What Hurts

If you had to choose to either be persecuted by the non-Christians at your work or at your school or to be persecuted by the community of professing Christians, which would you choose?
I, for one would choose to be persecuted by the unbelievers.
The Bible talks a lot about persecution from the outside. Not only does the Bible mention it, the Bible promises persecution. 

2 Timothy 3:12 "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,"

But, of course, we always apply that verse to people who are being persecuted by the world. Yet, so often in our day there are hundreds of Christians standing up in all sorts of places for the truth against false teachers and heretics, even if their own churches. Yet they are not lifted up like so many are when they are persecuted by the world.
Because anyone who creates conflict in the body must be sinning, they think. No one wants to talk about persecution in the church today, it's not heard of.
No one cares what you've gone through at your old church, no one cares if you stand alone on an essential doctrine. No one wants to deal with issues the right way. And when someone comes along and says that someone is wrong, the Christin community reacts.
"Don't fight, you should have peace with all men. You are the one who is wrong, not the other person. You should live in peace." they say.
If you stand for the truth where it is trampled and scorned on, in a church or in any Christian environment, you will be persecuted. By those professing believers, and it's going to hurt.
A lot.
I know that for me, I would rather be persecuted a thousand times by the world than by the professing Christians in my church or anywhere else.
Sure people can call me names, cuss me out, do whatever they want to me, but what do I expect? It's the world. Sure people can renounce my God all day when I share my faith. But what do I expect?
I expect nothing of them. They are the world. Nothing they say will hurt me. It will break me and rip me apart because they are so lost in their sins, but I expect it.
In the Christian community you expect to be loved and encouraged by the body, but when you stand for something everything changes. And they turn on you.
The words of hate towards my God by the "Christians" have stuck with me more than anything else has. Those words hurt. They hurt more than I can ever tell you. They hurt more than what any non-Christian has said to me.
The first time I stood for Christ, I was shocked that professing Christians could say such horrible things about my God. After that first time a friend told me, "Count it all joy, count it all joy."
For me, every opportunity I have gotten to stand for the truth, whether I stood alone or not, it was worth it. If it was against the non-Christians or the professing Christians, if it brought me persecution in the end or not, it was always worth it. Those words will never cease to bring me pain, and after all of it, those comforting words from my dear friend come back to me.
"Count it all joy, count it all joy."

God Bless,
  A.W.

Stand

In my last post I told you about how far we have fallen, not only in our culture, but in the Christian community too. One thing I didn't go into much detail about was about the wolves we have let in.
I know too many people who have accepted false teachers saying, "Oh, they are nice. They wouldn't lead anyone astray. And if they do it isn't going to damn them to hell if they believe it, so it's okay."
People don't care anymore if anyone is lead astray. As long as the heretic is nice and sweet it's okay that he comes and preaches his heresy at our church.
Even the people who say they are in the same boat as I am, the people who say they hold to the same doctrines I do, will not stand.
No one wants to take a stand because it's too hard, or because they know that if they stand they will be persecuted. And others don't stand becuase they don't want to.
There are people being led astray every day, and the false teachers and heretics who are around us we let be. We don't really love people if we are inviting a heretic into our church.
People are being led astray and the people of God refuse to stand.

Some people assume that men like Phil Johnson and James White will find the heretics and deal with them. But just because God has greatly used those men to show us why certain people are wrong, doesn't mean that the other "ordinary" Christians can't defend their faith too.
If the day hasn't come already that someone will step up and challenge you about your beliefs, it is coming.
What did you say when that day came? Were you able to defend your views?  Did you stand? Or did you fall?
I do not believe that the Bible teaches that women should be in leadership, but I do believe that every man and woman should stand and defend the Word of God when need be.
Every Christian should be a theologian. And part of being a theologian is defending the truth.

Studying theology is hard work but God calls us to stand, and we can only stand if we know what we believe and why we believe it.
If you love God and if you love your brothers and sisters in Christ, and if you love the truth, you will stand, and defend the Word of God.
You don't really love your brethren if you will not stand to show them the truth. You do not really love God as much as you think you do, if you do not stand and defend His Word.
A lot of times we don't defend it because we don't want to be alone. We don't want to be on the "bad" side.
People will look down on you if you stand. People will be angry. People will hate you. People will persecute you for the things you say.
And sometimes on the other hand, people will thank you. And tell you that God used you to open their eyes. For most of the time, at least in my life it's the first group, of people not liking you after. But when someone does thank me, everything seems worth it.
Some of you know what I am talking about.
Other times no one says thank you. And that doesn't always mean that God didn't change anyone. God might have opened someone's eyes, you might just never know.
Either way, it's worth it to stand. And to stand is to obey.

As Christians we have become so afraid in not only the world, but also the Christian community. We've become soft, and don't love our brethren. We've put on a mask at times, and "stood" to defend the Word, but then when we aren't in a debate we accept those heretics just the way they are. For doing great works, or being greatly used by God.
We are loosing it in our community, that we have become so weak and so caught up with what everyone else is thinking.
How many of us will take a stand? How many of us can and will defend the Gospel when the time comes to rise? Who will stand? Who will stand?

God bless,
  A.W.