Join the Resistance!

It’s easy to get an attitude these days. 

Especially the American Christian. You know what I’m saying.

We’re so greatly misunderstood, misrepresented, mischaracterized, and mistaken for others posing as Jesus-followers that we’re becoming Gordian knots searching for some new label for our relationship with Jesus.

Let’s all inhale deeply, exhale slowly. God is not panicked over the misadventures of American Christians and all the wolves scattered among His sheep. 

What we do need to do is join the resistance—the resistance to unite. 

Jesus prayed for unity among His followers in John 17:20-23:

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (ESV).

In general conversation, we can certainly acknowledge that not every part of the visible church or the people the world labels “the church” are actually part of the Church. 

In the specific of exactly who is who, let us walk with humility remembering that while we represent God, none of us is God. He gave us His Word to guide us, so let’s stick to it and not insert our human wisdom, thinking we’re helping out the Holy Spirit.

Christians can get things wrong and still be family. We should call balls and strikes, but let’s do it gently and in love. No need to shame and blame.

Psalm 109 is David’s lament when he was suffering, not for doing wrong but for doing what’s right. The first five verses highlight the weapons used against him and his stance in the face of the assault:

verse 1 //  Be not silent, O God of my praise!

David directs His complaint to God. Granted, social media wasn’t a thing back then, but David could have gathered an audience if he’d wanted to. Instead, He praises God and only speaks with Him about his plight.

verse 2 //  For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. 

The first casualty of war is truth. It’s hard to find it these days, isn’t it? But truth remains. It can be found. We are in a war for souls, so even when others lie against us, we speak truth. We certainly don’t repeat their lies or share them on social media. We study the truth, seek the truth, worship in truth, walk in truth, and share nothing but the truth, so help us God. Be on guard. When deception is in the air like a noxious gas, it’s easy to inhale and exhale lies. Let what we inhale pass through the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit before we release our next breath.

verse 3 //  They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. 

We must know what David knew—it’s not about us. We represent Jesus. He has an enemy who seeks to destroy us because of Him. We must be alert not to aid and abet this enemy lest we participate in an attack on our brother or sister. Correction isn’t an attack. Biblical correction [discipline] has a process that doesn’t involve tweeting or threading.

 If we’re surrounded by hate, remember, because of Christ, we stand with love which is the power that wins. If all around us is darkness, remember we are light and light overcomes the dark. When they attack without cause, it is pointless to mount a defense. The attackers have no interest in facts and truth. We have a defender so, like David, we turn to Him. Christ is our Defender.

verse 4 //  In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.  

In a sermon on Abraham, Warren Wiersbe once said something like this: “Evil returned for evil is what animals do (Kill or be killed). Good returned for good is what humans do (You do good to me and I’ll be good to you). Good returned for evil is what God does (We rebelled in our sin and He gave us His Son to redeem us). Evil returned for good is the work of the devil. When we see evil returned for good, we see the enemy at work. Armor up. Use the weapons God provides which are not of this world. Pray without ceasing. David says, “But I give myself to prayer.”

Prayer isn’t nothing. Prayer is not inaction. We rarely pray and rise without knowing full well how we should act even if it is only to obey what we already have been commanded to do.

verse 5 //  So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

David’s prayer doesn’t result in immediate relief. He gives Himself to prayer and the assault continues. We are in times of conflict, but God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We have His Word. Know it. Obey it. We have prayer. Do it. We have the Holy Spirit. Listen. We have one another. Resist the urge to divide.

The real frontline of the resistance is deep within our souls. 

Do the work because it matters. You matter.

The enemy wants you to feel small, but God loves the small. He chooses to work through our smallness to do great things. We are weak. He is strong. 

Join the resistance by drawing near to God. 

Resist the enemy and he will flee. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. – 1 John 4:4b