Of Course They Don’t Understand...

Lately I've been noticing how we, as Christians, can tend to feel like life is supposed to be perfect. We've gone overboard with "if God is for us, then who can be against us" into forgetting that this was written by Paul, a man who was beaten and imprisoned for doing the work of the Lord. When anyone questions or doesn't understand our lifestyle or faith, we start questioning why, and some of us even pray that God would strike them down (when the New Testament tells us to pray for those who persecute us). We don't even think anymore about how many men and women of God faced adversity before us, and often, when we're reminded, it makes no difference. We want that PROSPEROUS Christian life. We want the GLORY to GLORY. We want the GLORIOUS RICHES (not just talking materially, but in every aspect of life).

Jesus, Himself said, "if the world hates you, remember that it hated me first" (John 15.18). You may not feel like the world hates you, but so many of us let our emotions escalate to that the first time someone doesn't understand our higher standards (you should have higher standards, and if you've never run into this issue, you should ask yourself why), or they don't understand our faith in tough times, or believing for a miracle, or using your gifts for the Lord instead of going the worldly route.

2 Corinthians 4.4 says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God". It says so clearly that Satan has blinded this world from seeing or understanding our faith at all. If they don't understand "the light", then most likely they won't understand the decisions that go along with walking in the light, or the journey that it entails.  


Jesus accomplished SO MUCH in His lifetime. God sent Him down here knowing exactly what His life would consist of and what it would be. From a worldly perspective, people look at His life and see Him as a teacher or ever miracle worker whose life was tragically cut short; when really it was just what it was intended to be. The mentality of the world is so distorted, that we HAVE to be Heaven minded, we HAVE to set our mind on the things above... and of course the world won't understand that.

For years I was so sick of the "angry Christians" that try to tell people who and what God hates, and use that to try to "preach"; I was so sick of those Christians that I thought the best way to coexist and even to be a good witness, was to tip toe with my faith and let being a a loving person do my witnessing for me. The thing about that is, the world isn't scared to say what they believe (or don't believe), but often times we are. We use not wanting to scare people away as an excuse to let our intimidation rule us. Why are we intimidated? Often times it's because we don't even fully understand why we believe what we do. That's when it's important to not just be a spiritual-high Christian, but someone who knows the Word, and knows from your experience what God has brought you through.

Philippians 1.28 says "Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself." When we fall back and are intimidated, we make it seem like we have lies to be uncovered. We need to be confident in the truth that we know and live by, and say what we believe, and why we make the decisions we do as Christians (and be conscious of and upfront about it when we, in ourselves, mess up so that our mistakes are not pinned to Christianity). We know the truth, and the world doesn't... so why should be be afraid to live out loud?

This doesn't mean that we need to be argumentative and seek out opportunities to cram our beliefs down others' throat; it means that we need to be who we say we are, and say who we are... not be secret service Christians. The world will never understand unless we explain it to them. If you are facing adversity, don't see it as a tragedy in your life; see it as an opportunity to show someone who Jesus really is, by not retrogressing on the truth that is inside of you.