I've probably read 30 articles this week already that have Christians ranting and raving about the media embracing Michael Sam and Jason Collins for being openly gay high profile athletes all while not wanting to hear about the faith of Tim Tebow, the Robertson family, and the twin brothers who had their HGTV show taken away because they didn't support abortion and gay marriage. Although I do see the blatant hypocrisy of global entertainment conglomerates, I am not outraged by it, nor am I surprised by it. Here's why...
When we read the Bible we see over and over and over and over again that as followers of Christ we should not only expect persecution, but that we should almost welcome it. In fact the Bible has a lot to say about persecution...
2 Timothy 3:12-13 says "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
John 15:18-19 says “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
1 Peter 4:12-14 says "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."
Matthew 5:10 says “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Proverbs 29:27 says "An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked."
I could go on and on for paragraphs and paragraphs about persecution but I won't. Instead I'll do two things. The first thing is to encourage you to embrace the persecution that we receive here in America as Christians. The fact that we are receiving flack in the media means we are finally doing something right. The world isn't supposed to love those who stand up for righteousness in the way that they live their lives. To paraphrase the words of God, righteousness is an abomination to the unrighteous. It shouldn't surprise us, it shouldn't anger us, and it sure as heck shouldn't cause us to wine and complain and cry out for injustice.
It should cause us to rely on Christ, to have joy in our sufferings, and to rest assured knowing that according to Jesus, ours is the Kingdom of heaven! I won't ever wish pain on anyone, but I'm not going to pretend that the persecution we get here in America doesn't bring at least a little bit of a smile to my face. I've heard many preachers say, "Don't worry when you're being persecuted, worry when you aren't being persecuted."
The second thing I'll do is invite you to attend FBC Wellington on June 1st at either 9 am or 11 am where I'll be finishing our church's series on the beatitudes on persecution. I'll dive into this idea on a much deeper level and I'd love for you to be there.
As Christians, we've all heard it said, and probably at times have been the one saying it, that "I don't have a religion, I have a relationship." I remember back a little over a decade ago that this was one of the hottest selling Christian T-Shirt expressions out there. I never took time to think about the implications of that saying until a little over a year ago when a Spoken Word by Jefferson Bethke entitled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" started getting millions of hits on youtube. His poem then inspired a book, which I'm going to be honest, I've only read the first chapter of.
I have, however, seen the youtube video several times. And from the first time I saw the video until when I watched it this morning for a refresher before setting out to write this blog, it has always bothered me. Let's take a look at some of the quotes from Bethke's poem that just don't sit right with me. "What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?" I would tell you that you're a liar. Jesus came to redeem God's people. Jesus came to fulfill the law. Jesus came to redirect religion. "Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them fools. Don’t you see it’s so much better than just following some rules?" Jesus hates sin. Jesus hates hypocrisy. Jesus hates false religion.
Before you accuse me of not understanding what Bethke means, let me assure you I most definitely do. Jefferson Bethke, as well as most young Christians, hate what religion has become. I couldn't agree more. But the problem isn't religion. The problem is that people have taken religion and made it what it should have never become. For many, religion has become all about walking, talking, and acting like someone who is holy, as opposed to being someone holy. That isn't religion, that is an empty ritual.
James 1:27 says this, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." I agree with a lot of Bethke's ideas, however the thing I'd have to disagree with most is that Jesus does not hate religion. In fact I'd go as far as to say Jesus LOVES religion. Jesus loves it when his followers meet the needs of the least of these, and live lives that are unstained by the world. Nothing brings Him more joy than us being truly religious. The problem isn't religion, the problem is that people don't understand what religion truly is.
