To The Unpopular Christian...

To the unpopular Christian,

Consider the following:

You read the Word daily, you try to apply these lessons and teachings in your life, you pray fervently not just for yourself but for those around you. You seek God daily, you pursue Him with much passion. You do what you can for the people around you, whether it be helping others out or listening to the problems of the one who trusts in you. You put the interests of others before yourself. You carry out your responsibilities to the best of your ability. You strive for excellence in your work and in the areas of your interests. You take caution to speak only in kindness - no insensitive or hurtful remarks, nothing of discouragement; instead, you speak in love, encouragement and respect.

However, in turn, you find yourself greeted by hostility. You seem to be attacked unreasonably. Or perhaps it is more commonly manifested in the most passive manner (if the subjects involved are 'nicer') - obscurity or exclusion. You notice people tend to stay away from you. Or perhaps they tend to be guarded around you, thinking that you are somehow a threat to them. They close up from you, thereby excluding you from their 'cliques' or the group where they keep those whom they feel are 'cool and comfortable'. Sometimes you are faced with silence which, naturally, turns into awkwardness that forces you to back away or lose confidence in yourself. You somehow don't feel accepted, or you sense the tension that arises from interaction with unbelievers. 

What are you doing wrong?

I invite you to reread the above paragraphs again to note certain similarities with your own personal circumstances. Perhaps what's written above is already what you are or have been facing. I'm not surprised if you identify with these experiences. In fact, you aren't alone in these experiences, there are many who face the same predicament, one of whom you'd be very familiar with:

"He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem." (Isaiah 53:3)

Jesus was, in fact, extremely unpopular with the people whom he came to reach out to. The pharisees wanted him dead. The general public responded to him in disbelief. Some saw him as a sorcerer, others deemed him a charlatan. As there were many religious people in Palestine at the time of Christ, one would expect them to welcome the Son of Man with open arms; but they did not.

As mentioned by Roy Davison, Jesus was unpopular for various reasons: as he stands, he opposed human traditions contrary to the will of God; emphasized spiritual values and taught the futility of material things; and exposed the sinfulness of self-righteous people and called sinners to repentance. Jesus was unpopular back in the day and he is still unpopular with people now.

Now if you truly intend to pursue God, listen to this next part very carefully:

By following Jesus, you are essential standing for what Jesus stands for. When you "deny (yourself) and take up (your) cross daily and follow (him)", you are essentially ushered into a lifetime of persecution. Be prepared to take the hit. Be prepared to be hated by the people around you who do not understand who Jesus is. Be prepared to suffer. 

Here's what the Bible says about following Jesus:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first." (John 15:18)

"You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22)

The message is plain and simple. You will definitely experience hate (even from the unbeliever who has no clear reason to hate you), because the world hated Jesus first. 

But I urge you, brothers and sisters, to stand firm in the name of Jesus. John 15:19-25 says "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason'." Having read and understood this, let us consider carefully where our allegiance lies.

Therefore, if you are convicted that Jesus is your stronghold and your portion, then do not be afraid of the persecution that the world deals to you. Do not be afraid of what man thinks of you. Do not afraid to be lonely because of this for the acceptance of man has no appeal to the one who finds himself in God. Having said that, do not be afraid, as well, to continue reaching out to those around you. The facing of persecution does not give us an excuse to disobey that which we have been commanded to do but rather, further reinforces the need for such a manner of Christian living. 

You will be greeted with hostility because "they do not know the one who sent me". For the 1st generation Christians, you have the privilege of knowing firsthand how it felt to be on the other camp. The ones who do not believe hate you not because of who you are but because they do not know Jesus, and one is ignorant if he does not know Jesus. I can tell you this from personal experience - everything I knew was foolery because I did not know who Jesus was. But now that I (and you) know him and follow him closely, everything becomes clear to us. C.S. Lewis expresses this best: "I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen; not only because I can see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Therefore, continue to be patient and kind to those who do not yet know the folly of their ways as you were once like them and will still tend to be at times. Continue to show them love as you have been commanded, but turn to Jesus for comfort when you have been shown hate. Return their hate with compassion, which can only come from walking closely with Jesus.

And for the Christian who takes no issue in being one with the world and their ways, 1 John 2:15-16 expresses my response accurately: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world." Do not be misled into thinking that you can walk faithfully while walking in ways of the world, by simply blending in with them and living as if Christ is absent in your life. For such a man, I have nothing to say to him.

To my readers, I thank you for taking the time to read this piece - It has been an issue that is on my heart for quite a while. I hope it has been an encouragement to you, especially if it is something that you have been suffering for the longest time. Know that you are never alone in your struggles and that your honouring God will be met with His reward and glory.

Keep pressing on and fight the good fight of the faith. God bless you.

In His Love,

Matt

2017: A New Journey and A New Hope

It has definitely been a while since my last post, but I thought I'd start the new year right.

2016 was a blast. In retrospect, it was a year with many changes: I finished my national service earlier in March, worked at an MNC for 4 months, had some downtime, started school and finished my first semester. 

When I look back, the year really flew by quickly, but the experiences are still fresh in my memory. I remember getting called in to the commander's office on my ORD day because of a letter that I had written to him regarding my observations on the state of things in the unit. (Sadly, nothing much has changed, according to my juniors) I remember the months of work I had, and the challenges of working life that I managed to glimpse. I remember my university orientation experience and the culture shock that I received when I first stepped foot in NUS. I remember struggling to find my identity during my first semester, as well as how I had momentarily lost myself in the treacherous currents of school work in the first half.

More importantly, I remember God's grace and His hand in all of these experiences. I remember how He helped me cope with the sudden loneliness I had experienced when I started working. I remember how He sustained me through my work and even in revealing the futility of my work obsession - I needed Him, and then it was clear to me (perhaps not entirely) how I ought to live my life, especially as a student.

In the last days of the year, I attended NUS VCF AnnTiC Camp (Varsity Christian Fellowship Annual Teach-in Camp) and I'm really glad I took those 6 days to study the word and listen to the sermons with a large bunch of people whom I barely knew. To my pleasant surprise, I saw old faces and reconnect with them, finding new dynamics to our old friendships. I made new friends. got to know more people better and really caught a glimpse of what the whole CF community is actually like. I'd prefer to refrain from romanticizing the whole experience but it was undoubtedly breathtaking and awe-inspiring. The sharing from my group was intimate and personal, the sermons were insightful, the workshops were informative and everyone was simply warm and hospitable. Best of all, I experienced God firsthand - fueling the passion in me to revisit my faith and live my life boldly as a disciple of Christ, giving up my life (as I know it) and no less.

The transition into 2017 was not particularly exciting (considering that I was quite exhausted from the camp) but I did have my church's Young Adults Retreat to attend and for 3 days, we relaxed, had fun and were engaged in fruitful discussions on sexual wholeness and purity. Again, I experienced God's hand in my life firsthand here, and managed to let go of the pain and bitterness I had held on to for 2 years from a certain past and simply just commit it all to Jesus. God is indeed great (if you know me personally, I wouldn't mind sharing my story with you if you asked) and I have no doubt in my mind that He has called me to walk closely with Him with a renewed faith this year.

Although it is characteristic of my pieces to be lengthy, I have to admit that I have left out much in this post. Perhaps what's remaining isn't that important for the time being, but I guess the bottom-line is that God is faithful and gracious - and I am determined to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Where I may stumble, I pray for His forgiveness and His grace; and where I overcome obstacles, I hope to give thanks to His faithfulness and sing His praise.

2017: A year of God's presence. What more can I ask for?

Cheers,

Matt