In the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:1-12, our Lord Jesus very plainly states that his believers and followers will be persecuted because of our faith in him.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
Matthew 5:11
And after Jesus states this, he goes on in Matthew 5 to specify the particular aspects of following him that will get us into trouble within our world. He specifies things like being salt and light, which means being active witnesses to his gospel within our world. And he highlights that his followers will be observant of the Ten Commandments, listing the following: that his followers will value human life within a world that devalues it, that we will honor and uphold the covenant of marriage within an adulterous world, that we will be keepers of our word within a deceitful world, and he adds that we will be merciful within an unforgiving world, that we will love all people as children of our Heavenly Father, and that we will prayerfully seek to build bridges even with our enemies.
Many despised Jesus for his ethics of inclusivity and bridge-building. He was absolutely despised for his insistence that all people are to be treated as children of God and they must be regarded equally as such: Hebrew and Pagan, Jew and Roman, male and female, countryman and foreigner, so on and so forth. However, when building bridges between very different people according to his grace and truth, Jesus essentially warns us in Matthew 5:11 that IF YOU BUILD BRIDGES THEN YOU WILL OFTEN BE MISUNDERSTOOD FROM BOTH SIDES.
When we follow Jesus by building bridges between different people, especially people of different points of view, the simple truth is that we should expect to be persecuted, reviled, and have all kinds of evil uttered against us. And this is especially true when we follow Jesus by building bridges of understanding, coexistence and cooperation in all areas of human life (ethnicity, religion, politics, sexuality, culture, etc.). So, we ought to be prepared for this rejection and condemnation.
In particular, within today’s religiously diverse society, how are we as Christians to be reconcilers and bridge builders? How are we to be true to our own spiritual inheritance while we seek greater understanding with other religious groups? How are we to understand our own religious faith and spirituality in relation to non-Christian groups? Is there a positive and constructive perspective on this issue that glorifies God and benefits everyone?
For me, “non-Christian” does not mean “un-Christian” or “anti-Christian.” And for me, God is like a great body of water connecting all the various ports and harbors that occupy God’s shoreline. These various harbors are the various religions, and the various piers (on which we dock our individual boats) are the various traditions within each religion. Consequently, there’s a Judeo-Christian harbor that Jews and Christians share (although we have different piers in this shared harbor). There’s also a Muslim harbor, a Hindu harbor, a Buddhist harbor, a Sikh harbor, and so on. So, in this metaphor we are all connected by the Great Water (God), but we each occupy a unique and special place on it.
Therefore, we can explore God’s diverse Oneness from our own safe harbor (“Judeo-Christian Harbor”) and from our own particular dock in this harbor (“Christianity Pier”). So, as with all the various peoples of faith, we can sail out on the great water of God to explore, discover and grow in understanding and wisdom. We can visit other harbors, and we can fish the Great Water (as fishers of people for Christ), but we come home to our own safe harbor when we are tired from our journeys and are in need of our spiritual home port.
Our Christianity Pier and Judeo-Christian Harbor are our secure jumping-off point into the Great Ocean of God. The doctrines of our Christian Faith are wonderfully and gloriously true — especially the tri-unity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as the Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus the Son of God. So yes, God is truly revealed in these wonderful doctrines of Christianity, but God is also much more than is revealed in these doctrines.
Therefore, we travel out to sea for religious exploration and discovery, and for fishing for people out at sea, but NOT for religious conquest of other ports. For me, I enjoy going out into the beautiful Ocean of God and exploring, and I seek to fish for people in Jesus’ name, but I don’t raid the other harbors and ports like some kind of spiritual pirate. Simply put, we witness to Christ Jesus best in this bridge-building way, and it will bring upon us misunderstanding, condemnation, and even persecution, but Jesus gives to his persecuted believers the following promise:
“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:12
Together in Christ, Pastor Tim