I am shocked! The world doesn't like me. Yes, results from a Barna poll tell us that "only 3% of 16 to 29 year-old non-Christians express favorable views of evangelicals." I am an evangelical, someone who proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believes it is essential to do so. So I guess 97% of non-Christian young people can't bring themselves to tell some poll-taker I'm OK.
I will be the first to admit we evangelicals have lots of room for improvement. David Kinneman has proposed in his new book, UnChristian, that we address failures like hypocrisy, treatment of outsiders as conversion targets, hatred of homosexuals, seclusion from the real world, over-politicization, and condemnation. Tony Woodlief, from World Magazine, wrote an editorial, Going Negative, that is favorable toward the book and that suggests we should be even tougher on ourselves than UnChristian recommends.
Let's put some Light-work balance into the equation. Jesus was VERY CLEAR when teaching His disciples that being hated goes with the package: “And you will be hated by all because of My name” (Luke 21:17). At the Last Supper, He explained the basis for this hatred: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (John 15:19). If we are living for high approval ratings from non-Christians, we might as well pack it up. Not gonna happen! Jesus says that the more clearly our allegiance to Him shows, the lower our approval ratings will sink.
However, this doesn't mean that we write off every critic. Peter explains, For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong (1 Pet. 3:17). There are times when we are criticized and suffer recrimination for doing what is wrong. In those times, repent, confess it, and put things to rights. But there will be times when God allows us to receive criticism and reprisal for doing exactly what He desires. Those are the times when we are despised for all the right reasons.
So when our approval ratings are low, some healthy self-examination is in order. If we can discern ways to "improve our serve," let's do it. But if that examination confirms we are doing exactly what Jesus wants, then it is time to reaffirm for whose pleasure we live. It's time to take a cue from the church in Acts and throw a party: So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:41).
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