In the early 1970s our solitary TV channel regularly screened old Swashbuckler films. Few things brought more delight than to see two sailing ships come side-by-side and engage in a pitched cannon-to-cannon battle. Of course, all of this inevitably led to frenzied hand-to-hand deck combat and the rescue of a damsel in destress—Errol Flynn never looked better.
There was one thing that was ever present in those films: You knew your friends and enemies by the colours of the flags they flew; their colours showed their loyalty. To Nail One’s Colours to the Mast meant that they would fight to the death, rather than surrender. Conversely, to Strike One’s Colours was to lower the flag in a show of surrender.
By the end of the 1970s I had met Christians who bravely Flew their Colours for Jesus; men and women who were loyal to the truth and fought to uphold it in a hostile world.
Decades have come and gone since then and I have met many more Christians from around the world who also continue to fight the good fight. I have watched them take up the Sword of the Spirit to fight against the devil’s false teachers and troublemakers. Faithful brothers and sisters who have rejected denominationalism and secularism in their many forms, and have firmly Nailed their Colours to the Mast; they would rather die than Strike their Colours!
Words cannot express the hurt I feel for those who have surrendered to the devil; brethren I once worked and worshipped with in the Lord’s church. My love for them is still as strong today as it was then.
But what can we do?
One thing is for sure, we must never surrender with them! We must fight for the truth and pray that our Prodigal brethren return to the Captain of their Salvation.
Along with my faithful brothers and sisters, I too have Nailed my Colours to the Mast!
John Staiger
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