Are you having a hard time because people know you’re a Christian?

Are you having a hard time because people know you’re a Christian?  Not everyone will like us.

Read John 15:18-27 and 16:1-4 at the bottom.  Jesus makes a clear statement to His disciples that the world will hate them but they hated Him first vs. 18.  Jesus says to His disciples:

1. The world will hate you, vs. 19,

2. They will persecute you, vs. 20,

3. They will hate the Father, vs. 23-24,

4. They will hate Jesus without reason, vs. 25,

5. And even some religious people will put you down thinking they’re doing God a favor, vs. 16:2.

This is not an easy truth to take but Jesus tells His disciples these things in 16:4 to warn them of this fact.  He also shares these things with His disciples so that they would not go astray 16:1.

Here’s what can make this truth hard on us as His disciples in 2009;

  1. Once people find out we’re Christians they could mark us down as people not to hang out with and leave us out of activities or…
  2. Some people may fail to be nice and polite and treat us with contempt
  3. Some could tell lies about us and put us down behind our back
  4. Professors who find out we’re believers could dock your grades
  5. Some RA’s could lock you out of the dorm and keep you from talking to people on their floor or doing any programs
  6. Some may shout “Separation of church and state”, and try to shut you down

Some of these things could happen, not that they all will happen but we need to be prepared and warned.  If we make a difference for the cause of Christ it could bring some difficult times.  Jesus does not want us to go astray or get discouraged 16:1.  The Holy Spirit will play a big part because He will testify or be a witness to the Father.  Jesus then says to His disciples, “And you also must testify (be a witness), for you have been with me from the beginning 15:27.

Can you think of anything more powerful then seeing someone’s life changed in this life and receive eternal life in the next?  It is worth it.  Keep sharing the gospel message.  Stay connected to a Bible study and keep growing.  God is on your side as He was on the side of the disciples.  Don’t get discouraged or turn away.  You have the mission to help make an eternal difference in the lives of people all around you.  Stand strong.

Ben Rivera

John  15:18-27  18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

16:1-4 “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.