TO DIE OR NOT TO DIE — THAT IS THE QUESTION

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue, DD | www.virtueonline.org | May 29, 2026

Most pastors and priests are cowards. They will speak of sin in the abstract, in safe generalities, but never name it.

When did you last hear a priest rail against materialism? You won't — because his biggest financial supporters are wealthy parishioners whose money keeps the lights on. Rail against pride? Never — not when personal success is the American sacrament. Mention homosexuality? Expect to be denounced as homophobic, uninclusive, and bigoted until you repent of your supposed prejudice — or your congregation walks. Address women's ordination? You'll be told you're excluding half of God's creation, never mind that the Church declined to embrace it for two thousand years. We have progressed, after all. It's the enlightened 21st century. And always remember: when people leave, the plate empties — and possibly your salary with it.

Adultery is the safe target. Easy applause. But when did you last hear a preacher take on what Jesus actually said about lust in the heart? Not a word from the pulpit. Philip Yancey wrote about it. Your pastor won't.

I call this spiritual cowardice.

What is truth worth? Is it worth compromise? Scorn? Unemployment? God has promised to make a way for those who stand for truth — even when you can't see one. You've preached dozens of sermons about trusting Jesus with your soul, your salvation, your future, your daily bread. Now you're being tested. Do you answer with silence?

C. S. Lewis saw it clearly in The Screwtape Letters: "The safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

No one ever said dying on a hill was pleasant. Jesus didn't. He that would lose his life for my sake and the gospel will find it.

Churches that refuse to die on hills will die anyway. The liberal American church, in all its manifestations, is dying precisely because it compromised on human sexuality. Inclusivity, false compassion, and therapeutic affirmation were deemed more important than the plain scriptural truth that God created human sexuality as a male-female binary. That bargain is now on full display.

One day you will stand before the Creator of the universe and give an account of your stewardship. The only question is whether your answer will survive His scrutiny.

END