Dear friend,
Over the past couple of weeks, my heart has been breaking. I have seen a stream of posts and comments throughout my social media feed discussing our nation’s upcoming vote regarding the re-definition of marriage. But if I am to be honest, calling it a ‘discussion’ seems generous.
You see, I have witnessed so much judgement and slander, words lacking kindness, love and respect – all directed at you, at Christians. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that many people who identify has homosexual (and probably who do not) have been hurt by the church and its people regarding this issue, and the thought of this occurring in the name of Jesus makes me truly devastated. Over the past few weeks however, not once have I seen this occurring – yet my social media feed has been overflowing with the persecution of followers of Jesus.
I have read such hateful speech and name calling, I have seen people who know very little about the Bible trying to tell you that you have interpreted the Bible wrong. I have seen people calling you disgusting, telling you how wrong your opinion is, and using this to justify every hurtful thing they say. They tell you that you should be ashamed, they call you a bigot, say that you are discriminating against gays – you’re homophobic, and you have no right to freedom of speech because you are wrong and unloving.
And whilst I was quite familiar with Jesus teaching that we will be hated for our faith, (John 15:18-19, Matt 10:22) this initially really shocked me. I just couldn’t believe people would say such horrible things, that it would incite such hate and anger towards God and His church. As I read comment after comment I felt so discouraged, and spent many hours awake at night wondering what I should say in response, or wondering if I should say anything at all, contemplating the blindness and hardness of heart that was so evident before me. And along with my sadness, I felt despondent – I felt lonely as a Christian, like we could not support one another without seemingly provoking more hatred.
So that has led us here. To a place where I want to encourage you in your suffering, my brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to remind you that our suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope (Romans 5: 3-4), and I want to remind you of the incredible work and purpose of suffering as a Christian as taught in 1 Peter (which you can read about here). But more importantly, I want to encourage you in what both of these things find their foundation in – the encouragement of the gospel of Christ.
One of my favourite friendships in the entire Bible is that of Jonathan and David. In 1 Samuel chapter 23, we are at a point in the story where David is out in the wilderness, running away from Jonathan’s dad Saul who is trying to kill him. As you can imagine, Jonathan, despite being best friends with David (we read in chapter 18 that he loved him like a brother), is part of his father’s men who are out looking for David. But he goes out of his way to find David by himself simply to encourage him, to ‘strengthen his hand in God’ (v16). He is so intentional in both his encouragement and his content – he reminds David that our strength comes from our almighty and all-powerful God, that we need not fear, and that God will establish his kingdom, which for David meant becoming King over Israel, and for us, is a reminder that Jesus was the true Christ , the anointed one from the line of David, who will rule over all the nations forever more.
So friend, let me encourage you.
I want to encourage you for holding firm to the truth of God’s Word. For accepting it not as the word of men, but as what it is, the Word of God, and for allowing it to be at work in you and in other believers (1 Thess. 2:13). I want to encourage you for not being ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God, his work of transformation in us, and in it, his incredible gift of righteousness is revealed to us (Rom. 1:16-17). I want to encourage you for speaking the truth in love, as this is how we grow up into likeness of the head of the church, Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:15). I want to encourage you for remaining as servants to Christ, for not trying to win the approval of men, trying to please people rather than your Lord God (Gal. 1:10). I want to encourage you for mourning over the sin of this world, for the lost and the broken who do not know Jesus, mourning that God’s kingdom is not fully on display and that his name is not receiving the awe and respect it deserves. You will be comforted by your loving father (Matt. 5:4). I want to encourage you to take refuge in Jesus. Whilst the nations rage and people plot against God, whilst society tells you that your obedience to God shackles your freedom, find rest in the truth that God is sovereign and has set his Son as king over the new creation as his kingdom (Psalm 2: 1-3, 6, 12)
Friends, I pray that you may continue to run with endurance the race that is set out before you (Heb. 12:1) and set your minds not on earthly things, but on the things above (Col. 3:2).
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13)
Miss Linguine 