We have seen how our faith works in times of confidence, plenty, and peace. What we have yet to see is how that same faith works in times of uncertainty, lack and threat. In the latter, how we handle and declare God’s word will determine the direction of our lives.
On the last night with His disciples and just before His betrayal, Jesus prayed for them. He knew what would happen in the future as they declared His truth to the world, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world” (John 17:14).
The word Jesus gave His disciples would be what ignited the world’s hatred toward them. The word the Lord referred to in verse 14 refers to doctrine – the body of truth Jesus revealed to His disciples.
God’s word is the border that keeps us from crossing over and submitting to the spirit of the age. This border protects our thinking by not watering down God’s truth and compromising our lifestyle. The word keeps us from being negatively influenced and ultimately crossing over to join with those who live under the spell of deception.
The same Greek word used in John 14:17 to define “word” is used elsewhere in the New Testament.
In the parable of the farmer sowing seed, Jesus said, “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11).
When Paul spoke of his responsibility to teach the word, he said, “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness” (Colossians 1:25).
As the Early Church began to expand its ministry after the Day of Pentecost, Peter and John were thrown into prison for teaching the word and refusing to remain silent. Under both governmental and religious persecution, their prayer was “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29).
John addressed what will ultimately take place in the lives of those whose life message was motivated by God’s word, “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God” (Revelations 20:4).
The conflict of our faith with the world system takes place when God’s truth is applied to our choices as citizens of the nation in which we live. We live in these cultures as natural citizens, but our true allegiance is revealed when we live out our heavenly citizenships directed by God’s word, even if our faith is labeled contrary to the accepted norm and a threat to the reigning empire. God’s word and the truth it reveals will always be in conflict with the larger culture. To deny that reality will eventually water down God’s word, and our message, and diminish the impact of our witness.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
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