Show Your Faith
We’ve found out something interesting. Reality TV has nothing to do with reality. I’m betting that is a shock to no one.
Karen and I had watched a reality show about couples who met abroad, until it turned into nothing but a parade of the absurd to the point we couldn’t even watch. Wonding if anyone else felt the same, we looked at the reviews. The moderator on the comments section said explicitly they did not tolerate hate speech. Only supportive comments were allowed about certain couples and certain subjects. All comments derogatory about certain couples would be deleted and you would be blocked. However, there was one couple that was religious, and proud of their religion. The moderator had no problems with the pages and pages of anti-Catholic, anti-Christian comments. Things like “as a recovering Catholic …”
Recovering Catholic? As if it were a 12-step program to leave Christianity? Why is it ok to be so anti-Christian?
Isn’t it odd that you’re prevented from commenting on the ludicrous, but bashing the Faithful is encouraged?
It’s created an environment where many are coping with the pressure by hiding their faith. They’d rather stay quite than be ridiculed.
The surprising thing is that Christ foresaw this happening 2000 years ago when he sent out his Disciples. Before Christ sent Disciples out, He imparted on them some words of wisdom.
I’d like to read a few excerpts from Matthew.
Matthew 10:16-19
_16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Matthew 10: 21-39
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[c]
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Who would have ever thought Christ would be a divisive? Recently I posted these passages in an online Bible study for our commentary. One of the questions that came up was why would Christ want man against his father, a daughter against mother?
I had wondered when if it were that easy to split up a family. It is just counter intuitive the Christ the bringer of peace would divide families. Why would God turn brother against brother and father against son? Why would this happen? Then I looked at our very recent history. We live in a time when political views have fractured us to the point that get you can be disowned by your family by casting a single November vote. NPR aired a story talking with folks who had either unfriended, or gone as far as disowning family member over who they voted for.1 I read one Dear Amy advice column where a young woman had been friendly with a favored uncle her whole life. =3-Really? Over a vote? This is getting worse. During the 2016 election, 30 percent of folks blocked someone because of their political views. In 2020 it is was up to 60% have stopped following each other.
One thing to point out about that statement is the term “following” each other. Man was not meant to follow man.
If it’s that easy to end family relations over a vote cast, think how important salvation is. Now we live in a time when preaching scriptures is deemed hate speech and is a legal offense, maybe it then isn’t so hard to picture families torn apart over faith. Things far more fundamental to our existence than politics are being debated. Things like what is appropriate to teach children. And if anyone says the wrong thing, we get “cancelled”. Look at some of the things said about celebrities who profess their faith. The comments about their character and beliefs are just vile. Just like the comments my wife and I read concerning the only religious couple on that reality show.
But back to family. How could living right damage a family? I think it happens when one begins to wander off the right path. If you have a family member fall away, can you allow sin to go on in your household? What if you had member of the household using drugs. Could you allow them to stay, bringing the danger of others, including children, to be led down with them on their path of self destruction? If you wouldn’t tolerate that behavior is there a sliding scale of behavior you would allow to influence other family members? What if their path of destruction is a spiritual one?
But then there is the words “ 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[c]. Could you really be your child’s or parent’s enemy? If they are destroying your house or your heart, you may not have a choice.
But then there is another reality to houses splitting down. When the house splits down, who has walked away from whom? Also, does that mean you never want them back in your lives?
Well, we have done the same to the Lord. We’ve fallen away. We’ve all found ourselves at one time or another further from the Lord than we’ve ever expected to be. We are all sinners. But in reality, the Lord has not ever walked away from us, but we have walked away from him. And God tells us if we split, he never stops loving us.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the son left and severed himself from the father. Now, look at the points of the lesson. The father never moved. The son severed himself from the father and left the family home. The next point is the father never stopped loving the son. Although the son left, spiting the father, the father continued to love him. And when the son realized he was the one that had rejected love, the father welcomed the him home.
If our families are split over our faith, it will be because they have walked away from us and God, not we from them. And, like the Prodigal Son, we would never quit loving them, never quit longing for them, and celebrate their return.
So now let’s go back to the passages from Matthew and look at verse 32 & 33:
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Are we proudly declaring Christ or do we shy away and stay in the shadow. Recently the world has taken quite a turn in opinions of Christians. In a survey recently published, whether believers or non-believers felt bullied at work over their religious views, Christians felt persecution at a rate of 5 to 1 over non-believers. Many were viewed as bigots and bumpkins once their faith was disclosed. And to make matters worse, in the United Kingdom, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is there for the equality of all, also discriminated against the faithful. In a commission that is meant to prevent bullying of this sort, a lawyer was found referred to the spread of Christian views using the word “infected.”
I know that sometimes we have not done ourselves any favors in the court of public opinion. We hear that churches are full of hypocrites. That is so true. Every one of us is a hypocrite. When we come into trouble is when we spend our energy pointing out the sins of other. Christ knows how detrimental that is to his purposes. That’s why we tells us it’s not our place to judge. We need to remember a church is a hospital for sinners. Pointing at others only pushes them away, and counter productive to them coming to God.
We need to remember that everyone’s walk with God is a personal walk, and as they learn more about His love, they begin to realize what parts of their lives has only been hurtful to the one who loves them the most.
But if we are too afraid to stand up for Christ, can we really expect him to stand for us on Judgment Day? Remember that Christ already stood up for you. None of us is perfect. All of us have sinned. And any sin makes us ineligible for Gods kingdom. Would you allow something rancid into your house? Why would God allow the rotted into his? And many say, “well I didn’t do anything all that wrong.”
It really does come down to wrong or right. Look at this way. Say you were speeding, but only just a little, and you get into an accident. If there was a speed camera it in area, and the question on the form to determine fault asked if one of the vehicles was speeding, the answer is only a yes or no. Sin or sinless is only a yes or no answer. But that is where Christ stepped in. He said he would take any punishment for any sin, purifying us … wiping out our criminal record … so we can go into God’s kingdom. Jesus took the most documented torturous punishments in history, to clear our names. He was beaten, bloodied, and nailed to a cross until his fragile human body could take no more. All so like the Prodigal son; we could be dressed in clean garments to be welcomed home.
If he did all that for us, why would we cower when asked to stand up for him? If someone had gone to the courthouse and paid your fines, wouldn’t you gratefully tell other about him?
How do we show our faith? It could be as simple as wearing a cross. But symbols without action are only that. It could be just being kind. How many times have we all been told our words made someone’s day. Our actions are a very observable way to represent Christ like helping our neighbors in need. Kind words and stopping to help can be the answers to someone else’s prayers. Showing all around that we love them as we love ourselves is our chance to be a testimony of how Jesus changes our lives.
Being the honorable and loving wins out. An excellent example is when folks targeted Chic-Fil-A a few years back. When protestors picketed outside their stores, the employees brought them classes of ice water. When people videoed themselves saying vile things to the teenage employees, the employees all kept calm and polite; never retaliating or arguing back. The result was the protest died out and the backlash ended back onto those being mean for the sake of meanness. The owners showed they really practice loving their neighbor.
But here is more. Going back to Matthew, let’s look again at verses 26 and 27.
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
We need to tell other the message of Christ. Others need to know that their debt has been paid if they are willing to accept it. Back to that analogy of the courtroom, Jesus is there ready to pay your fine to the bailiff, but you have to be willing to accept it.
Unfortunately there are people who don’t know their debt has been paid. They remain burdened with their sin, weighing heavy on their soul. That’s the message that Christ is asking us to tell people. We are also commanded to spread his message of love and forgiveness. He tells us that if he can forgive us of crimes that would cast us out of his father’s house for eternity, an unimaginable steep fine, then in turn we also need to forgive each other.
Just the power of forgiveness is so freeing. I mean true forgiveness. How many of us have said we’ve forgiven but we still remain angry at our aggressor. We still think they’ve been let off and need to feel what they made you feel. Then you haven’t really forgiven, had you? Truly letting go of anger is instrument in real forgiveness.
These are the messages we need to keep spreading. Christ loves us, he’s paid the debt for our sins, and in return, he expects us to love others and forgive their transgressions against us.
I had for years talked to a non-believer about how God really loves them. They finally just asked me why I wouldn’t give up. I told them because heaven would be a lonelier place if they weren’t there. That was one line that left them quiet in introspective.
Jesus wants us to spread his word because the stakes are high. The highest! Where the securing their salvation for an eternity is at stake.
We need to go from here and show people we are Chrisian by our behavior. That behavior is love, kindness, and forgiveness.
And finally take Christ’s message and in the words of the Master himself:
Proclaim from the roof tops
1. 'Dude, I'm Done': When Politics Tears Families And Friendships Apart; October 27, 20204:58 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Tovia Smith; https://www.npr.org/2020/10/27/928209548/dude-i-m-done-when-politics-tears-families-and-friendships-apart
2. Christians ARE too scared to admit beliefs - because they fear being mocked or treated like bigots, say equality chiefs; STEVE DOUGHTY FOR DAILY MAIL; 11 March 2015
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2990678/Christians-scared-admit-beliefs-fear-mocked-treated-like-bigots-say-equality-chiefs.html
