Jesus looked at the twelve men standing in front of him, his friends, the men he’d chosen from all others to share in his journey. He’d just spoken some hard truths to the crowds that had flocked to him. What he’d said had been too much to handle and was certainly not popular or accepted in the current society. What he’d said went against cultural norms. And now many were walking away. They weren’t going to take any major risks for the sake of this man. Jesus was great and everything… so long as he allowed them to remain in their comfort zone and far from any sacrifice or call to change. They wouldn’t put their popularity, safety, or reputation on the line in the name of this Jesus and his offensive words.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”… After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (John 6:60&66)
Sound familiar?
Have you felt the weight of this same struggle in these recent days?
Is there a battle at war within you, when truth and conviction collide with acceptance and comfort? And now there are decisions to be made, lines to be drawn, and paths to be chosen.
You see, it’s ever clear these days, that if you stand with the Christ of scripture, you are incredibly unpopular. You are old fashioned. You are hateful. You are “offensive”.
So let’s ask ourselves the same question Jesus posed to his disciples as he stood before them, moments after so many had walked away:
Do you want to go away as well?
As you may watch friends, family, and those you love falling to culture rather than carrying the cross. Even some who used to claim Christ… even some who still do… but the pressure is too much and compromises are being made…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you watch pastors whom you once respected, becoming “woke” (yet blinded) and striving for political correctness as they follow the trend of compromise at the cost of Biblical truth… in order to bow to the idol of acceptance, popularity, and keeping their numbers up… while faithful pastors who speak truth are mocked and disdained…
Do you want to go away as well?
As the world around you, and the country in which you used to feel so free, begin to put a choke hold on any throat that dares proclaim truth… strangling you, stifling the very air you breathe…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you are portrayed as backward, ignorant, and against change; as you become disliked, polarized, and outcast; as you are lied about and misrepresented…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you realize that the Word of God is at war with the world of men, and though the war has already been won, there will be pain, suffering, loss and sacrifice in the battles leading up to that ultimate victory…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you realize that to appreciate and verbally defend God’s beautiful design in creating mankind in his own image and decidedly in the form of male and female (Genesis 1:27) these will now be considered words of hatred and bigotry…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you realize that simply defending marriage as God created it to be (Hebrews 13:4), and seeing children as worthy of life from the time they are in the womb (Psalm 139:13) will be seen as oppressive to human rights…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you see that if you uphold Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” and thusly refuse to show partiality toward any race or gender (For God shows no partiality – Rom 2:11) you will be seen as racist and sexist…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you begin to see and maybe envy the “prosperity of the wicked“, knowing that Christ himself said: “In this world you will have trouble...” and “you will be hated for my names sake.“
Do you want to go away as well?
As you look to Christ your Cornerstone and see that he is also “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” and you realize that the world will see you in the same light and treat you as such…
Do you want to go away as well?
As you see the current storm that’s raging… swirling toward you with unbelievable force… as you realize the courage and fortitude you may need for the coming days…
Do you want to go away as well?
Let’s ask ourselves that question. Let’s ask it honestly. There may yet be days to come where we will have no choice but to answer it, so we’d best consider it now.
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves… (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Will we walk the broader path with a sinful world, or will we walk a narrow way with Christ?
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)
Will we speak lies and half-truths in self-preservation or will we speak the full truth in love?
Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. (Eph 4:15)
Will we find a false sense of comfort in the darkness, or walk boldly in the light?
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (1 John 1:6)
I’m asking this, because even now, some within the church are trying desperately to compromise. Many are trading the Christ of scripture for a “woke“, comfortable, culturally acceptable Christ in order to protect themselves, in order to keep from offending, in order to keep peace, in order to avoid being misunderstood, in order to avoid pain or sacrifice. And yet Martin Luther’s wise words should sit heavily upon our hearts: “Peace if possible, truth at all costs” and even more so, the words of Christ himself: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
As Christians, we cannot possibly look to scripture and come away thinking that we should ever trade truth for safety, love for flattery, scripture for worldly wisdom, or Christ for culture.
Christ was clear when he said: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
Many who heard Jesus speak that day counted the cost and decided He wasn’t worth it.
And as you ask yourself the question, “Do you want to go away as well?” Consider where your hope lies. It all comes down to whether your treasure is here on earth or in heaven… whether you believe Christ was a lunatic or the Son of God. Are you a sinner and is he your Savior? Do you take each breath from the acceptance of the fallen world around you, or the Creator God who breathed life into you in the first place? You must ask if you fear more the wrath of man or the wrath of God? And what is sweeter to you… the imperfect, fleeting love of fallen man, or the sweet, unconditional, steadfast love of the everlasting God?
“Do you want to go away as well?” or does the very thought of it bring more despair than any earthly suffering ever could?
I’ll now put before you the reply that was offered in answer to the simple but soul-searching question Christ laid before his disciples:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
“Do you want to go away as well?“ or are you clinging to Christ, knowing if you walk away, you are walking away from love, from truth, from hope?
I hope and pray that many will come to the same conclusion and offer the same beautiful, desperately raw and honest answer that Peter gave His Lord that day.
God bless.
My Family Freedom 