Popular Christians/ Spiros Zodhiates
T ruth is illum in a t ed and attains greater clarity when stated both positively and negatively. The Lord Jesus Christ, in addressing His disciples, told them they would be blessed when a certain class of peo ple hated them, made fun of them, excommunicated and slandered them, as they sought to live a Christ-cen tered life and witness to the saving power of the Son of man. That was the negative reaction to the disciples of those who hated the Gospel. But the Lord wanted to warn them also against the positive reaction to their lives and deeds. We should beware, not only of the adverse reaction of the world toward our Christian wit ness, but also of its approbation. Applause is some times as dangerous as hatred. Stop to take stock of yourself, not only when men hate you, but also when they praise you. This is surprising advice, isn’t it? It is one of those divine paradoxes given for the life of the Christian down here on earth. The Lord stated this positive reaction of the people toward us as Christians in these words: “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). Here is Christ’s pronouncement of woe against Christians who seek worldly popularity. Yet throughout the Bible we are told to watch our every step as we come in contact with others, so that their judgment of us and our Lord may be favorable. As Christians we should never disregard the judgment of others. We should show real concern as to what others think of us and our Lord. If this is the general teaching of Scripture, why did the Lord Jesus pro nounce this woe? Here again we have a case where ex amining the text independently and superficially will lead to misunderstanding of the One who gave us these words. The Lord Jesus never meant His disciples to seek the hatred of others and to shun the love and ad miration of society. If others do not have admiration and praise for the Christian who lives a righteous life, for whom then will they have it? The verse has to be considered in context and the text has to be carefully analyzed. As we study the Scriptures, we stand not so much in need of sermonizing as interpretation to help us understand what is meant. Again this woe, which is the negative counterpart of the “blessed” of verse 23, is to be taken in relation to the basic phrase, “ for the Son of man’s sake,” of verse .22:2. These Beatitudes and woes have no value taken independently. They must all be understood in relation to the person and work of Christ. This is our first prin ciple of interpretation. And since this is so, we must logically conclude that this woe refers, not to those who do not know the Lord Jesus, but to those who have re ceived Him and tasted His salvation. It refers to Chris tians. It refers to you, if you belong to Christ. How ever, if you are not a born-again believer, it means nothing to you. Quite naturally you will find your hap piness in what others think of you. The more they praise you the happier you will be. If people do not think that you are the best fellow or the best girl imag inable, you will be miserable. If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and are con
sequently blessed, it is indeed wrong for you to seek those things that are not directly related to your bless edness but only to happiness as the world understands it. It is like a cow looking for meat to eat instead of grass. Meat will not satisfy a cow. There must be a correspondence between the nature of the individual and what he seeks to acquire. If you are a Christian, a blessed person, yet all you seek is money, food, fun, and popularity, then you are the most miserable of all creatures. You are a person of divided loyalties, a spiritual schizophrenic. You seek that which cannot feed or increase your blessedness, but rather diminishes it. You belong in your entirety neither to the Lord Jesus Christ nor to the world. You hold on to Christ with one hand and to the world with the other. You know neither the real value of blessedness nor the hap piness that the world has to offer. You have the joy of Christ, and yet you seek joy also in riches, food, fun, and popularity. Yet when you get it, you feel scruples of conscience, for you have not been true to your bless edness. It depends, then, on what you are in relation to Christ whether these woes of our Lord apply to you or make sense to you. This woe pronounced by Christ must also be under stood in relation to the effect your conduct will have on the person and work of the Lord Jesus. As a Chris tian, it is up to you to examine your every action for the motive behind it. You may protest that this is not always practical, that we often do things more or less as a matter of habit. We do things a certain way as we are generally inclined. But it is precisely this general inclination, this general motivation of our actions and words, that I refer to when I speak of our motive each time. Do we generally do things so that men may ap plaud us, or so that they may be attracted to the Lord Jesus Christ? When we are elevated in the eyes and minds of people, what happens to the Lord Jesus? Is He exalted or does He suffer disgrace? The whole ques tion is one of how our actions affect what people think of Christ. Is He more loved because of us, or less? What happens to Him when men applaud us and speak well of us? This speaking well of us is not the real point at issue, but speaking well of us in relation to how these same people (or others) speak and think of Him. Actually, as I understand this woe and the general tenor of Scripture, it is not a sin to be well-spoken if; it is sin when it shames the Lord Jesus. In our en deavor to be well-spoken of, we may bring great shame to His name. Need I make the application of this solemn thought? It especially ought to come home to us who preach the Word and witness to the power of the Gospel. Are the methods that we use usually those that tend to make us popular or even to make Christ acceptable to the worldly minded? Let us beware lest we try to make the Lord Jesus more popular than He wants to be come. Is there a secret and unacknowledged desire for our own popularity in our efforts to make Christ popular? We should be careful lest we try to change the character of Christ and His teaching by adopting popular frivolities in our witnessing for Him.
THE KING 'S BUSINESS
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