Nonconformity

Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

How can we be servants of the Lord if we are slaves to human approval? Those who conform to the world will never change, improve, or transform it. One must step out and be separate from it.

Persecution

Jesus went to the cross because of the irreconcilable conflict between his way of life and that of his contemporaries. Wherever blindness, bigotry, fear, self-centeredness, and indifference prevail, the bondmen of Christ will suffer abuse and persecution from defenders of the established order of the natural man. Society always issues an ultimatum to those who walk according to the Spirit; conform to this world or expect the reward of a heretic or a traitor. Every generation metes out the same punishment to those who fall far below and those who rise high above its standards. Thieves and prophets rot in the same foul dungeon; murderers and the Saviour of the world agonized on adjacent crosses.

Not by fleeing from the world can anyone be redeemed. Asceticism may offer a way of escape from the temptations that come from contact with those of the world and its things, and may even bring a sense of release and contentment, but the truth can never be brought to those in need of it by hermits, Contact may lead to contamination, but contact is essential to redemption. Love never flees from the object of its affection. Where pain is most severe and sorrow most bitter, there love is most solicitous and untiring.

Not by conforming to this world can any man be saved. Lying down in the gutter with the derelict, or drinking with the drunkard, is no way to reform him. Acquiescence is not an effective method of remedying evils. Sharing the gains of exploitation and enjoying privileges arising out of injustice will never lead to the transformation of those in society. Untiring opposition to false standards and ceaseless activity against wrongdoing are demanded by love, for love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8). Mankind can never be lifted to the highest levels if its teachers dwell in the lowlands. To be in the world and yet not of it is the difficult requirement of love.

It is the will of God that man should faithfully follow the way of love. The purpose of life is to build the divine community. The way to live and share with others the ideal life is to live today as if it is already a reality. Live this hour as a member of the Family of God. Depend upon love, for God is love. Run the risks. Accept the consequences. Have confidence and faith in God.

There has never walked this earth one who gave himself so completely to the needs of men as Christ Jesus did. He identified himself with all in distress, He was the most compassionate man to ever live. He went about helping and healing and doing good. But the harder he tried, the more he was entangled by a hostile generation. But he did not walk out on the task, he stayed with it to the very end.

Not many times in history have groups suffered as much abuse and persecution, and returned so little resentment and so much genuine good will, as is shown by the followers of Christ. The third century "Epistle to Diognetus" says,

"They love all men, and they are persecuted by all. They are reviled, and they bless; they are insulted, and they respect. Doing good they are punished as evil-doers; being punished they rejoice as if they were thereby quickened by life. In a word, what the soul is in the body, this the Christians are in the world" (quoted by Edward Grubb, Christianity as Life, page 206).

It is not that the Father spares them trials through which they grow to conform more and more closely to the image of Christ, but because he gives them the courage to surmount these trials.

The Gospel of Christ was born and bred in adversity, and the bondmen of Christ have risen to their greatest heights when confronted by the most critical tests. Our Father will provide strength if we will only use what he places at our disposal. The Gospel of Christ was born in conflict and has little meaning except as it meets men where the battle rages. It was made for the storm and will take care of itself. The Gospel has suffered many indignities at the hands of irrelevant men. The greatest indignity, however, is for us to try to protect it with our feeble hands. Defending the faith is a useless impertinence. The faith must defend us. Christ Jesus is our Saviour. We do not protect Him as idolaters protect their helpless idols. The Almighty God of storms is not afraid of the wind! Is not our concern for the safety of the Gospel only a reflection of our own insecurity? We rely upon ourselves all too much and upon the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit too little.

Non-conformists

Those who have done most for the world and have lifted the level of life for people have been the nonconformists. They have been men and women of fixed purpose and staunch principle. They have had standards and kept them, no matter what the cost. They have been ready to face criticism, ridicule, ostracism, and impoverishment. They have not run away from life. They have not run along with life. They have taken hold of it firmly and have organized it around a Cause. They are resolved to be not a creature of circumstance but a doer of God's work. The reason why so many people are at the mercy of circumstance is because they have neither discovered a faith by which to live nor a cause to serve.

But we have Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the King of kings, and for this cause He came into the world, to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). And those that are of the truth hear His voice, and not the voice of the world.

What is the devil? The devil is not a huge monster with horns and a harpoon tail and a wicked glitter in his eye. No, the devil is: taking the line of least resistance. It is inertia. It is doing and leaving nothing.

How can we have national security on the scale demanded today and at the same time maintain our freedoms as of old? There are only two ways to keep a lot of people in line: they must either be held together spiritually from the inside, or beaten together physically from the outside. Thus, what is called for to save us from outward tyranny is the inner resource of discipline. This is only achieved by and through Jesus Christ.

"Do not be afraid of your enemies - in the worst case they can kill you; Do not be afraid of your friends - in the worst case they can betray you; Be afraid of the indifferent ones: it is from their silent blessings that all the evil is happening in the world!" Bruno Yasensky, a Russian writer. As quoted by Bob Djurdjevic, May 25, 1999.

"No man ever achieved any great good to mankind who did not fight for it with courage and perseverance, and who did not, in the conflict, sacrifice either his name or his life. John lost his head. The Savior was crucified. The ancient confessors were slain. The reformers were excommunicated. If I am not slandered and misrepresented, I shall be a most unworthy advocate of the cause which has always provoked the resentment of those who, fattened upon the ignorance and stupidity of the mass, will not try to think and learn." Alexander Campbell.

But what about Peace?

Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Question: As the above verse say, Christ Jesus is the Prince of Peace. What kind of peace is it if we must go through tribulations?

Answer: The Peace Jesus gives us is not the same as the peace the world offers us.

John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

As a matter of fact, there is no peace in the world, only tribulation.

John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Christ's peace is vastly different from that peace which is given or enjoyed by the world; the world may wish peace, yet never intend it; or they may wish it, yet not be able to give it: but Christ's peace is real and effectual, solid and substantial; the world's peace is only a freedom from outward trouble, but Christ's peace is a deliverance from inward guilt: and though it doth not give us an exemption from outward trouble, yet it gives us a sanctified use and improvement of them, and assures us of a joyful issue and deliverance out of them.

Christ gives us the blessings of peace and happiness. This is, however, much more than a mere form or an empty wish. It came from Him who had power to make peace and to confer it on all (Ephesians 2:15). It refers to the consolations which he gave to his disciples in view of his approaching death. He had exhorted them not to be troubled (John 14:1), and he had stated reasons why they should not be. He explained to them why he was about to leave them; he promised them that he would return; he assured them that the Holy Ghost would come to comfort, teach, and guide them. By all these truths and promises he provided for their peace in the time of his approaching departure. But the expression refers also, doubtless, to the peace which is given to all who love the Saviour. They are by nature enmity against God (Romans 7:7). Their minds are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt (Isaiah 57:20). They were at war with conscience, with the law and perfections of God, and with all the truths of religion. Their state after conversion is described as a state of peace. They are reconciled to God; they acquiesce in all his claims; and they have a joy which the world knows not in the word, the promises, the law, and the perfections of God, in the plan of salvation.

Conclusion

2 Chronicles 24:17-21, "Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD."

The above passage shows that when you have fallen so far into idolatry, you're going to reject the truth. But when you do accept God's Truth, remember that you may be persecuted for it, you may be ignored; but whatever happens, don't become depressed over it, because it's our duty to stand in the Truth. If we become depressed over it, then we're saying the Lord is not sufficient. He's the one who opens everyone's ears up, we don't. We're only His vessels.

The Lord's Will be done.