“The man who really loves God can do as he chooses, for if he really loves God he will choose to do the will of God.”
The problem is that if you choose the will of God, if you stand with God, you can quickly find yourself put outside some of the circles of people in which you were previously included. The issue is that your new ethic of living morally condemns others without you saying a word. Even though you don’t look down on others, even though you don’t condemn them with your words, nor attempt to persuade them to follow your choices, just by simply living for God many people will feel uncomfortable being around you. It is because they are already convicted, but they have been able to silence that still small voice. But now they find that when they are around you who no longer engage in the same behaviors, it makes it clear to them again that they are not living properly. So they pull away and no longer include you. It has been that way from the beginning.
“Men always view with suspicion people who are different. Conformity, not distinctiveness, is the way to a trouble-free life. So the more early Christians took their faith seriously the more they were in danger of crowd reaction. Thus, simply by living according to the teachings of Jesus, the Christian was a constant unspoken condemnation of the pagan way of life. It was not that the Christian went about criticizing and condemning and disapproving, nor was he consciously self-righteous and superior. It was simply that the Christian ethic in itself was a criticism of pagan life.”
It is still this way today. As you set yourself apart in holiness and your light shines more and more brightly, those who have actions that are “dark” will shrink away from you. You find that you are no longer included in some of the water cooler talk, because they know that you won’t laugh at some of the off-color statements. You no longer get invited to certain events after work, because they know that you won’t join in with some of the activities. But remember that as you stand strong in your faithfulness to Christ, when someone encounters a crisis of belief and look for an escape from ungodly living, they will know who to come to – You!
You can help turn the world upside down, just as the early disciples did. “In Rome, Caesar worship was made universal and compulsory for every person within the empire…. On a certain day in the year every Roman citizen had to come to the Temple of Caesar and had to burn a pinch of incense there, and say: “Caesar is Lord.” When he had done that, he was given a certificate to guarantee that he had done so….
“Caesar worship was primarily a test of political loyalty; it was a test of whether or not a man was a good citizen. If a man refused…he was automatically branded as a traitor and a revolutionary. Exaltation of the emperor, then, created a problem for the Christians. They had not failed to pray for the emperor, but they would not pray to him in private or in public. How could a Christian compromise with this?
“Who was worthy to ascend the throne of the universe and direct the course of history? Caesar, or Christ?
Thus, Christian worship and Caesar worship met head-on. The one thing that no Christian would ever say was: “Caesar is Lord.” For the Christian, Jesus Christ and he alone was Lord. To the Roman the Christian seemed utterly intolerant and insanely stubborn; worse, he was a self-confessed disloyal citizen. Had the Christians been willing to burn that pinch of incense and to say formally, “Caesar is Lord,” they could have gone on worshiping Christ to their heart’s content; but the Christians would not compromise. That is why Rome regarded them as a band of potential revolutionaries threatening the very existence of the empire.”
We still seem that way to those whose lifestyles do not honor God – utterly intolerant and insanely stubborn. But we need to stand strong and not compromise. Christian worship and Caesar worship met head-on… and we know who won! As we stand strong in the morality of God, we can also cause a revolution that turns the world upside-down for Christ!
(quotes taken from Bruce Shelley, Church History In Plain Language)
