This morning I had another post removed from Facebook because it “violated community standards.” I will have to show it to you, for you to decide. Part of the post was because of what a group of us are doing in the church I pastor. Part of the post was because it is solid, Biblical Christianity. Facebook said it was hate speech. Was it? They said it was. Boom! It was gone.
Jesus told His disciples that they would be hated by all men for His Name’s sake. (Matthew 10:22) He said that we would be reviled, persecuted, even lied about, and that we were to rejoice. (Matthew 5:11-13) Jesus said that if the world hated Him, they would hate us, too. (John 15:18) So are the Christians the haters, or is it the intolerant, deceptive, evil world around us?
For the past 30 years I have watched a metamorphosis in Christianity. We have modified our presentation until it is nothing but soft, accepting, and offends nobody except God. God’s theology is stuck in a closet while depravity comes out. Courage and boldness has become hate and intolerance, when it stands up for Judeo-Christian values, but open perversion can march through the street without fear of God or man. Who are the haters here? What, or whom is being hated?
Amos 5:15 commands us to hate evil and love good. There are more than 30 references in the Bible commanding us to hate. We are to hate evildoers, hate evil, hate those that take bribes, pervert judgment, and walk with fools. Judgment is pronounced upon those that call evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). Is this wrong? No.
As Christians we must reconcile our lives to the fact that every area of society, morality and our conduct must line up with the Bible. Most people in the world want you and I to “practice” our faith inside our cloistered houses (as stated by openly homosexual Colorado Senator Pat Steadman in February, 2013). The clash comes in the culture. When you and I live our lives in the “free exercise” of our religion, as it says in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, that is when the battle begins. The problem is that many Christians have been intimidated, hypocritical, or simply don’t want to serve God any deeper than a “get-out-of-hell” prayer and lip service.
How about you? Have you been hated for exercising your Christian faith? Have you been persecuted like your Master, Jesus Christ? Have people lied about you, your heart or your agenda? I can truly say that I want as many as possible to come to know Jesus Christ and be a part of His Kingdom. I want for them to repent (turn 180 degrees and go in the opposite direction that they have been walking), return to God, and live to build His Kingdom. I want to see God’s values restored to government at every level. I want government education to return to the purpose of cultivating Jesus Christ and the Bible in the heart and lives of young minds. I stand against grooming and those that hate God’s definition of marriage and family. I stand for eternal life in heaven, and against eternal damnation in hell. And because I take a bold, sometimes confrontive stance in society, I am often hated. Are you?
Today our society is increasingly anti-Christ. They are not anti-God. You can go to the build-a-god workshop and concoct any fuzzy thing you want. You can be your own god, build one, or choose one someone else built for their agenda. But when platforms like Facebook criticize clear, Judeo-Christian morals, they become…anti-Christ. Make no mistake. Christ will win. Everything will come under His authority, like it or not. In the meantime, I pray two things. First, I pray that you will join your life to Jesus Christ and become hated like Him. Second, I pray that you have courage in the fight, stand by your convictions, and discover that there are more of us out here than the world wants us to know. God wins! Every single time! Let’s keep pressing in to repent, reclaim and rebuild the United States of America. One Nation. Under One God! Amen!