Don’t shy away from the Fight!

 

This world is often times overwhelmingly evil. I hate to put a downer on the blog today. But, any follower of Jesus can see the walls crumbling in our communities over the weight of sin and rejection of Jesus. We see it on the television. We see it in the marketing to our youth. We see it in our entertainment, and we see it in or recreation choices. 

As I was reading Luke 19 this morning, it seems like Luke is addressing the modern day church. 

The riot in Ephesus concerning the activity of Christians sounds so similar to our battle with evil today. Demetrius, a man who makes his living by making Idols, is claiming his fellow artisans need to vehemently oppose Paul. He is insighting a riot for HIS own glory.

“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people to that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And He’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! Of, course, I’m not talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis — this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world — will be robbed of her great prestige. At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” (Acts 19:25-29)

People are so angry at Christians for doing what Christians do. We serve the Lord. We worship the Lord. We praise the Lord. AND, YES, we also try to bring others to the Lord. I would say that last issue is the strongest issue most people fight. They just want us to leave them alone and not share the truth, not share the love and power of Jesus. They call for us to be passive, not making any attempt to save the world from herself. But, Non-Christians aren’t happy to leave us following Jesus privately, either. They want Christianity to be completely eliminated and we CANNOT let them do it. We can’t go quietly into the night. 

We are called to boldness in faith and we are called to go out into this hostile world to share all the GOOD God has done! We need to take his word into enemy territory and we need to persuade others that Jesus is the only way to salvation. They are denying his power and glory SUPPRESSING the truth by their own wickedness. 

“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.” (Romans 1:18-19)

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.’” (Romans 1:16,17)

We are in a battle and we must be bold and not ashamed to shout from the mountain tops that “Jesus is Lord.” We don’t care about the consequences. We just want to share Jesus!