All the argument lately over issues of same-sex vs. traditional marriage, including the uproar over Chick-fil-A, led me to blog a couple of days ago, but it also got me thinking about this one I posted quite a while back. Are we – the church – living as we ought? The world sure seems to hate us, but are they hating us for the right reasons?
Nestled in amidst the passion, boldness, love, persecution – the absolute beauty – of the early Church, we find in Acts 5:13 the words, “they were highly regarded by the people.” It’s true that Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26) So, what’s the catch?
This passage in Acts is interesting because we see a dichotomy – not in the behavior of the Church, but in outsiders’ perceptions of it. A verse earlier, we read that the people saw miracles performed by the apostles. We also see the early Christ followers gathering in Solomon’s Colonnade – that’s part of the temple, the seat of Jewish worship. The Jews – all the people – saw them together in fellowship and worship in this very public place.
We can probably infer as well that the…
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Worship = Life 
Good question to ponder. Are we hated because the world hated Christ? Or just because we’re trying to be unlikable for its own sake?
I don’t know if I’d say we’re trying to be unlikeable just to be unlikeable, but I do think we’re far too eager to fight. John Piper once said that Christians don’t kill to spread the Kingdom, they die. We’re too concerned with our own rights (was Jesus concerned about His rights when He gave up His life on the cross?) and we’re far too quick to jump on a sin we think is worse than our own.
Well said, Jud.
Thank you, Roger.