Two violent events occurring just forty-eight hours apart, stunned the nation during the last weekend of February 1993. First, six people were killed and a thousand injured in New York City when a powerful bomb exploded between the twin skyscrapers of the World Trade Center. (By early May, seven men with ties to Middle Eastern Islamic terrorists groups had been arrested in connection with the bombing.) Then, two days after the bombing, four federal agents were killed during an unsuccessful raid on the Branch Davidian cult compound near Waco, Texas. That led to a fifty-one day standoff between the government and the religious cult which ended tragically when the compound burned down, killing at least seventy-five.
Fanaticism and hateful intolerance played a part in both those stories -- and they are merely two from among many such examples in recent years. Even a casual observer of modern society will find incidents of ethnic bigotry and racial hate crimes in any larger American city. There is also much animosity and contention between groups with competing social and political viewpoints. But none of those conflicts is as significant as the one between Christians and the world.
Because We Oppose The World
First, the world hates Christians primarily because Christians are not of the world. We are not culturally part of the "in group." We move against the main stream secular flow of ideas and practices and stand opposed to wrongs and injustices. We are even eager to urge individuals to repent of their sins and turn to Christ. This final characteristic generates the most intense opposition and hatred from the world.
The term "world" as used in John 15 and elsewhere is translated from the Greek kosmos. In this context it refers to the evil system of sin in the world, as authored by Satan and acted out by humanity. In starker terms, we could say it is the depraved society of wicked human beings that has set itself against Christ, His kingdom, and His people. Is it any wonder that, with Satan at the head of such a system (see 12:31; 14:30), believers should face hateful opposition when they confront that society?
Disguised as an "angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14), Satan presents his world system as a false religion. This religion so often presents itself to Christians under the subtle guise of false godliness, which appears to be tolerant of God and Christ, when in reality it opposes the truth and openly persecutes believers if necessary. Such deception often makes Christians think there is no threat or leads to surprise when outward persecution comes.
It was a religious system that hated Jesus so much that it eventually killed Him. The false religionists of Palestine detested Him because He violated their system and rebuked their hypocrisy with His righteousness. Similarly, Abel in Genesis 4 was killed by false religion personified in his brother Cain. First John 3:12 provides us with commentary on what Cain did: "not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother and for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous."
Because of the nature of Satan's false system over the centuries with it's evil, relentless opposition to God's kingdom, it is important that Christians realize they are not part of the world. God has called us to stand for Jesus Christ in the midst of a sinful society. The system is at once the enemy and the mission field. Paul urged the Philippians to live righteously so "that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15). This admonition correlates well with what Jesus already said in the Sermon on the Mount: "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again. It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by man. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:13-14).
Such exhortations call for Christians to be the conscience of a sinful and perverse generation. If we are obedient and take the scriptural injunctions seriously, we should not be surprised by hostility and persecution. Jesus Himself faced harsh opposition from the people of His day even when He rebuked them more indirectly regarding their spiritual attitude (Luke 4:25-30).
(The Power of Suffering, John MacArthur, Jr.)
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