“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
There! A people dwelling alone,
Not reckoning itself among the nations.
“Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
And let my end be like his!”
Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!” So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what
the Lord has put in my mouth?”
-Numbers 23:8-12 (NKJV)
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I read this passage this morning, and it made me think of our society today. We are constantly told what to believe by the world on issues such as gender, race, abortion, and homosexuality. Often enough, people accept what society tells them over what scripture teaches. It’s easier to live that way. If the world around us is advocation strongly for something, the easy thing to do is to keep our heads down and stay in line. But as Christians, we are not called to live this way. We are called to teach the truth to those who don’t know it: to be the light in a dark world. We cannot burry or ignore issues because they are not popular, or because they make us feel awkward to discuss them. We must examine scripture, and say what God would have us say without fear of what others will think of us for saying it.
I see so many people wearing or posting photos of the “He Would Love First” bracelets. I do not wish to imply that Christ does not love us. To the contrary, the centre of the christian faith is the truth that Christ came to save us sinners, doomed to die, because he loved us. He loved us so much that he took the curse of that sin upon himself and was willing to die. However, I do not believe that the people who often wear these bracelets have a clear understanding of what true love is. Our society tends to think of love as a passive acceptance of a person and everything they do. However, love is not a calm, passive thing. Christ himself was not always calm and passive. In John 2, Jesus drives the money changers from the temple with a whip. So love is not always a passive acceptance of everything everyone does.
Proverbs reminds us of this truth in chapter 27 verse 6 which reads, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Sometimes the uncomfortable thing is the thing that needs to be said. A friend is someone who tells you what you need to hear. They are willing to do this because they love you and care for your well being. This is what makes them a friend. However, someone who does not have your best interest at heart does not care what you do. Therefore, they are more willing to encourage you to do harmful things, because your life does not matter to them. True love involves being willing to tell those you love things they might not want to hear when they need to hear it.
When scripture verses on love come up, people typically use 1 Corinthians 13. This passage is usually depicted as a nice, serene passage to idealize romantic love, but it is not, in fact, so simple. Verses 6-8 read “[Love] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” Love seeks truth. To love someone is to seek the truth for them, and the truth is God’s word which governs the universe. When other sayings or beliefs contradict what God has said, those things will vanish away, but God’s truth will remain forever, and that is what we should believe and teach to those around us. This is not always something that people want to hear, and there is a kind, christian way in which it ought to be said. But, nevertheless, it is the truth, and we should not be ashamed of or hide from it.
As Christians, were are called to be the light of the world. Christ said in Luke 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We are not to hide our faith, but to proclaim it boldly. The world does not like what we preach, because they have rejected God’s way. But we are called to press forward and receive their resistance as a blessing. Christ also said in Luke 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Be willing to be shamed and put down by the world. We must love those around us as Christ did. Christ ate with tax collectors, but they did not remain as they were. He called them to leave their old ways and follow his way. We ought to show others how to follow Christ. It is not a popular opinion, but we should never accept something just because it is popular. Speak the truth of God, and do not worry about what those around you say. May we be like Baalam when he responded to the princes of Moab, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.”
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