Butterflies in the stomach

The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God's power to us who are being saved. It is written,
"I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise.
I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart." (Isaiah 29:14)

1 Corinthians 1, verse 18 and 19.

I have to admit to some degree I live a sheltered life. I grew up in times when most of the country still was Christian and I was raised in a family with Christian values. My faith probably never got challenged to any degree until I reached college in the early 1970’s and by that time the tide in the mainstream thinking of the culture had already begun its recession away from Christianity. (As a sinner I know, at least for a season, I rode that wave that was headed away from God)

Today, nearly forty years later, the tide has receded so far that theologians refer to the culture as “post Christian.” The culture for the most part is oblivious to such terminology as “post Christian." I believe it'S because it is so caught up in the revolution against God having authority or influence over our government or moral standards of living thaT it's beginning to forget we ever were a Christian nation/culture.

Well back to my statement that I feel like I have been living in a sheltered life. Most often I run into people with no faith, a fractured faith, a wounded faith, or a dormant faith. Maybe it’s because I am so immersed in sharing my faith among those who need Christ that it’s a shocker when I run into a proactive anti-Christian. It’s so unsettling! On the one hand Scripture affirms that it’s going to be there, but it’s such a sobering reality of prophetic truth when you really encounter it. It’s not like I've never run into it but I have never gotten used to it!

Recently I had such an encounter by way of the TV. I don’t really think it will do any good to mention names, suffice it to say I saw a celebrated TV personality recently giving his take on a variety of topics; primarily religion and politics. During the interview he comes down on Rick Warren as a leader in the Christian community as well as taking Christianity over the coals as being fools for what they believe, manipulators of weak minded people, focused on passing the plate to stay in business, and actually believing that there is a heaven.

Here are a couple links to give you a flavor of the conversation

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0808/19/lkl.01.html
This is the entire interview in transcript form.

And here is the link for a segment of the interview on You Tube that will pretty much give you the essence of what I’m referring to as his anti-Christianity sentiment.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-CWiASiqDdU

I’m not out to attack the individual as a person; that’s one of the reason I’m not mentioning his name. Who he is, is irrelevant to me save only that he’s in a position to influence a lot of people and sadly because he’s popular for his opinions but not necessarily his knowledge (as he even admits in a way in his interview). No, rather than attack him, I’d rather pray that God would be patient with him long enough for him to come to understand salvation and grace and accept Jesus as his Lord. Let’s just say he’s a face: a personification of what we are told to expect as scripture teaches us.

My point is this: as a listen to a man like this I get the gutsy butterfly feeling of “wow this stuff is real and I’m not sure I want to “play this game anymore” in my stomach. The heart of Satan is within his words. Maybe you get that feeling too or maybe it makes you so angry you want to punch the guy. Either reaction is not what we are called to do.

The first thing I need to remember is that God is in charge of saving the world through his son Jesus Christ, not me.

Secondly, I am responsible for speaking the truth of scripture to the degree I know it whenever the occasion arises. So it’s best that I be an ongoing student of the scripture for the times when I might run into a sharp witted intelligent intellectual who thinks Christianity is for fools. What I should not do is shy away from the occasion. As a Christian I need to live by the verse from Romans 1:

16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:

Thirdly, rather than getting a militant attitude towards the individual, I should remember to pity the person who gets in my face to confront my faith. He may think I’m a fool for believing “the message of the cross” but he’s worse off; he’s “lost and dying.”

Finally I should welcome the occasions. I don’t have to be a five time gold medalist from the debate team to have a conversation with a radical anti Christian. I can even “loose” a conversation and be made a fool of. It’s okay. In the end God will still love me and even be proud of me for standing up for Him.

1 Peter 4:14 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

These occasions are actually to be looked forward to!

James 1: 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

This I know from experience: when I do know that I am headed spiritually into “enemy territory” I do ask for wisdom and I will come up with thoughts that I know were way to logical and intelligent for my feeble little brain to construct!

If we truly accept the message of the cross we have both a responsibility and a "response ability." The responsibility is the Great Commission. The “response ability” is the power of the Holy Spirit working in us!

Stay close to Jesus!