I am dismayed that so many people who say they are Christians are indulging in things that grieve the heart of God. I have had Christians chastise me for coming against "Krampus" the Christmas demon.
They call me unloving for not allowing them to go unchallenged in their pleasure of these ungodly and devilish activities. They say I am not a good Christian because I speak against these things.
I wouldn't bother chastising an unsaved person, they need the gospel more than instruction about life. However, I do take seriously the command of God to rebuke, admonish and chastise daily those who say they are Christians.
One of the tactics of the narcissist in this culture is to accuse us of what they are doing and we are not. Narcissists consider it unloving to show them that something does not honor God, even blasphemes God.
The truth is that it is unloving toward God and other believers to allow these wicked things to go on without addressing it. So many people are deceived into believing things that are clearly against God but they do not see it because they are caught up in the happy emotion of the festivities.
2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts."
When they cannot bring a good argument against what you say they begin to address the way you spelled a word or the way you wrote. I even had someone say, "It's the way you said it" when I asked her to send me the exact words I said that were offensive she wouldn't do it because there was nothing personal in it, only facts from the Bible.
We will see more of this kind of resistance to the truth as we move closer to the rapture. Most people who say they are Christians today refuse to evaluate what they are doing as long as it feels fun. They also do not self-reflect to discern their own attitudes. It is common now for people to accuse others of doing what the narcissist is doing to deflect any responsibility for their own actions.
If a narcissist calls you a liar you know they have lied or are going to lie. If a narcissist says you have been unloving then it is what the narcissist has been. It's called projection. I once had someone say to me they didn't respect me because I took a stand against sin in their life that they wanted me to engage in with them.
One of the most used phrases unrepentant people use is "you are being unloved." They ask; "would Christ be so unkind as you have been?" when you have addressed the sin. The pretender uses God's Word to hammer those who speak the truth, as though their out of context words will intimidate us into feeling ashamed of confronting sin.
As we move closer to the tribulation there will be fewer and fewer authentically born-again believers. God said it would become as in the days of Noah when no one would listen and people would be angry at the hearing of truth.
Matthew 24:37-39
37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be."
We must pray for those who have stubborn hearts. At some point, if they do not repent God will send them a strong dilution and they will not be able to repent. Just as Pharoah hardened his heart against God in the days of Moses, then God gave him a further hardened heart that could not be reversed. God will harden someone's heart if they persist in rebellion.
Those who want to be resistant to the truth will be hardened if they do not repent. They will no longer even be able to change their mind and believe the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:11
"11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:"
Ephesians 4:18
"They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."
Matthew 13:14-15
"Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’"
In these last days we are watching the hearts of most become so hardened that they think a correction to be cleansed from their sin is an offense against them. Rather than praying about the challenge to think about what they are doing or practicing they will become enraged with anger.
Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution.10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"
Reasoning with a stubborn hard-hearted person to rethink his actions will only cause him to rage worse than he already does. Sometimes we must encounter them once to see if they are of this sort, but after that, the only thing left to do is remove ourselves from them. If we remain in the presence of these people we invite continual conflict or we end up compromising God's truth to make them happy.
Proverbs 26:4-5
"4 Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves,
So that he will not be wise in his own eyes."
When we attempt to reason with a fool or answer his foolish diatribes we are becoming like him. The best thing to do is ignore him completely, this is because the fool loves any answer at all that will allow him to fight with you. They love to argue and fight over silly and unimportant things. If you bring up something important they will address the "way you said it", or "your voice inflections" and other things to divert the attention from the wisdom you are attempting to convey.
2 Corinthians 6:15-18 "…16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"
Also, God does not say we should never encounter fools, we will without a doubt meet up with them. We are to speak the truth to everyone all the time when God places them in our presence. However, when we see that we are dealing with an argumentative fool then we are to remove ourselves and never return to them. God can deal with them, even using others who might come into their lives, but we are not to remain friends with them hoping they will eventually "get it." They will not "get it" with you. Once they have determined you are not worthy of respect they will never listen to you again. God must use someone else.
Matthew 10:14 "
"14 And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city."
In the Jewish culture shaking the dust from their feet as a testimony against them, having nothing more to do with them is the symbolism here.
Our modern culture that teaches "forgiveness without repentance", "just love them" by continued friendliness no matter what they do, "don't judge" anyone, and other forms of scripture twisting is causing people to become worse, not better. It is enabling sin, even fostering it.
In a culture when we first "tolerate the sin, then we accept it and eventually embrace" it as some writers have said, we ultimately become the culture we have today.
So many people have spouted these meaningless mantras for so long that now many believe them to be from the Bible when they are the opposite of what God teaches in His word.
God does not say "not to judge", He does not say "forgive even if they are not repentant", He does not say "hurting people hurt people", all these ideas come from secular psychology based on Darwinism in which people are merely animals responding to stimuli. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
Often people who were treated well will act badly because of their evil nature. Then there are people who have been treated badly who do not harm others because they have been harmed. These people want to treat others better than they were treated. Animals operate from instinct, mankind operates from the heart based on their own attitudes. Only Christ can fix this in any human being.
To assign animal characteristics to human beings is silly at best, it also assumes things that may not be true. It is often likely that someone who is mean spirited was never treated that way, they simply like the power they feel from treating people as beneath them.
We are living in the apostate age described in 2 Timothy 3, the character traits of this culture are clear now. Do not let it discourage you, when we know what we are dealing with we can have compassion on the lost, speak the gospel and walk on as we share with everyone God has placed in our path. Keep in mind the 2 Timothy 3 people are to be pitied and prayed for, they are miserable people who need Christ and salvation.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Notice that this is a description of a culture that thinks of itself as "godly", in verse 5 God says they have "a form of godliness but deny" Christ in their life.
Our work is not done until Christ takes us home in the rapture.
2 Timothy 4:8
"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."
By the way; "occupy until I come" as God says has nothing to do with occupying a government, it has to do with remaining faithful to the gospel until we are taken home. The gospel, not politics. I want that to be clear.
