December 1, 2020 -- John 15:18 -- Test of True Christianity
/If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
John 15:18 English Standard Version
Interesting how my French classes have helped me to better understand my own language. Let me explain. Right now as I am being tutored in French I am learning to carefully examine conditional sentences. There are many similarities between English and French in the use of verb forms for conditional sentences. A quick review will be helpful.
A conditional sentence has a first part or clause which begins with “if” and the second part or clause uses the word (or implies the word) “then” as the result. A conditional that has a present verb in each of the two parts is a general truth (called a Type 0 conditional). Now go back to the verse for today.
Look at the key verbs in each part of the sentence. The first part has the present verb “hates” and the second part has the present imperative “know”. It is a general truth statement. The world hates the followers of Jesus. The world hated Jesus and the world will hate those who follow Jesus.
Why is this the case that the world hates true Christians?
~Christian faithfulness to Christ is a stark contrast to the world’s devotion to evil
~Christians cannot join in doing the wicked things the world does
~Christians have a focus not on a best life now, but on the life that is best in Christ, one that looks to eternity in the glorious presence of Jesus the King
Why are many Christians not hated now?
~Most people who call themselves Christians today are so compromised with the world and accommodating to its evil that the world has no reason to hate them
~Most so-called Christians today join in the world’s wickedness with no compunction so the world has no reason to hate them
~Calling oneself a Christian but living as if this brief existence is one’s best life reveal’s one’s claim of being a Christian as a lie and again, this fits right in with the world
Chapter 15 of the Gospel of John highlights Christian living:
~abiding in Jesus—reading the word and prayer—reading and praying until one knows His life-giving presence and hope
~bearing fruit—by word and deed demonstrating an allegiance to Jesus
~love—for God and for fellow Christians and even for one’s enemies. I Corinthians 13 demonstrates this love, which empowered by the Spirit takes a manly man or an excellent woman to fully live it out
~dedication to the Father—not to the government, not to money, not pursuing conspiracy theories, no devotion, no worship, no god above the Father in heaven.
Little wonder then, that so few of us are hated by this world.
If what is written here is really bothering you—excellent. Let God’s Spirit move your conscience and heart to confess what you need to confess. Abide in Jesus.
God our Father, in our feebleness and fainted-hearted living, transform us so that our hunger and our thirst is focused on You alone. Father in heaven, You sent Jesus so that Your love, Your mercy, Your goodness, Your forgiveness and Your transforming power would be known to those You call Your children. Spirit of God, holy and mighty, as Jesus has asked the Father to give believers Your presence into our lives, act in us to renew in us a holy zeal for Jesus. Spirit of God, cause us to be unsatisfied with anything less than whole-hearted love for God; deep love from God which is reflected back in praise and love made evident in our prayer, practice and proselytizing. Amen.
https://youtu.be/mXBzrutelZA
