Day 2711 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

2 Corinthians 2:17 NIV

Nothing to hide. Nothing to gain. Nothing to lose. That literally hit me yesterday right after I hit the post button to share yesterday's message. And I thought on it for a lit bit and actually deleted yesterday's post so that I could add it on at the end. There are so many who seem to have an angle or an agenda or a hidden motive for sharing God's word. But if we're trying to gain something personally, then I'd say that it's a fairly safe assumption that we're going about this all wrong.

You see, everything we do in life already brings some air of outside influence. We can't help but wonder what others may think of whatever we may say or do. We wonder how we'll be received. We wonder if we should edit or tweak or alter something in order to make it more acceptable and appealing to those on the receiving end. After all, most of what we do is done in order to accomplish something. And if our words or actions are ignored or deemed uninteresting, or hurtful, or worthless then we'll have not managed to accomplish anything in the end as they’ll likely just be ignored and we’ll be left with this feeling of having wasted our time.

And that's why I think so many are willing to bend and twist God's word, leave parts out, and even deny certain things are said in Scripture. They want to be liked. They want to be accepted. They're searching for approval and appreciation and popularity and the comfort that comes from being lauded by the masses we're surrounded by in this place because it’s been shoved down our throats that success is now measured in the number of followers we have and the scope of our outreach. People just want to feel as if they have gained worldly favor as we've all been taught so strongly to find our sense of worth and success in being approved of by the masses.

Yet, as Christians, we're standing here holding a message that doesn't have a reputation of going over very smoothly. It's harsh. It's painful. It's abrasive. It's confrontational. It's offensive to our worldly sensitivities. It's unwilling to coddle us or afford us any sense of comfort in the broken and shadowy places that we've been. It forces us to action in either stepping into a new life spent striving to continue growing in faith and learning from Christ or running away from the truth that demands change as we don't have the willingness nor the humility to change anything.

So we're left with a choice. Do we speak God's word plainly and endure the discomfort that will come from telling a broken world that it's broken when so many others are saying there's nothing wrong here? Or do we instead give in to the pressures of this world to conform to the wants and wishes of the broken so as to avoid the hatred and strife that going against them would bring?

Sadly, it seems these days that the peer pressure we thought only existed in school has managed to graduate along with us and has spread out into the world as we have now that the hats have been tossed and photos taken. In fact, the world around us is only ramping up the pressure as more and more wicked deeds are being done, and rather than nip that filth, we're supposed to just agree with it all and pretend that we have no problem with the sin that others choose to sell off as completely harmless.

We’re simply expected to say that we agree with whatever anyone else demands we agree with, or we’re to not say anything at all. So it stands to reason that sharing a truth that doesn’t conform to this warped society’s illusion of power is going to be met with harsh rebuke and stinging persecution.

And for Christians, this brings us to that crossroads of deciding who it is we're trying to serve, what it is that we're trying to accomplish, and our foundational reasons for the above. If we just want the world to like us then we'll have to craft a more flesh-friendly message that only seeks to tell people what they want to hear. We'll have to avoid certain things because this place is offended by nearly everything and much of what the Bible has to say will surely fall into the category of being highly detrimental to our feelings. We'll have to find ways to appeal to people rather than trying to help them see that what they find appealing is in fact largely the issue at hand.

That's where we see these new cushier versions of the Gospel popping up. The Prosperity gospel that tells us that Christianity is nothing more than a means to worldly success and fortune and that God wants us to live like royalty down here. The Progressive gospel that overlooks the importance of sin and isn't willing to actually call out the wrongs that we see in this world that's hurtling toward hellfire. This idea that the Bible isn't actually God's Word and that we therefore don't really need to pay it all that much attention. The idea that God's wrath can somehow be avoided if we just ask real nicely. Or maybe one of my personal favorites: this idea that a single prayer is all it takes to find eternal salvation.

You see, much of today's religion has shifted from being God-focused to being man-focused. So many are so worried about coming across as mean or judgmental or offensive or rude or uncaring or unloving that they'll literally lower themselves to preaching a false gospel in hopes of making people happy while somehow managing to please God and uphold the calling of Christ all at the same time. It's this foolish assumption that we can make a choice without ever coming close to making a choice. Friends, we have to choose who it is that we're serving because we simply cannot serve both God and man because the two want very different things from us.

So what's it to be my friends? Are we willing to hide certain things, overlook certain things, avoid certain things in order to leave our brothers and sisters comfortable and ourselves free from persecution? Are we trying to gain something from the world in the form of approval, acceptance, financial success, a laundry list of followers and fans? Are we afraid that we have something to lose by being hated, ignored, judged, laughed at, labeled, cast aside, or even potentially killed?

Are we so concerned about our worldly existence that we’ll do anything it takes to hold on to it and make it comfy?

Or are we bold enough and brave enough to live as if we have nothing to hide, nothing to lose, and nothing to gain. Now to me, that's the path I'll travel. I won't hide anything that the Word of God has said plainly because all of Scripture was breathed out for our benefit and we see the horrendous dangers in not following it unfolding in the shambolic society around us. I will not seek any kind of personal gain because gaining anything from this world means nothing when this world passes away. I will not stand before my Maker one day and have to admit that I altered His message to make myself more acceptable in the eyes of a fallen man. I will not look at the nail pierced hands of Jesus and admit that I was more worried about trying to avoid that fate myself than I was at living out the same kind of love that endured that for my sake.

And I know that I have nothing at all to lose because for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, so even if my sharing of the Gospel means I'm hated, despised, persecuted, or even killed by the vicious mob around us then I'll only be left with an eternity of peace with my King where all of my worldly woes are nothing but a fading memory that's been replaced with an unending joy in hearing, "Well done."

I don't want that well done to come from man. I don't want the world to pat me on the back and tell me how well I'm doing or how nice I am or how comfortable I make people. I want to live out the rest of my days sharing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of God's word because while serving man would be far easier and bring far more comfort and monetary and material success, I'm here to serve the One who saved me, not the millions who remain convinced they don't need to be saved.

So may we be in this world but never of it. May we live without fear of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. May we never have the willingness to avoid God's word in the effort to appeal to society's fallen state. May we always remember why we're here, what we've been called to do, and who we're doing it all for. No matter what happens or what may come, we know how this ends. And I truly pray that everyone keeps that in mind, because while this world may war against our boldness and brashness in sharing an inconvenient truth, I'll face that war before I face the unleashing of God's wrath.

Because as loud, angry, and violent as this world may be, nothing they could ever do would be more painful than having to spend eternity knowing that I failed the One who died to give me a chance to live for something more than myself.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold