Persecution

Why is the World against Christianity?

Let me start with an explanation of what Christianity means by the word, "World."

A world view is a set of presuppositions and beliefs that someone uses to interpret and form opinions about his humanity, purpose in life, duties in the world, responsibilities to family, interpretation of truth, social issues, etc. A true Christian views all these things, and more, guided by the light that is shed upon them by God's Word, the Bible. I use the phrase "true Christian" here because in today's world, many who call themselves Christian are in fact not. Many cults have attempted to combine Christianity with the world and produced nothing more than a false Jesus, and false Salvation, not to mention a egregious hypocrisy that the World loves to point out and exploit.

The Bible has much to say about the nature of man, the world, purpose, truth, morality, etc., and so does the world. More often than not, the secular world view, (Secular: of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal.), is in conflict with the biblical one. For example: Where the world asserts that man evolved, the Bible says he was created and ultimately responsible to God. Where the world says that morals are relative, the Bible says they are absolute. Where the world says Truth is relative, the Bible states otherwise. Where the world says that there is no need of salvation and redemption, the Bible clearly states that all people are in need of deliverance from their worldly ways of sin. The contrast is obvious and profound. Both cannot be true. The secular world exalts man to the highest point of evolutionary development, the sovereign over all he dominates, even though he too is only an animal. God is relegated to the belief systems of the uneducated and superstitious. Such opposing views cannot exist without conflict.

While today only about 33% of the world's population is considered to be Christian, the tenets of Christianity have provided for many of the laws which have kept the world from complete chaos and anarchy for more than 3,000 years. These laws inspired the original Constitution of the United States of America, as well as promoting personal responsibility, equality, freedom, and many more of the characteristics that so many hold dear throughout the world today.

Why then do so many of world dwellers shun Christianity and even rabidly protest and fight against it?

I believe we may need a Christian explanation of the phrase "world dwellers" here to insure that we are all talking about the same thing.

World dwellers, and also, earth dwellers, are the unsaved of the earth who steadfastly continue in their rejection of God. The focus and ambitions for the "world/earth dwellers" are limited to the earth and not God's will, which is issued from heaven and enacted upon the earth. In contrast, the faithful are aliens and sojourners upon the earth (Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 18:20, 23; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 39:12;119:19; John 15:19; 17:14, 16; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:9-10) and whose hope is heavenward (Hebrews 11:13–16; Revelation 13:6), these that dwell upon the earth are trusting in man and his environment. Christians on the other hand believe that they are merely on the earth and not of the earth. Christians are but passing through, but while they are here it is their obligation and mission to help fulfill the Great Commission (Mathew 28:19-20) and to share the wonderful Word of God with those who will but hear it. Christians believe Faith is all about a personal relationship with Christ, and not a religion.

Now, as to why the world is against Christianity.

With the exception of two instances in the history of Man, all men and women are born into the world with a sin nature. The first instance was when God created Adam. Adam was a created creature without sin. However when Lucifer, also known as Satan, entered the Garden of Eden and tempted Adam with lies, Adam acted upon those lies, and he committed the first sin of disobedience, and all our earthly troubles began.

One of my few pet peeves is "lying." I admit I have in the past told lies; in fact I was pretty good at it I am ashamed to say. When Jesus called me one of the very first things He did for me was to convict me of this egregious sin. "Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness." Lying is how persecution begins. A lie is a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive, disinformation is false information intended to deceive or mislead. Eve is the first person to tell a lie in recorded history when she told the serpent, (Lucifer/Satan) in Genesis 3:3 "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." This misquoting of God's word, Genesis 2:16-17,  provided the serpent an opportunity to place doubt into Eve's mind. As this doubt was reinforced by the serpent telling another lie, "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." These lies led to the disobedience of Eve and you know the rest of that story.

Persecution is really no different. It begins by subtle lies which plant false ideas in the minds of men and women. These lies grow into fear and often anger and perhaps rage. The devil is the Prince of lies. This is his primary weapon against the children of God. When speaking of Christian persecution, the devil uses unbelievers to spread his lies of disinformation. He also uses uneducated believers, ignorant of the true Word of God. By misquoting God's word, as Eve in the Garden of Eden, or simply by not knowing God's word, these believers open their minds to disinformation and their actions and words do not reflect God's will. These malformed beliefs by uneducated Christians often lead to inconsistent actions on their part and appear to earth dwellers that Christians are hypocrites and liars. Therefore the world becomes disgusted and perhaps fearful, they may feel threatened.

Subtle lies, like that of Eve, can lead to the most devastation. While perhaps well intentioned, by adding to or taking away from God's word, believers are perpetrating the spread of disinformation. The best defense against persecution is first and foremost the Truth. Another lie of Satan is that there are many shades of truth. As a Christian you must believe that there is only one Truth, and that is God's Word. If we as Christians know the Truth, and hold firm to the Truth, and always speak the Truth, we can defend ourselves against persecution in the form of disinformation. I am not saying we can stop persecution, I am saying we can defend ourselves against this type of persecution. This is what protects those who are being persecuted and what gives Christian martyrs their faith and strength. For once you know the Truth you can settle for nothing less and the Truth will set you free. Knowing the Truth allows you to recognize disinformation in its infancy, and once you recognize it, through God's will, you will know how to combat it with the Truth.

The second instance is when Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary. As the Son of God, Jesus, the Christ, lived and died without sin. He died as atonement for all our sins!

All the rest of us were born as earth dwellers with a sin nature. That's correct, all of us, even Christians. For such a small word, a lot is packed into the meaning of sin. The Bible describes sin as the breaking, or transgression, of God's law (1 John 3:4). It is also defined as disobedience or rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7), as well as independence from God. The original translation means "to miss the mark" of God's holy standard of righteousness. Those who become Christians hear the call of Jesus (Revelation 3:20), and hearing that call have opened the door of their hearts and invited Him in. Once Jesus has been invited, they are filled by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit makes them aware of their earth dwelling, sin nature. In other words they are "convicted" of their sins. To be convicted in Christianity is to be proven or declared guilty on an offense against God's laws. When the earth dweller believes that they are guilty they are compelled by the Holy Spirit to acknowledge their guilt, their sins, and to repent (Repent: to feel remorse (for); be contrite (about); show penitence (for)). Once the believer confesses and repents an awareness of their true stature is made manifest within them and their view is turned heavenward, they become sojourners of the earth.

Now no one likes to be convicted of their guilt and made to realize that they are not the "Good Person" they think they are. Without hearing and accepting the call, earth dwellers will likely become angry and perhaps frightened when confronted by someone who informs them that they are a sinner. The worldly defense mechanism kicks in and the believer is shunned and ridiculed. If the earth dweller has not heard the knock at their door, they will feel threatened by conviction; their reaction will probably be to avoid the people and symbolic reminders (The Cross, the Bible, the 10 Commandments on the wall, In God We Trust, etc.) that represent that conviction. After all the World tells us that we should have what we want, do what we want, and have it and do it when we want. Lucifer's lies never change and without the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us discernment (Discernment: judgment, perspicacity, penetration, insight), we live as selfish, self-centered, narcissistic beings.

As such we lack discernment and believe the lies perpetuated by Lucifer. As fear and anger grow in the earth dwellers, persecution follows. From the very beginning, God's people have been persecuted. Our Lord Jesus, speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, refers to this reality when He said to them,

"That upon you may come all the righteous bloodshed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias..." (Matthew 23:35).

Persecution is to be expected by all true Christians. In the Gospel of Matthew our Lord prophesied it, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake..."{ Matthew 10:22).

The most aggressive forms of persecution are religious and/or political persecution. Jesus spoke about the severity of this persecution, saying: "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." John 16:2 (It was for these very reasons the disciples forsook Jesus in Gethsemane and fled for their lives.)

Soon after our Lord’s resurrection, both the Sadducees and Pharisees became bitter persecutors of the Christians. And throughout history, from emperors such as Nero in Rome to Mao Zedong in China, ideologues have persecuted Christians.

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you… but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. . . . If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; . . . But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me." (John 15:18-21).

Again, he emphasized this point, "And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me." John 16:3 Regardless of what the world believes, God loves all of humanity. However, not all humanity loves God. Why? Humanity is not good. We try to be good, but we cannot be good. God tells us in His Word that only He is good. He is holy, he is righteous, and he is sinless. He is the only one who has the right to judge us for our sin, our bad behavior, and our disobedience because He is the only one who has never sinned. Our judgment is death. We are all born into this world. We will all die and leave this world. God does not want us to die in our sin because if we do we will be eternally separated from Him.

How can we escape this judgment? (Matthew 25:31-46)

By accepting God’s escape plan! We cannot escape by ourselves. He gave His only Son, His sinless, Holy, Righteous Son to pay the price (death) for us by dying on the cross. This is the free gift God has given us. All we have to do is accept it. We accept it by believing we are sinners, believing that Jesus is God’s only Son and He came to earth and died to pay the price for our sins. Then we need to ask Him to forgive us for our sin. At that moment, we are given the free gift of eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Freedom of religion must be recognized as one of the inalienable rights of man, which lies in the sacred domain of conscience, beyond the restraint and control of politics, and which the government is bound to protect as much as any other fundamental right." - Philip Schaff (1910)