This is more evident on social media but I have also witnessed it in person, whether to me or someone acting upon another person. I am speaking of our failure as the Church in this current generation. That might sound harsh, even after reading what I’ll be talking about, but it is a failure. In a nutshell, we are failing to preach Christ. There exist some who are putting their sincerest and best efforts in preaching Christ and His message, but as we stand as a Church on the national scale, it appears to me that we are failing. I’m not going to be giving statistics and numbers of how many Christians there are versus atheists, because that’s not what I’m talking about, and neither do those numbers even matter. Our failure is simply that we are failing to not only preach Christ, but represent Him on this earth. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), and in this generation I don’t see much of that going on. The false doctrine that is spreading is a significant part of this, but that’s not what I’m going to be talking about here. As Christians, we are called to possess specific characteristics in being ambassadors of Christ, which we are doing poorly. Again, these words might seem harsh, but honest actions necessitate honest speech, so I’m giving it to you raw here.
In Romans, St. Paul writes about the marks of the true Christian. There’s a lot that he says, but I will be focusing particularly on 12:12-14, which says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” First Thessalonians 5:16 accentuates Paul’s point in saying, “Rejoice always.” Indeed, this is easier said than done, especially when our government has little to no concern for God’s Word by legalising certain abominations (I am, of course, speaking of gay marriage and the murder of infants in abortions). But those aren’t at issue here. In spite of all circumstances we face, we are encouraged to “rejoice in hope… always.” But do we? I’m not seeing it. So let's consider this: what is our hope? That should be an easy one if you call yourself a Christian. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and in Him is our salvation, which we receive at His second coming. That is our hope. In spite of all that happens in this godless world we live in, we will always have that hope to rejoice in, no matter what. No one can take that away from you. Always remember that. When facing adversity, always take the time to rejoice in the Lord. Nothing shows how liberating this can be more than the psalms.
Secondly, it says to “be patient in tribulation.” Again, easier said than done, but it is possible, otherwise Paul wouldn’t have said it here. After all, we Christians are fond of saying, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). This verse has become a common cliché for many Christians, just like John 3:16 has. By that I mean that they have repeated this and shared it on Facebook so many times that they don't put it into practise. You can quote a verse however many times you want, but that won’t make it effective unless you have faith in it — that is, you know that it’s the truth. You not only believe it, but you know it, and nothing else can convince you otherwise. Any Word of God you read and quote must be as sure as your faith in Christ is. People are always so ready to preach to me, "Patience is a virtue," yet they don't put their teaching into practise. I don’t see patience in tribulation. I see a bunch of cry babies whining about their misfortune when there are people suffering a lot worse than they are. They even go so far as to blame God. I’m speaking of Christians, not unbelievers. Unbelievers don’t believe in God and thus have no reason to expect anything from Him, so if they do then it’s out of sheer stupidity. But these Christians say to themselves, “God, I’ve been good enough. Why are You doing this to me?” What makes you so sure it’s Him? Have you forgotten about Satan, the lord of sin and suffering? And what makes you think you’re good? No one is good; Jesus made that very clear.
Thirdly, “Be constant in prayer.” The only time I see prayer is in church and out of ritualistic fashion before a meal. Prayer in church is required and necessary, but before a meal? No. That’s just a tradition that teaches blind ritualism. When was your last honest prayer? Hopefully it was recent. How often do you pray? Hopefully it’s frequent. When was the last time you prayed for someone when you promised you would? Did you forget? Did you keep that promise? Do you even mean it when you say it? Or do you just think it makes you a good Christian? Prayer must be constant — morning, day, night. No, this does not mean a prayer every morning when you wake, before each meal, and before you sleep. If you wish to do that, go ahead. But dare to go beyond your ritualism and pray an honest prayer for someone, with someone, and even for yourself, as long as they all ask for God’s will to be done in Jesus’ name.
Fourthly, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” The Greek in this text for “the saints” is τῶν ἁγίων, which literally translated means, “the holy ones,” and a further translation is what leads us to, “the saints,” which is all Christians of all time. Fortunately, I think we do this rather well. When a fellow brother or sister is in need, we help them financially and even go so far as to provide a roof over their head for a time. At least there’s something good I can speak on.
Lastly, in verse 14, I find it interesting that Paul not only feels the need to repeat himself, but even explain himself. He says, “Bless those who persecute you.” And he continues as if saying, “Let me say again, in case you misunderstand,” in which he says, “Bless and do not curse them.” This is perhaps our greatest failure. Depending on where you live in this world, there is Christian persecution everywhere, which has been the case for many ages. If you’re in the Middle East, it’s the horrors of our enemy ISIS. If it’s in America, it’s the constant mockery and scorn of atheists; the complete rejection and even alteration of God’s Word not only in peoples’ lives, but even in our courts; and the increasing likelihood of losing certain religious rights and even the rising numbers of Christians being murdered. In our anger, we curse our enemies, judging Hell and condemnation upon them and wishing God’s wrath to fall upon them. But Paul says we must bless them, which comes from the teaching of Christ when He tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). This love, prayer, and blessing are absent. It is nearly non-existent in the American Church, and it needs to be fixed.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). But with us there is no love in our speech and actions, there is no joy because we wallow in our anger, so peace in our hearts is impossible. We are impatient like little children who don’t get what they want. We are some of the most unkind Christians I have ever seen or met, for the goodness of the Lord is lacking. We are not gentle but rather rude and abrasive, lacking self-control of our emotions and actions and as a result of all these failures, we are unfaithful to the Lord because by this failure, we fail to carry out His mission. And why? Because we are carrying on as the world does in unrestrained behaviour — what the world wants to do (1 Peter 4:3).
Consider carefully the words of St. Peter: “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:20-25).
If we act as the rest of the world does, how does that make us any different than them? We’re supposed to follow in Jesus’ steps. Sure, they’re big shoes to fill, but we are nonetheless called to follow Him. Part of that means not insulting people in return when they insult us; and it also means that when they make us suffer, we do not threaten them with our wrath or God’s wrath. Rather, we trust God, for vengeance belongs to Him (Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 32:35). It seems that we His sheep are going astray. It is time for an awakening. Christ has healed us from the terminal damnation of sin, so stop digging up your old wounds and licking them liked a wounded animal, because you’re no longer wounded. You have been healed in Christ, so it’s time that you start acting like it. And that starts with exemplifying the fruits of the Spirit. Charles H. Spurgeon once said, “Truth must not only be in us, but shine from us.” I think this is what Jesus meant when He said that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). His light can’t shine if you keep covering it up.
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