The church, meaning the people who follow Jesus, is being attacked. The fact that the church is being attacked is not new, this has been going on since the beginning. How it is being attacked, especially in our time, is new. This should not be surprising. What we need to know is how to respond. What we need to do is fight, but how?
We must fight the way Jesus fought. Jesus fought for the glory of His Father (John 17:1-3, Phil 2:10-11), for the people His Father gave Him (John 6:39-40, Phil 3:8), and for His church (Ephes 5:25). How should we fight then?
First, we need to know that Jesus came to this planet to save everyone (John 3:16-18). Many rejected Him. That did not deter Him, He knew it would happen the way it happened, and He came anyway. This is our key to understanding the times we live in.
Secondly, we need to know who we are without Jesus, and who we are with Him.
Without Jesus none of us are any better than those we perceive to be the worst of all sinners. Many in the church ignore this very simple and very biblical fact. We are all born in sin and are in desperate need of a savior. No one can appeal to the mantra of “I was born this way” to excuse anything. We all need to be forgiven and then to change. (No, babies who die do not go to hell, but that is for another post.)
Let’s look at the two men who were crucified with Jesus, Luke 23:39-43. While hanging on the cross and dying, in desperation one called out to Jesus and Jesus told him he was saved. The other continued to sin right until he died. Jesus did not give up on these men, even then. But only one was saved. That is how we are to approach others.
When we follow Jesus, we can learn to look at people like He does. We have that ability by the grace of God; Jesus gave it to us through His death, resurrection, and ascension. There is hope for everyone as long as they are alive. We just must see it-like Jesus does!
In Acts chapters six through nine we can read about the conversion of Saul-who became Paul, and then went on to be the most important person in the spread of the gospel. From murdering terrorist to evangelist. (This kind of thing is still happening now.) How many of us would have looked at Paul this way? Probably very few.
So, whenever we see Jesus or His church being mocked, we must respond like Jesus did, in hope and prayer that those doing the mocking will be saved. This is the Jesus way to fight!
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Comments