Christianity Isn't For Sissies Series

Christianity isn’t for Sissies

Debunking Myths of Christianity Sermon #1

Matthew 10:16-39

For many years Satan has used the lie that Christianity is just for sissies and cowards. He has got many people to believe this Myth and propagate to others. They say, “real men don’t follow the wimpy Jesus.” Real men drink hard, fight hard, and sleep around. He has convinced many that on the soft, wimpy sissies, follow Jesus. I remember that myth being tossed around as a young kid. In major league baseball and football they questioned certain player’s toughness and their ability to get the job done because they were a followers of Jesus. In other words being a Christian made you soft. You weren’t aggressive enough. You had to be mean. Although it has been bantered around for a long time and believed by many around us it is just not based on fact. If fact just the opposite is true. To be a wholly devoted follower of Jesus you have to be more of a man than to follow the crowd. You have to stand up against the crowd. Swim upstream against the moral pollution on our culture. You have to refuse to do something just because everyone else is doing it. You have to march to the beat of a different drummer. Anyone can go along with the crowd it takes courage to refuse to do so, and to act differently from the peer pressure around you. Anyone can cave into the pressure - real masculinity has enough internal strength to refuse to do wrong just to fit in. Anyone can do something good when everyone is applauding you, but it takes great moral strength to do right when everyone is mocking you for doing it.

I Expect Persecution 16-20

1. The Disciples had not faced persecution or even opposition yet, and Jesus wanted to prepare them for what was to come.

2. His warning was not to frighten or make them suspicious. Their mission was to convert the unsaved, but he did not want them to be surprised when they weren’t received with open arms.

3. “All who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” 2 Tim. 3:12

4. It is not continual suffering and hardship or uninterrupted persecution -Jesus or disciples didn’t.

5. But faithfulness to God will cause some degree of persecution in every life.

6. It will come from: Men acting under Satan

1. Religion v17b Today primarily Islamic and Hindu

2. Government -v18 “for my sake”

7. God’s Provision of what to say 19-20

II Prepare for Opposition 21-23

In his book “God in my corner” George Foreman has a chapter entitled “What will people think of Me?” In the chapter his shares his struggle with this common struggle for Christians. He said he wasn’t afraid to step in the ring with toughest boxers in the world Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Ken Norton, but he feared being rejected by other. He wanted to be loved and accepted by everyone. After his conversion he quickly discovered that unanimous approval was never going to happen. Friends started avoiding him, and even his family didn’t understand what had happened to him -they thought he just flipped out. He had to admit he had felt the same way about church people all his life.

“Ultimately your belief in God will meet resistance, which forces you to either shut up or speak up.”

After giving his testimony at Robert Schuller’s church, the Crystal Cathedral, he panicked when he discovered it would be broadcast nationwide. “I didn’t want people making fun of me, and no desire to be fodder for some late-night comedians’s routine.”

Two incidents in his past popped into his mind to increase the fear. Some of his girlfriends came to watch him box in Canada. One girl mentioned that she had recently talked with a star baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Guess what he told me? she asked, rolling her eyes, “He said he’s been born again.” The other girl laughed and said “You better get out of my face with that junk!” Before he had found religion they admired the guy. Now they were making fun of him.

The second event happened after his sisters had gone to an Al Green concert. When they got home one sister said, “We went to hear Al Green tonight, and the music was great. But then he got up and started talking about God.” In disgust she placed her hands on her hips and snapped, “I didn’t go to that concert to hear a sermon! I go to church when I want to hear a sermon.”

Because he couldn’t stand the thought of being ridiculed in front of a camera he resigned his television contract as a boxing commentator working with Howard Cosell. He never wanted to be seen in public again. He spent the next few months in church, praying and reading the bible reprogramming his mind. Courage is not the absence of fear, but acting in spite of it. He said, “Finding Jesus Christ was the best thing that ever happened to me, and my life gets better every day, so I’m going to tell my story regardless.”