We live in a society that once was open……..even welcoming…….. to Christianity. Now, however, more and more, our society is hostile to Christianity. The number of places where our faith is simply not allowed grows every day. We have largely been run out of our schools and universities. Our government, at best, gives us a small corner and tolerates us…….as long as we stay in our corner. At worst, the laws of our nation are used to marginalize us. The media is becoming more and more hostile. I quit watching a popular crime drama years ago because Christians were consistently portrayed as angry judgemental hypocrits.
This animus toward Christians seems to center on a small core of people who are openly hostile to us. But our neighbors and our government seem to be OK with it. At the very least, they are silent.
The first irony is that our detractors are the same people who tell us we need to be more tolerant. They tell us that we must be more open to new ideas………as they silence us in the schools. Today, in our schools, it permissible, even encouraged, to teach young people that your sex is whatever you want it to be. Anything that you do in the sphere of sex is OK. But, if you try to teach the idea that you are valued and loved by God, your creator……..just as you are, our government will punish you……and the school that allowed you a platform.
But, as bad as this is………this is not the greatest irony.
For us, as Christians, our future, our eternal destiny, is absolutely secure. We will spend our eternity with our creator…….our father……Abba. Our most vocal detractors……..the people who would silence us in the public conversation……..do not have that assurance. At best, they try to silence us because we annoy them. At worst, they are troubled by the possibility……..that we might be right. In between are the rest of our neighbors who sit by in silence………who are tacitly OK with selling the transgender agenda in our schools but are comfortable with excluding salvation by faith.
So…….the truly great irony is this:
We have nothing to gain or lose by promoting our faith in the public square. We win…..one way or the other. The only possible winners from our attempts to “sell” our faith…….to evangelize…….are the very friends and neighbors who actively……..or more often passively try to silence us. The truly great irony?…….Our most aggressive detractors are those who have the most to gain from our efforts.
Our most aggressive detractors……..our most angry and vocal critics…….are those who have the most to gain from our efforts to sell Christianity in the public arena.
So…….what to do?
When I face a dilemma, I usually go back to the basics.
Love God……love your neighbor
Love God…….tells me to keep selling him to those around me. After loving God and loving my neighbor, this is my next most important job.
Love my neighbor……..tells me to do it with care and kindness. Do it in a way that they will clearly understand……that it is a gift…..to and exclusively for…….them……that it profits me not one bit. Love tells me to sell salvation by faith…..even if it costs me.
That is, after all, the lesson of the cross.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus, ESV
“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”
Paul, ESV
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Peter, ESV
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Isaiah, ESV
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