Rejection
“You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” –2 Timothy 1:15
“Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth….They are upsetting the faith of some.” –2 Timothy 2:17-18
“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” –2 Timothy 4:9
“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.” –2 Timothy 4:14-15
Paul had quite a list of enemies. He mentioned more of them by name in this book than anywhere else. Some of these were from outside the church, such as Alexander, while others rose from within the church. Most painful of all was Demas’ betrayal — the desertion by someone who was close to Paul.
Christianity is not meant for those who want to be friends with everyone. We will face rejection from without and within if we really believe the truth of the gospel in all its glory and offense.
Posted on October 20, 2007, in Reflections and tagged 2 Timothy, Bible, enemies, rejection. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Alright, true–the Lord told us that we should love our enemies, not that we shouldn’t have any. But there is a serious and very common error to avoid as well. The argument I see a lot (never explicitly, but it comes to this) is “Christ told us we’d have enemies if we followed him. We have enemies. Therefore we’re following Christ.” There are groups that develop an insider’s perspective to the point that giving offense becomes a proof to them that they are doing well.
You said “Christianity is not meant for those who want to be friends with everyone.” Perhaps in one sense this is true, but it sounds terrible. Of course we want to be friends with everyone, but not to the point where we sacrifice what’s important. If they will not be friends with us, then we will love them still, but not give them that power over us. It might be good to focus on both dangers; the world is already too full of unfriendly Christians.
True. Clearly, we’re coming from different perspectives on this…I’m reacting to those who would neuter the gospel message for the sake of popular acceptance. (Including some very popular teachers.) I’ve had a lot more experience with people of this sort than I’ve had with harsh, unfriendly Christians. I know the opposite is true with you.
“Christianity is not meant for those who want to be friends with everyone” was not a very carefully worded statement…I’m sure you understood what I meant — that those whose priority is maintaining pleasant relationships with others, at the expense of gospel truth, are not fit to be followers of Christ. Obviously, we want to live at peace with everyone as much as it depends on us. Unfortunately, it doesn’t depend entirely on us. In our efforts to preserve doctrinal truth, some people no doubt will become angered and offended, no matter how gracious we are.
I forgot to add: thanks for your insight, Josh. I enjoy reading what you have to say, particularly when you help balance out a post that I didn’t word very carefully.
Hey, nothing wrong with balance! Thanks for the enjoyable debates we’ve had. They really do help me to sort out my thoughts on these matters.