Christian Living

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.
As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Recently a friend and I were having a meal in a restaurant where we would be considered "regulars." Most of the management
and waitresses know who we are and share a rapport with us as we are familiar and friendly.

A particular young waitress employed by the eating establishment in question stopped by the table where my buddy and I sat
to say "hello." She mentioned that one of the other waitresses--one who we were of course on amicable terms with--stated
to her, to paraphrase "your weird friends are here again if you want to see them." The young waitress I speak of asked the
older server "what weird friends?" The other, more senior server replied "those two Christian guys that are always here." The younger server,
who likewise shares our faith in Christ, asked the elder server "do you think they're weird because thay are Christians?" and
then recounted to me that she told her senior co-worker that she, too, was of the faith.

Purportedly, the waitress who referred to me and my pal as "weird" was embarrassed and apologetic to her Christian staff mate.
Certainly, when being serviced by the non-believing waitress that I speak of, my friend and I had mentioned
our faith in conversation. So, if in the eyes of that particular server we are weird, so be it. In today's culture, Jesus Christ is not
considered hip or politically correct, and those who follow Him are at best considered weird by those in this world and at worst suffer emotional,
verbal, or even physical persecution for their faith.

Much of the world hates us, just as Jesus warned some 2,000 years ago. I don't say that to elicit sympathy, especially from
non-believers, but everything Jesus said is true. A waitress thinking that my friend and I were weird because
of our faith in Jesus is just the tippy-tip of the iceberg, and is nothing compared to what other Christians have suffered
throughout history and suffer today in the "civilized" twenty-first century.

As a recently divorced man, I know that the odds of me ever finding a suitable lady to be my mate in this fallen world are
virtually nil. Secular women would not find my faith attractive, and while I could date a non-believer I wouldn't want to
marry her and be unequally yoked. I don't drink or socialize in bars, so therefore I wouldn't be considered "fun" or
"interesting." My faith in Christ discourages pre-marital sex, so while passions may burn, I'd have to employ the Living
Water to douse the flames, and the secular woman would not understand or appreciate this. To the secular woman, my faith in
Jesus would be considered archaic, limiting, and closed-minded. Never mind that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life--the secular
woman isn't going to buy it and will consider me to be backward or even worse--weird!

The Christian women I encounter are happily married to their faithful and loving Christian husbands and have
broods of children who are being raised to love and worship Jesus. The mere fact that I am a struggling musician would reduce
my level of desirability--even to a single woman of faith. I had just better steel myself for a lonely ride down
the final roads that lay ahead of me in my earthly travels.

I, like most believers, have faced varying levels of persecution because of my faith in the Lord Jesus, and being referred to
as weird is the least of it. Still, it is symptomatic of how Christians are viewed in this current culture. If I followed
one of the false religions like Islam, I'd be considered hip and open-minded. The mere fact that I refer to Islam as a
false religion would brand me as intolerant by those who despise my Christianity. So, they would reject me due to my faith,
and then view me as intolerant because of my view of a false religion. Likewise, those who redicule my faith have no issue with radicalized Muslims hating anyone
who doesn't share that religion. And who is the intolerant one here?

I don't hate Muslims. I don't hate Homosexuals. Frankly, I don't hate anyone--which includes those who hate me.

We Christians are the punching bags of popular culture. When we slip up--because we are human after all and will slip up--late night television
show hosts can have a field day with us. No, you don't need to regale me with your anti-Christian stories of how one told you
that you're going to Hell if you don't accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and that you were deeply offended by that truth. If you
don't want to like me because of what I believe, that's OK, because I'll still love you and pray that you'll come to faith in Christ and know eternal life.

Ultimately, being weird isn't so bad, folks. I am no better than you--just better off. When you endeavor to live your life to serve God through Christ, your life doesn't end.
To the contrary, your life begins.