Dear Christian: (Please write this down in your little teal colored journal) If the Father ever calls you to truly do something for his glory and not yours, it’s going to be fraught with serious danger and sick risk.
I beg your pardon.
Jesus never promised you a rose garden.
God never promised his people a cushy ride.
Matter of fact, the Bible guarantees true followers just the opposite.
Indeed, as I already discussed in chapter fourteen, his initial itinerant ministers, save John and Judas, were all killed for the message they preached and they didn’t flinch in the face of death because they knew that was to be expected when one followed the Prince of Peace.
Jesus said, “You will be hated by all because of my name” (Matthew 10:22a).
He said, “… whenever they persecute you” and not “if they ever persecute you” (Matthew 10:23a).
Today’s effeminate pastors omit all the aforementioned hooey because it is “so negative.”
Instead, they put forth a faux Jesus who’ll pay all your bills, get you a condo in Las Olas, a wife that looks like Blake Lively, a Lambo, millions of adoring fans and then upon vain-glorious expiration, supposedly, your egotistical backside will be placed in heaven’s chief seats next to Moses and Paul.
Yep, following Christ according to these heretical teachers, is quite akin to a lite beer commercial or hitting the Pick Six Lotto. Their message is just the opposite of Jesus’ forecast of getting killed.
Jesus, on the other hand, told his men the brutal truth: I’m sending you out “as sheep in the midst of wolves.”
The upshot of this “negative news” is God’ll be with you all the way and he ain’t scared. God Almighty isn’t rattled by any earthly threat from some punk human toad.
The same God who sent a nation of former slaves into the land of Canaan, a land filled with giant violent warriors, will send you, little Christian, into untoward environs where his enemies will come at you with razor blades and lemon juice.
But we’re to never fear because God is near.
Y’know, most people’s “Christianity” is way too safe.
Most Christians have never felt under any type of serious, viable, threat for righteous reasons.
A lot of Christians are loved by all instead of “hated by all” (Matthew 10:22) like Jesus’s true amigos were.
Now aside from the scary wolf promise that the Son of Man lacquered his men with, the reason he sent them into the wood-chipper was to be a Gospel voice in the courts and synagogues; to preach to governors and kings for his name’s sake.
In other words: what looks really horrible from an earthly perch is, in fact, an epic opportunity to declare the Gospel to this terra firma’s gatekeepers.
Sure it’s unsafe but, it isn’t boring, eh?
Is your “Christianity” boring? If it is you might want to check yourself before you eternally wreck yourself.
Here’s how you can tell you’re following the true Jesus: the enemies of the Gospel hate you.
Here’s how you can tell you’re following a faux Jesus: the enemies of the Gospel love you.
Following the real Son of God, according to the Son of God, is not for the squeamish.
Clash Ministries is here to do two things, namely, put brains and cojones on Christians.Yep, our holy job is renewing minds (Rom. 12:1-2) and emboldening hearts (Prov. 28:1). Your generosity helps us throttle the enemy by equipping God’s people to live bold, wild and free in Him. You are a vital part of this ministry and we could not do this without you. Thank you for your faithful gifts and partnership and remember to always … stay rowdy!
