Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15

In this text, John is not speaking of the people in the world for “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,” but the systems of the world that are controlled by Satan. These are the systems of philosophy, power, politics, media, etc. that war against the kingdom of God and draw men away from the Father.

The nature of the Kingdom of God is countercultural to the world. Paul draws the line when he says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” (2 Cor. 6:14-17). Paul asserts that there are ultimately only two kingdoms and only two people groups. You are either in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness. The presence of the Holy Spirit within a person or the absence of the Spirit defines who you belong to. There is no middle ground.

On several occasions, Jesus himself observed that the world hated him and the same world would hate those who follow him. Now, more clearly than ever, lines are being drawn between the systems of the world and the Kingdom of God. People are choosing sides…many without even knowing it and the sides are at war. What people fail to realize is that spiritual forces are at work behind everything we see and hear in the natural realm and whoever you align with places you in their camp. Paul said the dividing line is Jesus.

The opposing values of each camp are becoming increasingly clear. What God calls good, the world calls evil. What the world parades as good, God clearly identifies as evil. This is not a new conflict. Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa.5:20).

American pop culture now celebrates abortion and condemns those who stand for life. Homosexuality has now hijacked the rainbow and is granted an entire month to parade and celebrate its perversions. Those who speak out against it are branded as haters and bigots. The world promotes premarital sex and cohabitation and views those who value virginity and sexual purity as strange and even deranged. The world tolerates religion as long as it is inclusive and compromising, To declare that Jesus is the only source of salvation is treated as offensive and ignorant. Accomplished scientists who would declare creationism to be true or, at least, a valid alternative to a godless universe are marginalized in their profession. University professors who would profess to be Christian will also be marginalized and discriminated against in most “leading universities” for their narrow-mindedness and bigotry.

The challenge for believers is to not be moved in their commitment to biblical truth and standards. When we hear the constant drum beat of tolerance for every lifestyle and are surrounded by so much sin that we are no longer shocked by it, incremental compromise is a very real temptation. However, To compromise on these and other important biblical truths and values out of a desire to fit in or be accepted by our culture is a form of denying Jesus. Just as Peter denied knowing Christ out of fear, we too can deny him out of our own fear of man, our own fear of rejection, or our desire to advance in the systems of the world. We may claim Jesus as Lord, but if we abandon his standards of righteousness and adopt out culture’s standards, then he is not truly our Lord.

We have quickly come to a time in which we must accept the fact that if we follow Jesus we will be rejected and even cursed by those who hate Jesus. I think we must decide ahead of time who we stand with without exception. We must accept that following Jesus may come with increasing costs.Some level of persecution is inevitable as our culture continues to reject Jesus and those who follow him. But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt. 5:10-13). 

We must decide now that if we stand for Jesus and the word of God, we may well lose promotions, jobs, friends, positions, opportunities, and perhaps, even our freedom. We must count them as lost ahead of time but know that blessing will come to us as a promise of God. We may lose our reputation on earth, but our reputation in heaven is all that counts. We must be clear about where Jesus stands on the issues of the day and stand with him. By definition, the kingdom of God will always be countercultural until the Lord returns. Stand firm then and be blessed in these days of trouble.

I know.  Me too.  The last thing I want to think about is a 2021 that might be worse than 2020.  But what if it happens?  How will the church respond?  The American church has long been a church that has prayed for ease, comfort, favor, and for the hardships of life to simply pass us by in the name of Jesus.  At the same time, our spiritual brothers and sisters in the Middle East, in China, in Indonesia, in parts of Africa, and other places have undergone the most severe persecution, including torture and death.  We have had favored status in America so long that we believe comfort and acceptance of Christianity is the norm and what we should expect Christianity to look like.  When life becomes hard, we are tempted to feel betrayed by God.

However, the church was born in adversity.  Before Jesus was two years old Herod tried to murder him and Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt.  His family returned to Israel after the death of Herod, but essentially still hid out in the little town of Nazareth in Galilee far from Jerusalem.  John the Baptist was opposed by religious leaders and was killed for speaking out against sin and corruption in government.  Jesus and the twelve were conspired against by the religious ruling class of Israel and Jesus was crucified. After Jesus returned to the Father, those who preached the gospel were opposed, imprisoned, beaten, slandered, and scattered for the sake of the gospel. Jesus clearly said that in this world, we would have trouble and that if the world hated him, it would surely hate those who followed him.

I’m not saying that there have not been seasons of peace and even favor for believers throughout history but there has also been hardship and persecution – especially in these latter days.  There is more world-wide persecution against Christians now and more believers being martyred now than at any time in history. The church, by nature, is always counter-cultural unless an entire nation has been discipled.  If we stand with God, the culture will be offended.  If we stand long enough, the culture will either be converted or hate us.  There is clearly a war on Christianity brewing in this nation as we live in a culture that calls good evil and evil good. Whenever the church compromises with culture to keep the peace and curry favor with the powerful, the door is opened for the enemy to enter and he will.  

We may need to begin to consider how we will respond if our culture continues to align itself with Satan instead of Jesus. If our mindset is that God owes us comfort and safety, then we may surrender much of our faith to stay comfortable and safe (although not spiritually safe).

I’m not saying that we should reject the blessings of peace and favor when they come, but we must always be ready for conflict and willing to stand with God when the enemy rises.

The truth is, we learn more about faith and about God in seasons of hardship than we ever do when everything is going our way.  The fledgling church of Jerusalem quickly faced great opposition to their preaching. In Acts 4, Peter and John were threatened by the Sanhedrin and commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus any longer. Instead of compromising with the Sanhedrin in order to avoid persecution, they replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you or to him?… As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:18-20). 

Peter and John returned to their little band of believers and reported on the threats.  The response was instructive. “Now, Lord. Consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).  They didn’t pray for comfort, favor, or even protection.  They prayed for great boldness and world-shaking miracles in the name of Jesus.  

A lot of churchmen today would have counseled the church to soft pedal things for a while or adjust their stance on Jesus just a little to demonstrate more tolerance, etc.  That is not what the Jerusalem church did and the response from heaven was clear.  “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word boldly” (Acts 4:31).  

I don’t know what 2021 holds for the followers of Jesus, but we may want to decide now how we will pray then, if we find ourselves in a culture even more hostile to the faith than it is now.  We will have to decide which is more important – safety and comfort in this world or eternal life and glory with the Father.  We may not be able to have both.  

Blessings and boldness in Him.