When I am in conversation with family who say they are Christians, they are embarrassed at the mention of Jesus Christ, and His name never comes from their mouth.
Something is wrong with this; they seem to think only the man in the pulpit should speak His name. They don't say that but act as though they believe it.
I also notice they speak of conservative politics non-stop; it is almost an obsession with them. Conservative living and political ideologies seem to always take priority over speaking about Christ. Because of this, they are continually irritated and even angry about what is going on in the world as though it is everything to them.
When Jesus Christ is our focus, we understand the world is wicked and it will be that way until Christ rules on the earth from Jerusalem.
We hate what we see in the world, but do not expect anything else from the world. The world will always be opposed to Christ and to us, because we love Him.
Tilting at windmills, meaning to attack imaginary enemies, is not the calling of the born-again believer. Our calling is to speak of Christ to encourage the believers and to warn the unbelievers that judgment is coming and they must turn to Christ before it is too late.
What do I mean by "imaginary enemies"? When we fight against human beings who do not know any better, we are fighting people when the real enemy of our souls is the devil.
We can fight against people all day long without ever mentioning the name of Jesus Christ and the reason they even exist at all. Those who hear our banter about politics need to hear about Christ. The conservative politics will not save them from hell, only Christ can do that when they trust in Him.
The world is an evil place, and believers often are now spending more time becoming emotionally invested in the evils while neglecting the good news of Jesus Christ.
We have not been placed on this earth to turn nations into conservative entities. We have been placed to preach that mankind is sinful and needs a Savior, that is, Jesus Christ.
If someone is called to some sort of political office, then that person must speak of Christ while in the position. Christ must be the reason for everything they do, and they must make that clear. If the statesman obtains office and never speaks of Christ, perhaps he should not be there.
2 Corinthians 2:16-17 "…16 To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task? 17 For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God."
God did not save us to turn a country into a conservative one; He gave us our calling to present Christ so that individual souls would trust in Him and become saved from hell.
My only encouragement in this article is that every believer ask the Holy Spirit to reveal their calling and give them the strength to speak of Christ often. Even if it means you will be rejected by family and friends. The more you speak of Christ and are rejected, the stronger and less affected by the personal attacks you become.
The personal attacks for our faith are a blessing; the more we experience them, the stronger we become. The rejection and gossip become irrelevant!
James 1:2-4 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing".
It is true, "no pain, no gain"! Just as in building physical muscles, one must tear the muscles in weight lifting; when the torn parts heal back, they are stronger than the muscles were before. We must experience rejection and challenges to build our Spiritual muscles to become impervious to the assaults of the enemy.
Also, remember, those people who abuse us are not the only enemy; they are controlled by the ultimate enemy of our souls, and that is the devil and his demons.
The challenge is to remain kind, loving, truthful, and all the rest of the fruit of the Spirit of Christ despite the assaults. Satan wants us to respond to personal attacks by attacking back, this ultimately ruins our Christian witness.
When we remain Christlike, bold and resolute, the enemy has nothing to accuse us of; he will lie, but a negative lie about us rather than a negative truth.
Satan wants to ruin our witness by causing us to become like our enemy, angry all the time, intimidated, and weak just like our enemies.
When we walk in the Spirit of Christ, eventually we have no desire to respond to those who assault us; we simply respond in the character of Christ, either to not respond at all or to gently and lovingly tell the truth in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in our flesh, so as not to appear phony and fleshly.
Ephesians 4:15 "15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ,"
How do we calmly speak the truth when we are assaulted verbally and emotionally? The only way we can do it is if the Holy Spirit is working through us. We no longer care if anyone likes us and we care deeply that the Holy Spirit be the One to speak on our behalf.
Luke 12:12 "12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
We need not formulas or instructions from others how to handle people; all we need is the Holy Spirit and a willingness to obey Him, as well as knowledge of the Bible that the Holy Spirit will remind us of as it is needed.
Trust in Christ for salvation is only the beginning; we must learn to trust Him in all situations every day.
Proverbs 3:4-6 "…4 Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
