Let me start with an explanation of what Christianity means by the word, "World."
A world view is a set of presuppositions and beliefs that someone uses to interpret
and form opinions about his humanity, purpose in life, duties in the world, responsibilities
to family, interpretation of truth, social issues, etc.
A true Christian views all these things, and more, guided by the light that is shed
upon them by God's Word, the Bible. I use the phrase "true Christian" here because
in today's world, many who call themselves Christian are in fact not. Many cults
have attempted to combine Christianity with the world and produced nothing more
than a false Jesus, and false Salvation, not to mention a egregious hypocrisy that
the World loves to point out and exploit.
The Bible has much to say about the nature of man, the world, purpose, truth, morality,
etc., and so does the world. More often than not, the secular world view, (Secular:
of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious,
spiritual, or sacred; temporal.), is in conflict with the biblical one. For example:
Where the world asserts that man evolved, the Bible says he was created and ultimately
responsible to God. Where the world says that morals are relative, the Bible says
they are absolute. Where the world says Truth is relative, the Bible states otherwise.
Where the world says that there is no need of salvation and redemption, the Bible
clearly states that all people are in need of deliverance from their worldly ways
of sin. The contrast is obvious and profound. Both cannot be true. The secular world
exalts man to the highest point of evolutionary development, the sovereign over
all he dominates, even though he too is only an animal. God is relegated to the
belief systems of the uneducated and superstitious. Such opposing views cannot exist
without conflict.
While today only about 33% of the world's population is considered to be Christian,
the tenets of Christianity have provided for many of the laws which have kept the
world from complete chaos and anarchy for more than 3,000 years. These laws inspired
the original Constitution of the United States of America, as well as promoting
personal responsibility, equality, freedom, and many more of the characteristics
that so many hold dear throughout the world today.
Why then do so many of world dwellers shun Christianity and even rabidly protest
and fight against it?
I believe we may need a Christian explanation of the phrase "world dwellers"
here to insure that we are all talking about the same thing.
World dwellers, and also, earth dwellers, are the unsaved of the earth who steadfastly
continue in their rejection of God. The focus and ambitions for the "world/earth
dwellers" are limited to the earth and not God's will, which is issued from
heaven and enacted upon the earth. In contrast, the faithful are aliens and sojourners
upon the earth (Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 18:20, 23; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 39:12;119:19;
John 15:19; 17:14, 16; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:9-10) and whose
hope is heavenward (Hebrews 11:13–16; Revelation 13:6), these that dwell upon the
earth are trusting in man and his environment. Christians on the other hand believe
that they are merely on the earth and not of the earth. Christians are but passing
through, but while they are here it is their obligation and mission to help fulfill
the Great Commission (Mathew 28:19-20) and to share the wonderful Word of God with
those who will but hear it. Christians believe Faith is all about a personal relationship
with Christ, and not a religion.
Now, as to why the world is against Christianity.
With the exception of two instances in the history of Man, all men and women are
born into the world with a sin nature. The first instance was when God created Adam.
Adam was a created creature without sin. However when Lucifer, also known as Satan, entered the
Garden of Eden and tempted Adam with lies, Adam acted upon those lies, and he committed
the first sin of disobedience, and all our earthly troubles began.
One of my few pet peeves is "lying." I admit I have in the past told lies;
in fact I was pretty good at it I am ashamed to say. When Jesus called me one of
the very first things He did for me was to convict me of this egregious sin. "Thou
Shall Not Bear False Witness." Lying is how persecution begins. A lie is a
false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive, disinformation is false
information intended to deceive or mislead. Eve is the first person to tell a lie
in recorded history when she told the serpent, (Lucifer/Satan) in Genesis 3:3 "But
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye
shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
This misquoting of God's word, Genesis 2:16-17, provided the serpent an opportunity
to place doubt into Eve's mind. As this doubt was reinforced by the serpent telling
another lie, "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil." These lies led to the disobedience of Eve and you know the rest
of that story.
Persecution is really no different. It begins by subtle lies which plant false ideas
in the minds of men and women. These lies grow into fear and often anger and perhaps
rage. The devil is the Prince of lies. This is his primary weapon against the children
of God. When speaking of Christian persecution, the devil uses unbelievers to spread
his lies of disinformation. He also uses uneducated believers, ignorant of the true
Word of God. By misquoting God's word, as Eve in the Garden of Eden, or simply by
not knowing God's word, these believers open their minds to disinformation and their
actions and words do not reflect God's will. These malformed beliefs by uneducated
Christians often lead to inconsistent actions on their part and appear to earth
dwellers that Christians are hypocrites and liars. Therefore the world becomes disgusted
and perhaps fearful, they may feel threatened.
Subtle lies, like that of Eve, can lead to the most devastation. While perhaps well
intentioned, by adding to or taking away from God's word, believers are perpetrating
the spread of disinformation. The best defense against persecution is first and
foremost the Truth. Another lie of Satan is that there are many shades of truth.
As a Christian you must believe that there is only one Truth, and that is God's
Word. If we as Christians know the Truth, and hold firm to the Truth, and always
speak the Truth, we can defend ourselves against persecution in the form of disinformation.
I am not saying we can stop persecution, I am saying we can defend ourselves against
this type of persecution. This is what protects those who are being persecuted and
what gives Christian martyrs their faith and strength. For once you know the Truth
you can settle for nothing less and the Truth will set you free. Knowing the Truth
allows you to recognize disinformation in its infancy, and once you recognize it,
through God's will, you will know how to combat it with the Truth.
The second instance is when Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary. As the Son of God,
Jesus, the Christ, lived and died without sin. He died as atonement for all our
sins!
All the rest of us were born as earth dwellers with a sin nature. That's correct,
all of us, even Christians. For such a small word, a lot is packed into the meaning
of sin. The Bible describes sin as the breaking, or transgression, of God's law
(1 John 3:4). It is also defined as disobedience or rebellion against God (Deuteronomy
9:7), as well as independence from God. The original translation means "to
miss the mark" of God's holy standard of righteousness. Those who become Christians
hear the call of Jesus (Revelation 3:20), and hearing that call have opened the
door of their hearts and invited Him in. Once Jesus has been invited, they are filled
by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit makes them aware of their
earth dwelling, sin nature. In other words they are "convicted" of their
sins. To be convicted in Christianity is to be proven or declared guilty on an offense
against God's laws. When the earth dweller believes that they are guilty they are
compelled by the Holy Spirit to acknowledge their guilt, their sins, and to repent
(Repent: to feel remorse (for); be contrite (about); show penitence (for)). Once
the believer confesses and repents an awareness of their true stature is made manifest
within them and their view is turned heavenward, they become sojourners of the earth.
Now no one likes to be convicted of their guilt and made to realize that they are
not the "Good Person" they think they are.
Without hearing and accepting the call, earth dwellers will likely become angry
and perhaps frightened when confronted by someone who informs them that they are
a sinner. The worldly defense mechanism kicks in and the believer is shunned and
ridiculed. If the earth dweller has not heard the knock at their door, they will
feel threatened by conviction; their reaction will probably be to avoid the people
and symbolic reminders (
The Cross, the Bible, the 10 Commandments on the wall, In
God We Trust, etc.) that represent that conviction. After all the World
tells us that we should have what we want, do what we want, and have it and do it
when we want. Lucifer's lies never change and without the Holy Spirit to guide us
and give us discernment (Discernment: judgment, perspicacity, penetration, insight),
we live as selfish, self-centered, narcissistic beings.
As such we lack discernment and believe the lies perpetuated by Lucifer. As fear
and anger grow in the earth dwellers, persecution follows. From the very beginning,
God's people have been persecuted. Our Lord Jesus, speaking to the scribes and Pharisees,
refers to this reality when He said to them,
"That upon you may come all the righteous bloodshed upon the earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias..." Matthew 23:35.
Persecution is to be expected by all true Christians. In the Gospel of Matthew our
Lord prophesied it, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake..."
Matthew 10:22.
The most aggressive forms of persecution are religious and/or political persecution.
Jesus spoke about the severity of this persecution, saying: "They shall put
you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God service." John 16:2 (It was for these very reasons
the disciples forsook Jesus in Gethsemane and fled for their lives.)
Soon after our Lord’s resurrection, both the Sadducees and Pharisees became bitter
persecutors of the Christians. And throughout history, from emperors such as Nero
in Rome to Mao Zedong in China, ideologues have persecuted Christians.
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you… but I
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. . . . If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; . . . But all these things will
they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me."
John 15:18-21.
Again, he emphasized this point, "And these things will they do unto you, because
they have not known the Father, nor me." John 16:3 Regardless of what the world
believes, God loves all of humanity. However, not all humanity loves God. Why? Humanity
is not good. We try to be good, but we cannot be good. God tells us in His Word
that only He is good. He is holy, he is righteous, and he is sinless. He is the
only one who has the right to judge us for our sin, our bad behavior, and our disobedience
because He is the only one who has never sinned. Our judgment is death. We are all
born into this world. We will all die and leave this world. God does not want us
to die in our sin because if we do we will be eternally separated from Him.
How can we escape this judgment? Matthew 25:31-46
By accepting God’s escape plan! We cannot escape by ourselves. He gave His only
Son, His sinless, Holy, Righteous Son to pay the price (death) for us by dying on
the cross. This is the free gift God has given us. All we have to do is accept it.
We accept it by believing we are sinners, believing that Jesus is God’s only Son
and He came to earth and died to pay the price for our sins. Then we need to ask
Him to forgive us for our sin. At that moment, we are given the free gift of eternal
life with Jesus Christ our Lord.