When the World Tries to Shush Us
I had plans of writing this post today to go hand in hand with yesterday's post, since they're from the same story. But when I walked into bible study last night, we got off on the same topic that I am going to highlight in today's post. Honestly, as Christian's, this topic really does impact our daily lives. We live in a pretty scary world as it is, but these days, we are actually the targets of many hate crimes. As if being faced with the uncertainty of Covid, job stability, the economy and governmental issues weren't frightening enough, we are now faced with persecution for our faith in Christ.
In the days when Nehemiah was governing Judea under Artaxerxes King of Babylon, he rebuked people and even called down curses on them for not honoring God the way they had promised (Nehemiah 13 NIV). In this day and age, were faced with the exact opposite. Christians are being rebuked and cursed for honoring God and following their faith. I mean, it's to the point now that it is looked at as rude to say, "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays," because it means we're favoring one religion over another. When, in reality, Christmas is a Christian holiday.
Despite our right to freedom of religion in the United States, we are still being shushed by society when we try to exercise our right. I turned on the radio the other day (big mistake) and was listening to a Christian talk show, when it was brought to my attention that there are now movements trying to remove Christ from America. It makes sense to be "one nation under God," but take him out of the nation entirely, doesn't it? I thought so too. Not to mention, targeting a person's religion is a great way to promote freedom of religion. We are looked at as haters while we are the ones being hated on.
Now, God said that these things would happen. Not specifically the things we see now in 2021, but that we would face persecution for our faith. Countless prophets were murdered for their unwavering faith in God. John the Baptist was beheaded by King Herod for his Godly influence. Jesus Christ died and innocent death on the cross because of his teachings and claims to be the Son of Man. One of the most recent stories of Christian persecution is of the Christian missionaries who were able to escape their captivity in Haiti this month, from a hostile gang. These missionaries were trying to do God's work in a country of lack, and they were taken captive in doing so. It's inevitable. We have seen persecution dated as far back as the Old Testament and will continue to see it as long as the world is spinning.
So, in a world where we are under fire for our faith, how do we combat the blows while continuing to live out our mission of discipleship. How do we react when faced with persecution large or small? We can find our answers when we dig deep into the word of God. He gave it to us to use as a manual, or map if you will, on how to navigate through the adversities we would see in the world we live in today. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NIV)
Just Keep Swimming
"Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." was a defining quote to my childhood. When Disney Pixar's Finding Nemo first came out in 2003, I would run around singing "just keep swimming" loud and proud. At first, I did it because it was just so stinking catchy, but the meaning never really resonated with me. It wasn't until I reached my late teens that I realized; it really was something much deeper than a quirky catch phrase. If you haven't seen the movie, Dory was a fish that suffered from short term memory loss. Though she battled with her illness, she also battled other fish coming after her on their long journey to find Nemo. Dory never lost the pep in her step. She never got discouraged. She remained her flamboyancy and confidence in achieving her ultimate goal: finding Nemo. She truly did keep on swimming.
Likewise, we should live out our mission of discipleship like Dory. Every time life knocked her back, or someone told her she couldn't do something, she just kept swimming. Around every corner we are faced with sharks that try to devour us because of our faith. We are swallowed by whales that want us to conform to their beliefs. We are shunned from schools of fish because we are outcasts for praying or believing in something higher. We must take each blow to the gills as a blessing, because each one has a purpose. With each blow, we can find the opportunity to grow even deeper in our faith.
What's a great way to make someone mad? My toddlers sure do know the answer to that! Keep on doing what they tell you not to do. In fact, keep on doing it, but do it even more intensely and with a smile on your face and pep in your step. Don't change who you are or conform to the ways of the world just because you're facing trial. Just because the world is lacking light, don't dim yours to match their darkness. Shine even brighter so that we believers can make up for the darkness we're faced with. If we will "just keep swimming," while we are facing adversity, haters and persecution, then God will deliver us from the enemies chasing us down.
What The Bible Says:
In my last post, I talked about the disciples (Peter and John) healing the lame beggar right outside the temple. In this post, I want to continue that by going even deeper into the story. In Acts 4:1-21, Peter and John were taken into custody by the priests, Sadducees, and captain of the temple guard and thrown into jail overnight. However, because of the miracle they performed, the number of believers had grown to about five thousand (Acts 4:3-4 NIV). They we're brought before the rulers, elders and teachers of the law for questioning. Peter and John told their accusers that they had done this act in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. It was evident that they had, in fact, done this in the name of Jesus, but the rulers, elders and teachers of the law wanted to put an end to their work. So, they commanded them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus ever again.
Their response is the exact reason why I'm writing this post, "But Peter and John replied, 'which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.' (Acts 4:19-20)" Oh, but it gets even better. This is what happens when you "just keep swimming." Acts 4 continues with this, "after further threats, they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened (Acts 4:21)."
The world we're faced with is pretty similar to the one Peter and John were faced with. Just because we live in 2021, doesn't mean we should handle things any differently. Yes, we may be modern day disciples and the persecution we face is very different from that of the twelve disciples of Jesus, but our approach should be no different. Just as the elders, rulers and teachers of the law wanted the disciples to just shut their mouths more than anything, the unbelievers of this world want us to shut our mouths more than anything. But we mustn't!
To add to this idea, briefly; we must do this from a loving and respectful perspective. The disciples didn't name call, bash others, and get angry with the people coming against them, so we mustn't either. We must handle situations from a Christlike perspective. If we become rude and disrespectful towards our enemies, then we become no better than them. In doing so, it takes away from what makes us stand out as Christians and violates the commandment that says we are to love our enemies. We have got to do our best, despite the waves of hate that we are faced with, to not fight fire with fire.
One of my favorite songs, ever, is "Raise a Hallelujah" by Bethel Music. Here's a few lyrics from it that I think suit this post. I copied and pasted the lyrics from azlyrics.com, but my platform adjusted the punctuation slightly:
"I raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah; Heaven comes to fight for me
I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!"
Raise your hallelujah and sing as loud as you can in the middle of this storm you're faced with. If you take anything from this post today, please let it be this: love one another no matter what and keep praising God as loud as you can because, even if people hate you for it, HE loves you for it. It's Him that matters, not the haters.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
This world we are faced with is pretty frightening. As your disciples, we are faced with new and creative forms of modern-day persecution and it seems as though there is no way to combat it, but there is. You have given us a voice for a reason, and it is my prayer that you enable us to use it. Give us the courage to stand up for our beliefs, and to be bold in this war that we are in the middle of. God, if we weren't strong enough to fight this battle, then you wouldn't have stuck us right in the middle of it. Have mercy on us when we stumble and fall. Pick us back up with your righteous right hand and dust us off, so that we can charge on even stronger than we were before. Help us to be diligent in turning to you when we don't have the answers we need, and to never stop loving our enemies. I pray all of this in your loving name,
Amen!
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