Do Not Be Disturbed

Neal Pollard

There continues to be the false religions interpreted by the world to be Christianity. There are web sites posted by professed "ex-Christians" and even former members of the Lord's church. News and history channels give a skewed perspective and betray a hostile attitude toward Christianity, with movies, music, and talk-show hosts speaking in most irreverent terms of Christ and those who put their trust in Him. Archaeologists purport to have evidence of the lost tomb of Christ. A fellow student of mine, a preacher, was recently arrested for an immoral crime that caught regional media attention and an excuse for the secular to attack the Christ he preached. There are almost daily examples of this sort of assault.

Some may be tempted to wring their hands and surrender. Others may feel pressure to cower and cover their faith. Most will at least find these things disturbing. Certainly, attacks made on Christ incur the wrath and sorrow of heaven, so that it would bother us is natural.

Often, New Testament writers talked about what might disturb or attempt to disturb us as Christians. We can become disturbed because of the actions of those who are our own brothers and sisters in Christ (cf. Acts 15:24; 2 Cor. 12:20). False teachers can create disturbances, even claiming to speak in the name of Christ (Gal. 1:7; 2 Thes. 2:2). Once, Paul acknowledged that the church at Thessalonica was in a position to be disturbed by afflictions brought on by those antagonistic to the church of Christ . The writer of Hebrews saw that those Christians were disturbed by opposition (Heb. 10:32-34; 2:3-4). Jesus often warned that being His disciple would bring hatred and hostility from the world's direction (Luke 6:22; John 7:7; 15:18-19; 16:2; 17:14). John echoes the same message in 1 John 3:13, saying, "Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you."

I believe the statement is true that "we are not citizens of this world trying to make it to heaven, but citizens of heaven trying to make it through this world." We will be troubled and tried because we follow the suffering servant. Let us look past these things and keep our focus on the never-ending joy and ever-enduring peace of heaven.