Judges 7 Moment in America?

I was reading the story of Gideon to my kids the other day, and it reminded me of the American church. 

The story is really amazing every time.  Gideon is about to face a coalition of the armies of several Midianite tribes.  His army of 32,000 men seems smallish already and woefully ill-equipped for this mission.

But God doesn't say they have too few; He says they have too many.  So Gideon invites everyone who is afraid to leave.  You can imagine how a couple of people left sort of sheepishly, until more and more decided to go, and then it hit a tipping point where it seemed everyone was going to leave.  When everyone had made their choice, 22,000 men had deserted, and only 10,000 remained. 

Now the army seemed really small, but God still said it was too many.  He had Gideon watch the men drink from the river, and everyone who got down on their knees and put their face in the water was sent away.  Well, that seemed to be the normal way to drink from a river in that time, because 9,700
men drank from their knees and were sent home.  Only 300 men remained.

What did these men have in common?  What does it have to do with the American church?

First, they were brave and determined.  They did not tremble with fear at the thought of a fight, and they didn't leave when everyone else did.

Second, they had genuine faith.  It would have been hard to see Gideon send away more than 99% of their fighting force and still believe that God would give them victory.  But these men acted in the same type of bold faith (shouting in victory before the victory was seen) as their forefathers had outside the walls of Jericho.

Third, they were alert.  Scripture doesn't give us a reason that God chose the men who "drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs"; maybe He just took the smaller group.  But it seems that those who drank from their hands could still see, while those on their knees could not. 

There is some panic among church observers that the church in America is in decline.  Attendance is down, baptisms are down, and giving is down, across pretty much every denomination.  The percentage of "Nones" (those with no religious belief) is on the rise.  And this is happening just as the enemy seems to be at his strongest in American culture.

But I am not afraid.  I think this time is a lot like this story of Gideon.

There was once a social or political advantage to being seen as a "good Christian" and churchgoer.  Now, there is increasingly a social cost.  Those who fear that kind of cost are walking away.  There goes the 22,000.

Others will close their eyes to the dangers of this world, allowing themselves to be attacked from every angle.  Their gospel will be perverted, and though they are unafraid to continue to identify with Christ, they are no longer useful to the fight.  They have been absorbed into another group, and they will fight their battles instead.  There goes the 9,700.

What's left are those who had the audacity to believe God that the victory is won already, whether we face deadly persecution like our brothers in the Middle East or are slapped with all sorts of labels as the mainstream of society increasingly excludes and tries to silence us. 

The point of the story is that the 300 were right.  God did give them the victory.  I believe our numbers will continue to decrease, but that God will strengthen the faith of those who remain, and the church will be purified in anticipation of Jesus' Return.  And we know He will win in the end.