Have you ever encountered people with a genuine hatred toward God? The ones that are seething with so much anger that they are vibrating when the conversation of God is brought up. It feels like the tick, tick, tick of a spiritual time bomb about to explode.
These are real people; they have a real reason for their hate towards God. As Christians, we have the ability to be the soft landing when the bomb goes off, or the accelerant that will further detonate the flame of hate towards God.
How can we have so much power? As humans we like the idea of having power and influence over others when it benefits ourselves. But what about when that source of power digs the grave of another soul instead of being the hand that pulls them out?
Jesus hung around the least of us, the rejects, the misfits. We like to think about that when we relate to that prodigal child persona. We like to think of ourselves as that one sheep that Jesus sought out in the wilderness when we were lost. But when we are one of the ninety-nine, can we celebrate when Christ is out finding that one? Better yet, will we help him look for them?
When we are face to face with the brokenness of this world and it doesn’t look appealing. How do we respond? If we fuel hate with hate, can we really call that the work of God? If we get offensive towards those that think, look, act and believe differently than us, can we really say that we are doing Gods work?
I recently made a post on my social media which explained how there are people in this world that have a real hate towards God, the video I posted showed that someone has written “FUCK GOD” on a train bridge in my local town. My heart behind the post was to explain that we should be willing to understand what has brought people to this place of viewing God as the enemy. The reality is that there is darkness in this world and quite often people are quick to blame God for the hardship they have had to suffer. My question is always, why? Why have they come to a place of such bitterness and resentment? What has happened to bring them to this place of constant darkness? – And how can we, as mature believers be the hands and feet of Jesus to pull them out of the fire and help get their feet firmly planted on the foundation of Christ.
Ultimately, it’s up to God to determine who comes to him – we are not responsible for that. But I do believe that we are called to be his hands and feet in a broken world and to accurately represent the God of love we say we serve.
I had someone comment on this video “Psalm 37:13”
but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
Psalm 37:13-15
When I saw someone write “FUCK GOD” I didn’t think “Oh, that is the enemy, God will smite them, muahaha.” I grieved – that someone has been so drawn to pain and darkness that they find the need to write those words for all to see – my heart grieves for what they have had to endure in this life without hope, without peace, without relationship with the God that died for them. I didn’t see a person that was willingly trying to hurt the poor and broken, I saw this person as someone that has been a victim of the enemy. We do not fight against flesh and blood…(Ephesians 6:12)
This is how we become divided, how we remove our ability to share the love of God with a broken world. We can’t draw a line in the sand and determined that those that hate God and those that love God are separated. We are called to action – as Christians. Called to give the shirt off our back, the shoes off our feet and to love our enemies..
But so often we choose to perceive the hate others have for God as the divider between us and them. How many of us have been in that place? We set ourselves on a make-believe pedestal determining that we are better than "them."
Is it really about us? What will Jesus have to say when we show up in heaven?
If you came upon a trauma victim, someone that has been horribly injured in a crash – would you leave them to succumb to their injury? Without applying pressure to wound or calling the emergency line? Or would you stop and try to help save them?
How is a spiritual wound any different?
We are responsible for allowing God to use us where he sees fit, whether it’s in the real world and we encounter someone that truly hates God, or if its online in the comment section. We are responsible for sharing the gospel by the way we interact with those around us. Our first priority is seeking God. From our relationship with him he will guide us to the people that need to receive life-saving care. Don’t allow your own insecurity or self-righteousness to draw a line between you and the Spiritual trauma victim.
You, Christian – whatever season of faith you are in – YOU – have been called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world marked for destruction.
I pray that you take your time here to heal your own heart, set yourself right before God and start jumping into the trenches to pull wounded souls out of the fire.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, for that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:44-45
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