Why The World Hates Christians

John 15:18-21

18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

John 16:1-4

1"I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

            This is why the world hates Christians. It is not mainly because of the bad examples of so many hypocritical Christians. It is not mainly because Christians are intolerant. It hates Christians because we are ‘not of this world” and “chosen out of the world” by Jesus. It first hated Jesus, and it also hates those He chooses.

            It hates the fact that we proclaim that Jesus is God and not a mere “good teacher”. It hates that we say this Jesus who lived a humble life as a homeless, despised, rejected and crucified man is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It hates the gospel—that Jesus lived a perfect life and was crucified and bore the full wrath of God the Father for our sins and then rose again, all that we might be saved (and all for HIS glory). It further hates us for saying that only His work on the cross washes away our sin—our sinful nature that we were ALL born with. It hates us for daring to say that sin is judged by a righteous and just God. It is an offense to this pluralistic world to say that “there is salvation in no one else (but Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) The world declares us intolerant and judgmental for saying that homosexuality is a sin. It declares us judgmental and foolish for saying that the murder of babies is a sin.

            And there is a day, yet even today, when those who would kill us would think they were doing God a service.

            Think about it. The world was so hostile against Jesus, so hateful of Him, that they crucified Him—murdered the very Son of God they were so desperate for. And they thought they were doing a service for God.

Will they not do the same to His servants?

            The disciples were martyred. Stephen was stoned. Paul himself before his conversion thought he was doing a service by persecuting Christians. And it continues today. Though not near as tough (yet) in the United States, the entire world is against Christianity. They hate us because they first hated Christ. And He chose us. This is a fact we cannot try and escape. And unfortunately, many self-proclaimed “Christians” are scrambling for an escape by rejecting truth and pursuing acceptance of the world.

            Today, many people who profess to be Christians would say that Jesus is NOT the only way to heaven. Many of them would say that the doctrine of sin is outdated—that we are born good and not into a sinful nature. Many of them say that if one believes in themselves enough, then good will be accomplished without the help of God. Many say that the cross is offensive. Many say that Hell does not exist. And if they do believe Hell exists, they think no one is going there. They do not stand strong in the Word against the wave of pressure and persecution to conform to the world. They say homosexuality is o.k in the church—so much so that homosexual people can be ordained. Many Christians today are more and more proclaiming a relative truth.

            And they will hate to be confronted. They will hate to be corrected. And they will call us intolerant, prideful, hateful, foolish bigots.  

           

Because they hated Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior, they will hate you, Christian. Jesus Himself said this would happen, so that when the time would come, we would not be surprised.

And be that as it may, I will hold to Galatians 6:14:

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”

Like Children We Walk

I once saw a movie that began with two people. One was a somewhat anxious man and the other was a rather in charge businessperson. It was clear due to their dialogue that the anxious man worked for the other. What was funny however was the camera shot. It was aimed directly at their shins down, focused solely on their shoes as they walked. The boss’ voice was matched by like swift and confident steps. The anxious man was fumbling with his speech and his paces were erratic. It soon became clear that the entire time, he was trying to match his steps with his boss—right left right left—like a child!

It was pretty comical, because we do not usually see such behavior in the workplace today—we see it in the behavior of children.

When I remembered that scene, I also thought about how children who have fathers that truly love them also want to be like them. Even down to the very same stride.

And God, the one to Whom we may cry “Abba, Father”, has shown us in His Word how to walk. Furthermore, God came down in human form, being both God and man, and showed us Himself how to walk.

Faith like a child does not mean to “just believe” like a child. It also means the desire of the child to imitate the loving Father as best as he or she can… even down to the same footsteps. This requires dependence and constant focus on the Father.

Psalm 119:1-3 "Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 

who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!"

Divine Intercession

         There has been quite a few times where I talked with someone about prayer and about why he or she seems hesitant to pray—especially in corporate, “out loud” prayer. On Sundays, when the service comes to an end and the pastor is about to ask someone to close in prayer, sometimes you can feel the rising of the congregation’s pulse as many silently plead, “Oh, please don’t call on me.”

When I talk to people about such a lack of the desire to pray, I quite often hear the words “I just don’t know what to pray for.” I would then answer them by saying this: “But that is ok! The Spirit intercedes for us when we do not know what to pray for! Romans 8:26!”

But that answer is wrong.

Why is this wrong? Again, it all boils down to the words in the verse. As we analyze verses, it is so incredibly important to look at small words like “but”, “yet”, and “for”.  Read this verse carefully—this verse that I have all too often misquoted:

Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

It is this verse that tells us something truly amazing. It is also another witness to God’s intimacy and grace in our lives.

The verse does not say, “When we do not know what to pray for as we ought…” it says a definite “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought.”

No one knows what to pray for! The “prayer veteran”, who spouts out long, eloquent and flowery prayer does not know what to pray for any more than the newly converted stutterer. The Bible even says so right here in Romans 8:26! That is why it is so crucial that the Spirit intercedes for us. And we find from this verse that the Spirit does not merely wait for us to “not know what to pray for” in order to intercede for us. Rather, he intercedes for us all the time “for we do not know what we ought to pray for.” My original answer was wrong in that it assumed that some people know what to pray for and others--out of lack of experience or whatnot-- do not. But we-all of us-do not know.

Does this mean that prayer is completely irrelevant? That we need not pray because “Hey the Spirit intercedes for us.” Absolutely not. The verse is clearly in the context of Him interceding for us always as we pray. This presumes that we are to pray and are praying in the first place as He intercedes (and we indeed are to pray—prayer is commanded).

And even though we do not know what to pray for as we ought, that does not mean that we are shooting off prayers blindly and vainly in the dark. For part of the work of the Spirit in intercession is His work in our lives through the Word of God—and it is the Word that does tell us some things to pray for (such as wisdom in James 1:5).

Prayer is only possible by the power of the Spirit, for it is He who knows our hearts and intercedes on our behalf since we do not know what to pray for on our own. And His work is a gift to us through the grace of God.

So now when I hear someone say, “I just don’t know what to pray for.” I will answer them this way:

“It’s ok. No one knows what to pray for as they ought—Romans 8:26 even says so. But the Spirit intercedes for us. So don’t worry, and trust His power.”

With, By and Of

Romans 8:12-17

 12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

I have been studying this passage for a while now and today a big practical application jumped out of the page and punched me in the face. And I was extremely blessed by it. I would like to share a little bit of it with you today.

I saw that in this passage, each person of the Trinity is mentioned: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When I see passages like this I like to take a step back and analyze it to learn more about the nature of each person of the Trinity, how they relate to each other and how we take part in the Trinity’s work. It is a great practice!

Of the Spirit we read 5 things

            1.  It is by Him that we put to death the sinful impulses of the flesh (v 13)

            2. If we are led by Him, we are sons of God (v 14)

            3. He is the Spirit of the adoption as sons (v 15)

            4. By Him we cry out as a child to their Father in prayer (v 15)

            5.  He bears witness with our spirit (inner promptings and intercession for us) (v16)

Of the Son we read 3 things (all in v17):

1.     We are fellow heirs with Him

2.     We will suffer with Him

3.     We  will be glorified with Him

Of the Father we read 5 things:

1.     His standard is the same today as it was in the beginning with Adam and Eve (v 13, Gen 2:15-17)

2.     If we are led by the Spirit, we are sons of Him (v14)

3.     By the power of the Spirit we cry to Him as His children. (v15)

4.     The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are His (v 16)

5.     We are heirs of God all who come to Him depending on Jesus Christ. (v17)

One big point from that can be taken from all of this that includes the entirety of the Trinity is that “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are heirs with Jesus of God the Father.”

When I reviewed these three things something previously overlooked and interesting stood out to me.

1:  All three references of Christ in Romans 8:17 are proceeded by the word “with”. We are fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him.

2: All references of God the Father are preceded with the word “of”. This is seen in verse 14 and 16-17.

3: All references of the Spirit are proceeded by an action word of giving. In verse 13 it is “by” Him that we put to death the deeds of the body—meaning He gives us the ability, the enabling. In verse 14, He gives direction—He leads us. And in verse 15, Paul writes about receiving Him, the reaction word of the action of giving. And in verse 16, the Spirit “bears” witness with our spirit. He gives us inner peace, prompting and confirmation.

So often we talk about “being like” Christ, and I am in no way shooting that down, but look at the importance stressed on being WITH Him. Indeed, perhaps it is that being with Him is the way to become more like Him. We should strive to be “like” Him of course, but we should also gain a proper understanding of “with”—that we are heirs with Him, “provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.”

I want to live life with Christ, of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is my prayer for the weight of the reality that I am a child of God and an heir with Christ to be more and more full as each day goes by, for His glory and praise.

“Live your life WITH Christ, BY the Spirit, and as a child and heir OF God.”

14 Leadership Pointers (Part Two, 8-14)

On the session about leadership, I scribbled down 14 practical things to watch out for and strive for to improve leadership skills. I’ll do this in two parts for those who don’t like to read a bunch (and insert a rebuke here: people, the Bible is WRITTEN, learn to love to read). This is part two.

8. Do not be defensive about your ideas.

- In other words, simply state your ideas without your opinion and let people discuss

them without your preferences etc. Don’t defend your idea, but simply be vulnerable first.

9. Recieve help in decision-making

            - Not only that, but actively encourage participation.

10. Affirm your team members’ belonging.

- This is different from number 4. Whereas number 4 is done to people in the presence of others, let this be for each person on the team but done in person. This is also different from number 4 in that you praise the person for who they are, rather than what they do.

11. Be approachable.

- As a leader, it is a given that you will be busy. But if you are letting yourself be seen as “constantly busy”, people will come to you less. Give people your time, and don’t let them feel like they are intruding on you.

12. Give people full attention

- When people are with you, let them know they are important. Checking the time constantly, reading, looking around, fiddling with your phone—these are all no-nos.

13. Follow through on promises

- Be organized and think first before you agree to do something. Do not fall into the easy yet dangerous habit of people pleasing. It is better to do fewer things with great efficiency and quality rather than to do many things terribly. Do not make promises that you cannot keep. Here is a handy quote: “Under-promise and over-deliver.”

14. Develop unconditional love

- If you do not love your people, you should not lead. This is the most important quality a leader must have. And it is a question all leaders must ask: “Do I love my team?” Make sure you love your team, not just the mission that the team has. Here are some good steps to develop love.

1.     Pray that you can love as Christ loves.

2.     Have someone hold you accountable to love the difficult person(s)

3.     Physically write out positive things about your team and verbally praise them.

Now, just look over these as they apply to you. DO NOT LOOK AT THESE AND THROW THEM AT A LEADER YOU KNOW. LOOK AT THESE FOR YOURSELF.

There, I think I made that big enough. I just want to protect people from critical spirits.

Just seriously look at these and which ones you are particularly are struggling with. Pray that God would take these and make you strong in them for His glory. And if you do not think you are struggling in any of these, please send me an email so I can really pray for you.