Christians are labelled as bigots or "haters" to common worldviews such as abortion, same-sex marriage, etc., and are, therefore, persecuted because of the fact. In this day in age, it is truly astounding how many instances you can check the daily news and view some form of persecution of Christianity. What is even more astounding is that we, or at least I, have neglected to look back at all the other times that Christians have been persecuted long before the twenty first century! From Roman Emperor Nero's human "party lights" to aggressive pro abortionists, it's clear that nothing has changed!
Knowing that the persecution of Christians and the Christian religion has occurred since its foundations, I can't help but wonder at the immense wrath God must be harboring inside for those who act against his principles. However, the reality is that the wrath shall be stored for the non-believers during the tribulation in accordance with the book of Revelation. (Lucky would be an indescribable understatement for what I think of Jesus Christ "sending out invitations" for the choice of accepting his redemption and safety from God's wrath through his sacrifice on the cross.)
Nonetheless, solely relying on God's future wrath to save Christians from persecution is not the right way to go. So what shall us as Christians do to respond to this persecution? I say, "Stand our ground." Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." We are not meant to conform and hide our faith, but live by God's laws so we can carry out his perfect will! It's all about acting as the healing salt to the broken cut.
Yes, we may be intolerant of worldviews, but that is because we live by higher principles than those of the fallible human mind. We live for the infallible almighty Creator of all. When you live by God's standards/the highest standards, labels and persecution mean absolutely nothing.
Beautiful, love this. This helps shed light on the Christians relationship to his religious liberty ... he has none or better yet he should not affect his witness whether he has rights or not. Good point. And I love the new look and title, EXCELLENT!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great insight on to how we as Christians think due to our beliefs. also that was a great way to use Romans 12:2 and then to bring in the fact that CHristians have been persecuted throughout the years. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteYes! Up until recently, Christians and their views were accepted pretty well however, with this sudden opposition of Christianity, Christians don't know what to do when confronted with the question of their faith. Hopefully this will be an awakening to those in the faith to see that what were facing here isn't even persecution. It's just the prelude...
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