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Standing Up For Your Rights
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Acts 8:32,33 Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. (NRSV)
Listen to the radio broadcast of Standing Up For Your Rights
Download audio fileI was taken recently … no, “taken” is entirely the wrong word! I was deeply disturbed recently … by something a very popular Christian wrote on social media. Deeply, deeply disturbed.
The man I’m talking about has close to 400,000 followers. He purports to be a Christian. This is what he wrote: It’s time Christians stand up for themselves and start boycotting people who disrespect our faith.
That post garnered some 73,000 likes, 64,000 comments and almost 5,500 shares. Now, with our faith under attack from all sides it seems these days, perhaps that doesn’t seem such an unreasonable perspective. The idea of “standing up for your rights” has become quite popular these days amongst God’s people. But just because something’s popular, doesn’t mean it’s all of a sudden right. This was my response to his post:
Acts 8:32,33 Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. (NRSV)
Jesus, it seems, wasn’t in the business of standing up for His own rights. Quite to the contrary. He laid down his life for sinners like you and me, so that through His suffering on that Cross, He could purchase for us the right to become children of God.
Like a sheep to the slaughter … in His humiliation justice was denied him.
Where would we be today, had He argued His innocence before Pontius Pilot instead of remaining silent? Where would we spend eternity, had He avoided the Cross? No. Jesus gave up His rights that we might live. What makes us think these days that we should be any different?
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Comments
Carol Pumadera
I like the comments!
Maria
Bernie your words always give me hope, I hold you in the highest esteem.
I feel I did hear those same comments somewhere . I just hope it wasn’t another chap I listen to on the radio here in sth Aust . Chuck some one ??
I live in a loveless home . But I have my pets and they help me to get through. And of course , yourself and Christianity works .. I never give up on God . Even tho sometimes He feels so far away. Keep up
The good work . I am a Catholic and gi to Mass twice. a week . I also take others if they need me to
take them .
Carol Martin
Jesus taught us how to live, not how to die because, albeit that we are children of God, the life of Jesus was to teach us how to live with love and forgiveness. The death of Jesus was to wash away our sins to help us with understanding of love and forgiveness, which was the point of God the Father,. Furthermore to realise from the resurrection that after we fulfill our purpose, which is different to Jesus, still. The point is taken not to fear death because we also having lived as directed, we do not fear death with the faith of resurrection.
We are allowed to stand up for rights and express our faith.
Jesus spent his life speaking up.
Jesus mission was to die as a lamb to the slaughter, that is not our mission.
Our mission is to understand our purpose and fulfill it with love and forgiveness. We are to acknowledge and express our faith and give thanks. We have humility with our voice, however we still use our voice.
Lois
I agree with you, Berni. If we start to boycott people who disrespect our faith, how will they ever find out that there’s no greater love than God’s love? His love is to shine through us. That’s a way we can bless the people around us. Those Christians who are persecuted for their faith in some countries have sometimes won the respect of their persecutors by their humble, loving behaviour, despite how they have been treated.
I realise that the Acts passage shows Paul sticking up for himself and Silas. He wasn’t so much defending the faith, as pointing out his civil rights. I don’t think boycotting or ‘cancelling’ people who aren’t Christians is going to win them for Christ.
Troy
That was for Jesus. Had he said anything, he may have been released. Look what Paul did in Acts 16:36-40. They authorities told others to release him. However, he said they should release him themselves. They did wrong. Paul could have left without a word. He saw the wrong and pointed it out.