Brighter Horizons

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade."
1 Peter 1:3-4
Why don't we Defend Jesus?

Today Tubby posted about the Muslim world's reaction to the Pope's comments about Mohammed. It's definitely worth a read if you have the time.

The whole thing reminds me of the comics saga earlier this year. I was amazed then, as I am now, at how fired-up Muslims get when their prophet is mocked.

But this got me thinking - why don't we defend Jesus? Every day Jesus is mocked on the radio, in the media, on The Simpsons, and by our friends. But we don't do anything.

Ok, so we shouldn't go running around burning the houses of everyone who disagrees with us. But surely we should be willing to say something!

Tubby says:

"Their aggressive reaction is based on fear. But I refuse to live in fear, for I am a disciple of Jesus and I have nothing to prove.

The apostle John wrote:
‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.'"

And I agree with that entirely. But I wonder, do we say nothing because we have nothing to fear? Or do we say nothing because we fear what our friends will think of us?

Posted: Monday, September 18, 2006 2:06 PM
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Comments

chelsea said:

Walshy, in one of my subjects earlier this year at uni we discussed the Mohammed cartoons in relation to censorship + free speech, but it was an incredibly interesting tutorial because of the issues that come with this - including discussions about why Christians dont get as offended!

It was quite massive really.

But i think thats a great question, and a good point you are proposing! Why dont we defend Jesus in that way too?

I thought about that today again in a different class as I watched a recording of an Aboriginal Australian's performance - a song called 'Excuse Me' and he sang the words 'excuse me for being black', obviously making the point that thats who he is and he shouldnt have to apologise (nor be disadvantaged, silenced, etc) for it. It just made me wonder whether we, as people who have identity in Christ, have that same attitude. That is who we are, we do not need to apologise for it, keep quiet about it, etc, there is every reason to proclaim it loud and clear and defend what we believe in. Yet, we probably dont do this as much as every other group...perhaps an exaggeration, im not sure, but it often seems to be the case...

# September 18, 2006 2:26 AM

Shannon said:

I can fully sympathise with the desire to defend Christ. I feel a sense of pain and grief when my God and Saviour is mocked. However, if Christ needed to defend his name, a man who hung on a cross, despised, mocked and rejected, surely he would have done so? Does he need me to stand up now and defend him? I'm not sure.

If asked to give an account of Jesus will I give it? Yes. If I wince when my God is mocked and I am asked why , will I give a faithfull answer? I hope so...

# September 20, 2006 9:14 AM

craig said:

Walshy

very good point my friend. I don't beleive we defend Jesus enough. We accept that he is someone to be commented upon, even mocked by the world around us.

Partly we accept it because we know that his message is foolishness to the world and with that comes the expectation that they just wont get it.

none the less, that should not result in apathy on our part. We should not be surprised when he is mocked, the flip side to that is we should therefore be ready for action.

the question we must answer is - what action do we take?

# September 20, 2006 9:36 AM

angie-may said:

We fear what our friends will think of us :(

By the way, it's quite amazing how many credoites have blogs...we're all closet computer nerds deep down.

# October 3, 2006 10:11 AM
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