"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." -Jesus (John 15:18-19)
Hated by the world. That is what we are called to be. But in my estimation we are doing everything we can to be accepted. I am guilty of this. I want to be appreciated. I want to be noticed and liked. So, I try to fit in. I try to impress.
As Christians we are supposed to look like aliens and pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11). We are supposed to look like a foreign exchange student that stands out immediately. Our accent should be funny. Our appearance should be awkward. People should say, "you're not from around here are you?" That is the essence of being an alien... But we are also sojourners. Pilgrims. We are not only out of our natural habitat. We are not planning to stay here. It is one thing to be awkward yet trying to fit in. It is a whole other thing to say I am different because I am heading somewhere else. HEAVEN.
Let me just take a minute to articulate my thoughts on the heaven is here, or some other place debate. There are teachings that claim that we bring heaven to earth when we live out the kingdom lifestyle now. I think that is partly true. I think we get a glimpse of heaven when we actually love our neighbors like ourselves but I also think that we lose the power of the later. There is a time when we step into the kingdom and it is completely perfect. It might be this ball of dirt that we are standing on but it will be completely renewed. Read Heaven, by Randy Alcorn if you want an in depth look at scriptures take on heaven. I believe that it is going to be radically different than what we know about here. History confirms for me that even the greatest Christian movements have their downfalls and I am hoping for something much better. Anyways.
Because we are different and heading somewhere else we should be hated. I know that is not our natural desire, but it should start to become more and more normal for us. Jesus was hated. He says we will be persecuted and hated. Does this feel awkward to you? Are you so far from biblical Christianity that this sounds false? I know for me it kind of does seem like a false teaching. But look at your bible. All of the early Christians were persecuted and hated. It is still happening right now and the global church is growing in spite of persecution. So, how can you justify that God is calling multitudes to lay down their lives for their faith and then he wants you to sit comfortably in your church chair and casually live out your faith while trying to be well liked by everyone. That is not the radical all out commitment that God calls us to. He wants more. He wants us to feel and look so different that it hurts because we are hated. We should feel our commitment.... in our bones. Just like you feel it when you are hated.
Hated. Different. Awkward. Let me sum it up by looking at what my hero the apostle Paul says; "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10)
It is that simple. Jesus says we will be hated because we do not belong to the world. Paul says that if he tries to please man then he isn't even a real servant of Christ. Where does your allegiance lie? Is it to God, with a self-sacrificing spirit that is willing to lay down or set aside all of your worldly comforts, or is to your flesh, which is begging to be admired and liked by man?
No comments:
Post a Comment