Questions
What Is Christian Resistance?
Summary: Christian resistance is the capacity to hold the shape of Christ’s image against forces that seek to reshape us, like a dam that holds back water without losing its structure. The world exerts real pressure on Christians, and resistance requires active, sustained engagement rather than passive avoidance. Remaining shaped by Christ—conformed to his image—is not automatic; it is the fruit of deliberate formation.
Consider a dam that holds back a body of water. While the water may appear to be calm, it is exerting a massive amount of pressure. The dam is resisting that pressure and holding the water back. While the dam and the water are in contact, the dam does not lose its shape. It creates a clear boundary so that one can tell where the dam ends and the water begins.
Christian resistance is analogous to a dam holding back water in so much as we resist the pressures of the world around us and retain our shape despite forces that seek to reshape us. Our capacity to maintain our shape (which is to be conformed to the image of Christ) is the essence of Christian resistance. We refuse to allow anyone or anything to define who we are and how we act except God (Matt 4:1-11). Instead, we seek to imitate Christ by observing all Christ commanded through the power of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom in God’s word.
About the Author — James Spencer, PhD, is a theologian, author, and host of the Thinking Christian podcast, where he writes and speaks on Christian formation, political theology, and technology. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an MA in Biblical Exegesis from Wheaton College. He serves as president of the D. L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology, and as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program. His forthcoming book is Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Learn more at thinkingchristian.org.