There is no sense in evading the truth; even though doing so may endear you to more people and be slightly more comfortable. But God doesn’t call us to live easy lives, and when Christians choose to stay silent – take the easy way – the world suffers.

America is currently at a fork in the road, and the church gets to be the decision maker. The horrors of WW2 and Nazi Germany could have been prevented if the church chose to wake up, see what was happening, and speak out against it. But they didn’t. And the whole world suffered. Many of the churches in America are soundly asleep, content to do nothing but preach a watered down version of the gospel. But the Great Commission doesn’t solely say “preach the gospel.” We’re supposed to be making disciples, and teaching them to obey the commands of God. But a sleeping church cannot do that. We’re supposed to live our faith out – or we may not actually have true faith.

Illinois Family Institute’s Faith Family and Freedom banquets are already an amazing time, and the 2023 (or was it 2022?) banquet was no exception. Eric Metaxes, a speaker, radio host, and author of many books including Bonhoeffer, Is Atheism Dead? and Letter to the American Church, was our keynote speaker, and his message, Awake, You Who Sleep, is worth listening to multiple times.

If you’ve ever wondered what the role of the church should be in a post-Christian society or been concerned over how silent the church has been, you need to listen to this talk. Not only was it incredibly informative and inspiring, but it was hilariously amusing and enjoyable to listen to.