| Subject: Can I get a witness? |
Author:
Frizzell
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Date Posted: 07:28:21 03/27/02 Wed
I think I speak for cool guys proper when I say, "It's good to hear from you T." The prodigal has returned.
Hate. I believe that we are the recipients of more hate than we realize. True, I have never been seized, arrested, or beaten. But I have been hated. The hatred I receive is a lot more sinister and covert.
I think hate has morphed since our Lord's day. It has been civilized even domesticated. To borrow a phrase from the British, "it has been given it's coat and tails." Now, when I speak of hate being civilized and domesticated I speak of a hate that is experienced in a civilized and domesticated society. The hate that is experienced by those Christians in China, Indonesia or any other Communist or Muslim militant country is truly a brutal hate. I speak of a Western hate.
The hate that I experience is more along the lines of ridicule and contempt. I express my views in a non-christian setting and I am written off as naive and un-enlightened. I am often told by one co-worker, "you just need time to come around, you haven't lived long enough," as he walks away shaking his head, exasperated. I leave the table at lunch to fill up my salad plate after a spirited debate on gay adoption, and, as I look back at my collegues I can read the non-verbals. I can see a look of hate. These people would never ambush me in the parking lot with a baseball bat. They would never accuse me of embezzelment. They haven't even witheld friendship from me. But, I do believe that they would, and do, plot together against me. As a group they could diminish my credibility and question my judgement so that I no longer could have an influence over any one individual in that group. A moderate form of slander. I believe that the reason that they do not "take me out" so to speak is that I am not a serious threat. I am threat, no doubt, that does need to be dealt with, but nothing to lose sleep over.
Jesus, now there is a serious threat. My guess is that when there is a theological debate, or a debate on how one should live according to the law, the miracle worker generally has the upper hand. Instant credibility. Not only did Jesus brow beat the Pharisees with his intellectual prowess, but, just in case there was any doubt, he went ahead and healed the paralytic anyway. I am sure that the Pharisees had been called a brood of vipers in the past but they had probably never been called a brood of vipers and then seen their accuser cleanse a leper. They had a serious problem. Jesus was threatening to upend their influence and ruin their lifestyle. He had to be dealt with. He had to be killed.
My guess is that if we truly want to be hated as Jesus was, then we need to find a way to be the kind of formidable theat that he was. I don't know how to do that. Popular influence has painted us Christians as close minded malcontents that believe in mythology. We definitely have an uphill battle but there has to be a way.
Acts 3:6-8 Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
It is an interesting question. Would I give up my silver and gold to be able to do what Peter did? I like to think that I would...of course I might be killed for it like he was.
Frizzell
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