Sometimes it looks as though people who do not know Jesus Christ are avoiding Him on purpose, maybe it’s because some of us who claim to be believers show such a terrible witness. The non-believer sees the high and mighty televangelists grifting the public and the pews full of hypocrites and makes a conscious decision to avoid association with them lest others think the same of them. It’s a shameful indictment of our belief system that some use it for pecuniary gain or some perceived social status as they turn up their noses to those who Jesus came to save.
We who have chosen the narrow Way are up against a lot of inherent obstacles trying to convince folks we have chosen the right path and that they should join us but having to overcome the image created by the hypocrites make it much more of an uphill climb. If non-believers were actually shown an accurate view of who Jesus was and what He taught, it would be a lot easier, but we have to battle against the false witnesses of fake Christians who distort Christianity to the extent that most non-believers don’t want anything to do with Jesus and that’s a shame. Some of them like to teach that serving Jesus is a really tough thing to do so they can feel smug about themselves as though they were doing a lot of heavy lifting, but in fact living for the Lord isn’t hard at all if you really want to do so and for the right reasons.
Jesus Christ was an extraordinary Being who came into this world on a mission that few can grasp. In His short time here in the flesh He taught humanity profound lessons, the veracity of which has endured through millennia, and these instructions are as valid today as they were in His time. They shall endure forever, for His Word is timeless. [Matthew 24:35]: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” He taught us the importance of growing out of this fleshly human condition and into the Spiritual existence, and even unbelievers are normally able to understand the existential improvement to humanity of a life spent doing good and loving others over a wasted life of greed and immorality.
Jesus’ love for human beings was nothing short of remarkable. Even as his executioners were murdering Him, His overriding concern was for their salvation as He petitioned God to forgive them because they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. [Luke 23:34]: “Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. We mortals cannot possibly relate to that kind of love – they were killing Him, yet He pleaded for their forgiveness from God. We can learn to love like that, but only through the Holy Spirit.
We all have our detractors and tormentors of one kind or another but how many of us can honestly say that we have the capacity, not only to forgive them, but to actually love them from our heart? When we set out to follow Jesus, we must commit to doing our utmost to do just that, and that’s a profound commitment. It may be difficult, but it’s not impossible, because if it was impossible Jesus would never have told us to do it. [Matthew 5:43-48]:“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. …”
I guess what this post is saying is that what separates the true followers of Jesus from unbelievers and hypocrites is the capacity for loving others, just as our Lord Jesus did. When the non-believer sees us showing that kind of love to one another, they cannot but understand that we are different from what they have seen in the phony congregations of the false prophets. When we demonstrate God’s love for one another and even love for our enemies, they realize there’s more to true faith than what they have been led to believe and thus are more apt to be receptive to our Spiritual beliefs.
Keep up the good work fellow travelers, and if you are reading this post and have not come yet to Jesus, by all means look into learning about Him. This world’s condition should be revealing to you by now that human beings do not have the answers. We’re sinking in this world of increasing evil and there’ll never be any going back, not even to the way our world was last year; last month; even yesterday. He’s the only answer – don’t wait until it’s too late to learn that. Everyone will learn it one way or another. Get on the right side of things today. We’ll all land safely on the other side in His keep. Count on it.
May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.
