On Doing Exploits

Subtleties of the English language can have far-reaching consequences. Much farther reaching, perhaps, than is immediately evident. Recently, I was reading a book by the great J.I. Packer, wherein he quoted from the book of Daniel in both the King James and the RSV. The translators of the former rendered the verse, “the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” The latter rendered the last phrase, “take action,” instead of “do exploits.” I am no scholar of Hebrew, and I shall leave it to those who are learned in the subject to decide which translation better captures the

St. George does an exploit 

meaning of the original. Each version attempts to take the Hebrew wording and express the same thought in English. Translation is as much of an art as it is a science, perhaps more so. Regardless, I find that the King James rendering is a far stronger sentence.

To take action means to begin doing something. It means not to stand idle. It is, fundamentally, reactive. One must take action for a specific purpose, to fight against something which is being done, or for something which is not being done but ought to be. On the other hand, “do exploits” carries a sense of completion. It is not an unfinished act, but one that is accomplished, carried out to its end. It is an action still, but one that is seen through to perfection, in a strictly biblical sense of the word, which means not flawless, but rather lacking nothing. Action is a process, an exploit is an event. According to one dictionary, it is a bold or daring feat.

As the people of God, we are to be strong, and do exploits. It is not enough to simply take action, leaving that action unfinished. We must not begin a process of doing something, but we must do that thing in actuality.

Taking action can be safe. Not so safe, perhaps, as sitting idle, hunkering down in self-preservation and waiting for the storm to pass. Yet it can be safe in that it lacks commitment. We will act just so far as to soothe our consciences, but we will never step so far over the line as to take upon ourselves any really meaningful risks. That Christianity became largely irrelevant to culture and politics during the 20^th century, and has largely remained so until today, can be chalked up largely to cowardice. Christians ceased to take their faith seriously, and ceased to exert influence on the societies in which they lived. Consequently, we have gone from the shapers and guardians of Christendom, to a bedraggled minority who whimper sullenly in protest before grudgingly accepting whatever edict is handed down to us by our secular overlords. It is because at worst we have done nothing, and at best we have acted halfheartedly.

We need bold and daring feats. We need exploits.

Doing an exploit means total commitment. Not bowing to the king’s statue, and talking smack to the king when he calls you out for it, is an exploit. Being thrown into a den of lions for praying publicly under penalty of death is an exploit. Transforming a pagan and hostile empire by the sheer, irrepressible power of the Gospel of Christ into a Christian Nation is an exploit. And throwing off the shackles of a Church which has plunged that Gospel under layers of corruption and works, penitence and indulgences, Saints and their graven images, and rekindling the light of true religion in Europe—my friends, that is an exploit.

The people of God have always been able to do exploits for “if God is for us, who can be against us?” The Word of God is as powerful now as it was when the Gospel blazed a swath through Rome, carried along by the Spirit of God, down the very roads which Caesar built to defend his power, and as powerful as it was a millennium and a half later, when it thundered through Europe afresh, unleashed by Luther’s pen and Gutenberg’s press.

The great things have not all been done, nor has history yet come to completion. We need not be afraid, either of the sword of ISIS or the censure of secular culture, for those who would oppose us can at most kill the body, and no more. But the God we serve can give us a new one, because the greatest exploit in history was already accomplished by Christ on the cross.

We must not sit idle. We must not merely take action. We must be strong, and do exploits.