John 15:18-21

John 15:18-21 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: "No servant is greater than his master." If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

People who do not know the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob sometimes treat committed Christians as aliens, worthy of scorn, isolation, and worse. Consequently, they might ignore, ridicule, or even physically attack a Christian without provocation simply because they despise the idea that believers love God and give their lives to him. Non-believers may tolerate Christians in their circle of friends as long as they do not feel threatened. However, if Christians become overly evangelistic, walls of separation, anger, and hostility often result because Satan does not want the Good News going forth to penetrate the darkness. Unsaved teenagers, for example, may gossip, lie, cheat, curse, bully, commit sexual immorality, and do all manner of evil; yet tolerance abounds in our modern society--kids will be kids. But if born-again students in a local high school start a Bible study during lunch or bow their heads over their meals or share their testimonies openly or write scriptures on friendship networking sites or include favorite Bible verses below their names in their yearbooks, suddenly there's an outcry. "These fanatics are forcing their religion on their friends. We demand separation of church and state. Don't you know faith is personal, and you should keep yours to yourself? How rude to make others feel uncomfortable by talking about God and that kind of stuff. What makes you so holy and righteous anyway: you're no better than anyone else? Who made you God?" Only they include a lot of vulgarity: filthy words that should embarrass them, language that belongs to their their god who would like to stamp out all faith so that scarcely will faith be found. Schools can teach every major religion including witchcraft and call it cultural studies, but sharing Christian faith is supposedly a dangerous threat to the peace and tranquility of a wayward people who do not want to be disturbed by those who belong to Jesus and the One who sent him.

The world will accept people who view Christ as a wise man or even a prophet, but they will not easily tolerate people following Jesus as Lord of their lives. Such a faith diametrically opposes the desires of the sinful flesh and provides a striking contrast--there is a difference between those who follow Christ and those who do not because believers yield control of their lives to the Lord. We surrender all. The world says: I will do it my way! As the prophet said: All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquities of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) The Bible clearly states that whether Jew or Gentile, we are all lost in sin: There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10-18 NKJV also see Psalm 140) No rebellious soul wanted to hear those words when Paul reminded the church at Rome of these truths. If we stubbornly resist the voice of God today and harden our hearts, we will not want to hear these words either because they remain true. To believe in Christ as Lord means repenting of the old and saying yes to the new. For the fleshly man or woman this kind of teaching cannot be tolerated.

In all fairness, the attitudes and actions of believers can also provoke ill-will or animosity against the cause of Christ. Sometimes critical and judgmental individuals project a self-righteousness attitude that they are God's chosen ones who deserve the best of everything. We cause harm by our lack of concern for others, our hardheartedness or unforgiving attitudes, our bitterness and resentment toward people with opinions or ideas that differ from our own. We see ugly scenes on the news with Christians waving signs and shouting epithets against people or our elected officials when the Bible tells us to pray for others and to honor those who govern us. James reminded the church God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, saying, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10) If we want to make a difference in this world for Jesus, the world must see a difference in us. We can't spend all our time seeking things and expect to convince people we are "servants." Neither can we invest our passion into vitriolic fights with human weapons of warfare. Paul told the Corinthian church we do not live by the standards of this world: For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthian 10:3-4) If you live exactly like the world, they will see every weakness you have, every opinionated statement and hypocritical act. They will look for you to fail, want you to fail. When you go out, go in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in your own power. They will still hate you because the love of Christ in you will expose the sin within them. They will not understand why you go the second mile or why you stop to help a Samaritan or pay for his hospital bills. But with Christ in you and the Holy Spirit as Comforter and Guide, you will not fail! The battle has been won! You won't fit in, and you may face some pain along the way. But you will know who sent you, you will know where you are going, you won't ever be alone, and you'll see lost sheep come home!