When They Say All Manner Of Evil

I recently read on a Facebook posting a comment about Chuck Lorre of the television show “The Big Bang Theory” Lorre, they said, is “the Producer is an anti-Christian Bigot and is known to put disgusting things after the show's ending” As I read through the comments I encountered statements like, “ He is a damn asshole liberal....”

Taken as a whole, the above got me to thinking about how we as Christians should be responding to the people who clearly are not only intellectually opposed to the Christian faith and Christians but who choose to engage in actively ridiculing the faith and those who hold to it.

Let me be clear, I am not critical of persons informing us of such people or even advising us to avoid or counter such persons as Chuck Lorre. I am not opposed to people personally choosing to avoid attending or watching their productions. In point of fact, I view such decisions as a kind of “Affirmative Action” designed to protect one self from being exposed to such anti-Christian material and a way of countering what one finds offensive.

I certainly believe that as Christians we need to oppose and offer alternatives to men such as Chuck Lorre and their anti-Christian actions. However, it was the response “He is a damn asshole liberal” that got me thinking about our responses to such people.

The first thing I thought was, “Was that an appropriate response? It seemed to me that a Christian would have chosen a different adjective to describe a Liberal. I will certainly acknowledge that it is graphic and serves to express a level detestation that runs pretty deep. It also, in my view, reveals something of the heart of the person speaking.

Secondly, it seems to foster confrontation and does not move us forward. You don’t win people by calling the, “assholes” and the like. That is a pejorative that puts people on the defensive and confirms their thinking about Christians.

Chuck Lorre is a sinner who has not been saved by the grace of God because he has steadfastly refused to put his faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ. That is what he is. That may not be the sum total of who he is but it is the reason for his actions and attitudes. Truth is, Everything else flows out of that.

In that sense he is no different that each of us before we placed our faith in Jesus Christ. He is exactly what Saul of Tarsus was before he met Jesus in a life changing way as he was making his way to Damascus to imprison and otherwise persecute Christians and became Paul the Apostle. My advice is, "Pray for his salvation."

My point is that we must look past the outward actions and activities of those who oppose us as Christians and recognize the fact that while they may attack our faith and all that we hold dear it is not truly us they are angry with or have hate toward. They really are angry with God and they hate the Lord Jesus. The problem is, we represent Him to them and so they attack us.

They only attack those believers who actually live out their faith seriously in the public square. They want to push the influence of Christ on our world into a closet. Once we understand that it is the fact that our beliefs produce a lifestyle that is in contradiction to us we will understand why they hate us. We do not have to say a word to them about their sin because the way we lives telegraphs to them that we do not accept or approve of their lifestyle.

Just living out the principles of the Word of God puts us at odds with those who don’t know Him. Because this serves as an irritant that makes them terribly uncomfortable they seek to destroy our voice by shutting our voice and behavior out of the public square. They hate Jesus  but they express that hatred toward His people.

In the words of Wisdom 2:12-21

 12 Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: he

upbraideth us with our offending the law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our education. 13 He professeth to have the knowledge of God: and he calleth himself the child of the Lord. 14 He was made to reprove our thoughts. 15 He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion. 16 We are esteemed of him as counterfeits: he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness: he pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that God is his father. 17 Let us see if his words be true: and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him. 18 For if the just man be the son of God, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. 19 Let us examine him with despitefulness and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his patience. 20 Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his own saying he shall be respected. 21 Such things they did imagine, and were deceived: for their own wickedness hath blinded them.

Our response should be twofold. First we should recognize the cause of their opposition to Christians and Christianity . . . . namely, they are unsaved. Recognizing their alienation from God and His people and the things of God we should pray for their salvation. Not only should we pray we should actively and aggressively present the Gospel of redemption to them. Confront them with the fact that before God there are sinners; share that in spite of their sinful lives God loves them as sent Jesus to die for their sins; we need to make sure they know that this condition while fatal is not inevitable. They can be forgiven and transformed by the power of the Gospel.

Second, we are to be active in the public square. We must be actively involved in the political, social and economic mechanisms of out society.  If we are not we will with escalating speed so our religious and civil liberties taken from us by those who neither understand us or like us.

However, we cannot do that by stooping to their levels of action and expression. We must be, as they think we believe, better than that. Our actions must always reflect the love and grace of God. After all Jesus did not just die for our sins only but for the sins of the whole world.

The Bible tells us, “[Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2 NIV).  Jesus died for the sins of every person who ever lived . . . . . including mine, yours and theirs. That’s how much He loves us. If you believe in Him as your Savior, full forgiveness and salvation in heaven is yours. You don’t receive those gifts by anything you do or don’t do. It’s a free gift, given by grace. Unfortunately not everyone will accept the gift He offers.