering diversity training to learn to be nicer. The Lord gave me an opportunity to share the Gospel with those who are perishing as well as those who apologize to those who are perishing. Here is what the Lord allowed me to say.

Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and President of Pass The Salt Ministries www.ptsalt.com and Minutemen United www.minutemenunited.org, is host of the high octane Pass The Salt radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1999 Coach Daubenmire was sued by the ACLU for praying with his teams while coaching high school in Ohio. He now spends his energy fighting for Christian principles in the public domain.