Are You Willing to Be Hated?

Next Steps This Week:
1. Read the Book of Jonah
2. Invite a friend to Clearview 21 this Sunday, October 11. (Free food for you and a guest)

When Gianna Jessen (an abortion survivor) spoke at a church recently, she said many memorable things. The one I’ve been thinking about most is “to be a follower of Christ you need to be willing to be hated.” I agree with Gianna. A quick note: You will not necessarily be hated, but you have to be willing to be hated for the sake of following Christ.

Of course, this does NOT mean being hateful. Nor does it mean seeking to be hated. Or having a persecution complex, so you think people don’t like you because you’re following Christ, when they actually don’t like you because of how you’re acting.

I am all for graciousness, kindness, and servant-hearted love as we speak the truth. I seek to practice this with the un-churched whom I’m around. But at some point the greatest kindness we can offer them, coming out of a life of humility and faithfulness to Christ, is the good news about Jesus. That good news actually involves some very bad news about human sinfulness, which is what makes the cross an offense, meaning that it ticks people off.

The danger comes when we live in such fear of being mislabeled that we don’t step forward as unapologetic and unashamed all-out followers of Jesus. They can call us Jesus freaks or ignorant or uncool or intolerant or anything they want, that’s fine. We should do what we believe pleases our Lord, regardless of how it pans out in opinion polls. That includes loving others and giving radically and ministering to the down and out and addressing addictions and saying we think it’s wrong to kill children of all ages and helping people find alternatives. We do such things not seeking the approval of our culture, but of our King.

If we seek our culture’s approval, we’ll either never get it or get it only at the expense of failing to represent Christ. We are promised that if we “live godly lives in Christ Jesus” we “will suffer persecution.” If we’re not suffering persecution, at some level, then what does that suggest?

We should certainly be nice, and it’s sad when Christians aren’t. But it’s also sad when we imagine “niceness” has greater impact than it really does. Niceness is not the gospel. Some modern concepts of evangelism are little more than being nice to your neighbor and loaning him your hedge clipper and hoping that somehow he will come to Christ without you actually having to say the WORDS of the gospel which would run the risk of him thinking you’re weird. Our good example is important, but it’s not sufficient. There are actual truths that must be grappled with in surrendering to Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-6). And these truths are expressed in words.

If the gospel becomes nothing more than the reflection of a worldview people already have, it has nothing to offer them. It’s God’s gospel. Given the price He paid on the cross to offer it, He has the right to say difficult things such as Jesus is the only way to the Father and we are hell-bound without Him. That message is not popular and never will be. Our job isn’t to edit the message, but to deliver it. We so much want the world to like us that we end up distancing ourselves from the historic Christian faith and from biblical doctrine. We end up making ourselves indistinguishable from the world, and therefore have nothing to offer the world.

It’s not our job to be popular. We are not contestants on “American Idol.” And we are not Christ’s speech writers or PR team, airbrushing Jesus so He has greater appeal to people who don’t want to hear what He said about sin and hell. He’s the King, He calls the shots; we’re just His ambassadors. So let’s represent the real Jesus, the whole Jesus, not just the culturally acceptable one.

I will leave you with a quote from the great D.L. Moody when someone criticized his  approach to evangelism, “I like the way I do it better than the way you don’t do it.”

Let’s join together this week to reach a community.