God really doesn’t promise us any creature comforts in life. if we look at Christians worldwide, it’s pretty obvious that those of us here in the states are getting a pretty easy go of it, whereas most everyone else (not all, obviously) is having to deal with a lot of personal consequences for their faith. persecution, real persecution, is the most obvious sign that we don’t get to ride the gravy train into eternity. we get all the support we need, and have God Himself guiding us along the way, but we don’t get some kind of ‘get out of jail free’ card when it comes to suffering.

rather, Jesus distinctly said that the world would treat us the same way they treated Him, which last time i checked wasn’t too well.

the next line about being ‘reminded of their sin’…again, something that won’t win us any popularity contests. Jesus directly tells people ‘go and sin no more’ which means they were doing what in order for Him to have said that? sin! right? and when He gave His pronouncement of woes on the religious leaders of His day, again not pulling any punches when it came to showing people the nature of their hearts. as Christians, Christ-followers, we are not called to tip-toe around the issue of sin. in order to come to

grips with God’s work and presence in our lives, we must be confronted with our sin. isaiah 6 shows this pretty clearly, and it’s one of my favorite passages because of it. i know how much of a screw up i am, but if i had to stand in the presence of God (without having been redeemed by Jesus) i can’t imagine my response would be much different. ‘woe to me! i am ruined! for i am a man of unclean lips, and i live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

if we are not cut to the heart when confronted with the reality of our sin, then repentance has not come to our hearts, and i would seriously question where i was in my walk with God…if i was even in one at all.

and for the rest of the entry, we are definitely called to stand out from the world. our path with God cannot have us doing the same things they are doing in their lives that do not honor Him. i know that it’s not a popular thing to eschew inclusion of all religions as being valid, i know that people get upset when we tell them that everyone, in fact, does not go to heaven. that we are indeed responsible for our actions in every way possible, and that sin is a very real thing that separates us from God and a positive experience in eternity.

bearing God’s truth means that we will indeed stand out. it means that we will indeed be persecuted for His sake. it means that this western mindset of having our cake and eating it, too, is way, way off base.

i like to think of how many Christians will be surprised when they see other denominations in heaven. it’s not just going to be church of Christ people, or just baptists, or just catholics, etc…anyone who proclaims Christ Jesus as LORD, and had a life of action to match their professed faith, will be involved in the marriage supper of the Lamb. but i also know there will be people who attended church for a majority of their life that will be shocked to find out that they are not going to take part in the same celebration. Jesus said ‘not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven.’ there will be life long church goes who do not enter heaven, because to them it never got beyond being a tradition. it never took root in their heart and they did not act on faith, or even own it for themselves…it remained in the realm of ‘a nice thing to do’ or ‘i’m a good person.’ and those do not save us…