{"id":90651,"date":"2021-03-10T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T20:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/the-un-christian-culture-2\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T22:18:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T02:18:48","slug":"the-un-christian-culture-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/the-un-christian-culture-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Un-Christian Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Matthew 5:1: Blessed are ye,\nwhen men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil\nagainst you falsely, for my sake.&nbsp; 12\nRejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so\npersecuted they the prophets which were before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Critics of Christianity have become more vocal. This is partly because there are many people who do not believe in God with no understanding of Him at all. However, these prove the vast majority who do not care enough to actually target believers. Then there are those who are dedicated anti-Christians who truly despise Christ and prove our loudest critics.&nbsp; What about \u2018em?&nbsp; Do we just \u2018take it\u2019?&nbsp; For the Biblical answers, we turn to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Historical Context: As an\napostle, Matthew wrote this book in the early period of the church, probably in\nA.D. 55-65. This was a time when most Christians were Jewish converts, facing\nresistance on two fronts: 1) among former Jewish family and associates and 2)\nGentiles, ranging from the Roman government to competing sects and cults.&nbsp; It is interesting in that while Matthew was\nwriting this as a Christian, when Christ spoke these words He was addressing\nprimarily Jews.&nbsp; He hadn\u2019t died on the\ncross yet, in fact this was His very first sermon\u2026very first words to His very\nfirst sermon.&nbsp; If nothing else, this\ndemonstrates the continuity of both the Old and New Testaments as each centers\nexactly upon Jesus as the Messiah.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Grammatical Usage:\n\u201cRevile\u201d or \u201cOneidizo\u201d in the Greek meaning, \u201cabusive criticism\u201d; \u201cpersecute\u201d\nor \u201cDioko\u201d meaning, \u201charass, molest\u201d; V. 12: \u201crejoice\u201d or \u201cChairo\u201d meaning,\n\u201cdelight; exuberance\u201d.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Literal Application: Blessed\nare you when others revile you and harass you and utter all kinds of evil\nagainst you falsely on my account. 12 Delight and be glad, for your reward is\ngreat in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Contextual Interpretation: Our text affirms to constants\nin both our spiritual and physical lives: 1) persecution is inevitable, if not\nthe norm; 2) our view of it should prove an affirmation of our standing with\nGod which, in turn, gives us joy instead of sorrow.&nbsp; Christians are, or should be, influenced by\ndifferent principles from those of the world. We are motivated by the love of\nGod and holiness, while the world is driven by the love of sin. It is our very\nseparation from the world that arouses the world&#8217;s animosity toward us. The\nworld would prefer that we were like them; since we are not, they hate us (1\nPeter 4:3-4).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Scriptural Comparison: As\nChristians, the two things we can do to stand up for Christ are to 1) grow our\nown knowledge of Him and 2) live according to His Word. Christ said, \u201cLet your\nlight shine before men\u2026\u201d (Matthew 5:16). This means that we should live and act\nin a way that supports the gospel. We should also arm ourselves with knowledge,\nboth of the gospel (Ephesians 6:10-17) and of the world around us. First Peter\n3:15 says, \u201cBut in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to\ngive an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that\nyou have. But do this with gentleness and respect.\u201d It is sad that there are\nmany atheists who have read the entire Bible looking for ammunition against\nChristians, and that there are many Christians who have hardly read the Bible\nat all.&nbsp; All we can do is live and teach\nas Christ would and let Him take care of the rest.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The typical insult from the non-religious crowd is to\nrefer to believers as \u201cignorant,\u201d \u201cstupid,\u201d \u201cbrainwashed,\u201d or to otherwise\nsuggest that those who have faith are less intelligent than those who do not.\nWhen a Christian stands up intelligently for his faith, the terms change to\n\u201cbigot,\u201d \u201cextremist,\u201d or \u201czealot.\u201d When people who know that the believer is\nkind and loving hear this, the atheist starts to look like the fool that he or\nshe is (Psalm 53:1). Most non-believers have no personal reason to see\nChristians negatively, but they sometimes hear so much from the loud\nanti-Christians that they just assume it is so. They need examples of\nChrist-like living to see the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Of course, when someone claiming to be a Christian says\nor does something that is not Christ-like, the angry, loud crowd is there to\nidentify him as a typical religious hypocrite. This is something we have been\nwarned to expect (Romans 1:28-30; Matthew 5:11). The best thing to do is to\ncite a passage of the Bible that speaks against what the person did and remind\ncritics that absolutely no one lives without sinning at all (Romans 3:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">An important thing to remember is that no one, no matter\nhow persuasive, can force anyone to believe anything he doesn\u2019t want to\nbelieve. No matter what the evidence, no matter what the argument, people will\nbelieve what they want to believe (Luke 12:54-56). Conviction is not a\nChristian\u2019s job. The Holy Spirit convicts people (John 14:16-17), and they\nchoose whether or not to believe. What we can do is present ourselves in a way\nthat is as Christ-like as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As faithful Christians, we must learn to recognize the\nvalue of persecution and even to rejoice in it; not in an ostentatious way, but\nquietly and humbly because persecution has great spiritual value. <strong>First<\/strong>, persecution allows us to share\nin a unique fellowship with our Lord. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul\noutlined a number of things he surrendered for the cause of Christ. Such\nlosses, however, he viewed as \u201crubbish\u201d (Philippians 3:8), or \u201cdung\u201d (KJV),\nthat he might share in the \u201cfellowship of [Christ\u2019s] sufferings\u201d (Philippians\n3:10). The noble apostle even counted his chains as a grace (favor) which God\nhad bestowed upon him (Philippians 1:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Second<\/strong>, in all truth, persecution\nis good for us. James argues that trials test our faith, work or develop\n(endurance) in our lives, and help develop maturity (James 1:2-4). For as steel\nis tempered in the flames of the forge, trials and persecution serve to hone\ndown those rough edges that tarnish our character \u2013 hurt our testimony.\nYielding graciously to persecution allows one to demonstrate that he is of a\nsuperior quality than his adversaries. It\u2019s easy to be hateful, but an ugly\ndisposition throws a light upon our human weakness. It is much more Christ-like\nto remain calm and to respond in kindness in the face of evil opposition.\nWithout question this is a tremendous challenge, but we have the power of the\nHoly Spirit within us and the wonderful example of the Lord to encourage us.\nPeter says of Jesus, \u201cWhen they hurled their insults at Him, He did not\nretaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself\nto Him who judges justly\u201d (1 Peter 2:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Third<\/strong>, persecution enables us\nto value the support of true friends. Conflict sometimes brings faithful\nchildren of God together in an encouraging and supportive way they might not\nhave known otherwise. Hardship can stimulate the Lord\u2019s people toward a greater\nresolve to love and comfort one another and lift one another to the throne of\ngrace in prayer. There\u2019s nothing like an unpleasant incident to help the more\nmature rise toward a greater level of brotherly love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Conclusion: It\u2019s hard for the angry crowd to accuse a\nChristian of being a hateful, cruel bigot when that person demonstrates a life\nof kindness, humility, and compassion. When a Christian can discuss, debate or\ndebunk ungodly arguments accurately, the label of \u201cignorant\u201d no longer fits. A\nChristian who has read the secular arguments and can politely expose their\nflaws helps to deflate the stereotypes advanced by atheists. Knowledge is the\nweapon, and it is invincible when we let Christ direct us in how to use it\nthrough the power of His Holy Spirit.&nbsp;\nSo\u2026study, voice, stand.&nbsp; Amen.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew 5:1: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.&nbsp; 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Critics of Christianity have become more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Un-Christian Culture - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Un-Christian Culture - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matthew 5:1: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.&nbsp; 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 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