They will hate me.

While attending college I was victim of a public, full on verbal assault by a group of people for my faith. It. . .was. . .AWESOME!! I attended a state school with no religious affiliation. This particular class was Psychology of Religion. It was a graduate level class made up of presentations of different religions by students. We were graded on how well we grasped the religion we presented. The class could ask questions to argue or defend either side of said religion. The only stipulation was that we had to show respect for the presenter. I chose Christianity. When the time came for me to give my hour long presentation OF THE GOSPEL (the whole thing still excites me!!) to a room full of liberally trained young adults, the professor was called away due to a family emergency and told us to carry on and grade each other. 

I entered the classroom and began to explain the philosophy, doctorine, and the psychology of Christianity. Christ's true identity was defined as fully God and fully man. His perfection was showcased in all its glory. His longevity as eternal was celebrated. I was almost giddy as Jesus was presented in all His glory! At the end of the presentation the question/argue/defend session began. It started as skeptical yet intrigued questions. Then the professed agnostic of the class asked the question to end all questions. So, what you are saying is, if someone does not believe in this Jesus, he will spend eternity in hell?!? "Yes, that is exactly what I am saying." 

Well, an emotional explosion of spiritual war erupted in the room at that moment. Angry, volatile, students were enraged by the truth. They spewed venom at the Christ I had described and rejected the message as exclusive and closed minded. There are so many things I could say about that day. I could explain what I said, and tell you the nasty hate filled things that were said to me and about me. But the main thing I remember is suffering for Christ and finding indescribable joy in that. "but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:3. It was such a privilege to be persecuted for Christ. And I learned that day the supernatural and overwhelming affect it has on our mind. Words cannot describe how wonderful this experience was for my soul.

I started the process of learning another concept that day, which I still struggle with. Love is not enough. Love leads the lost to salvation, but not always. Jesus Christ was the embodiment of love, the very essence of it. The only reason we have the capacity to love is because it has been endowed unto us by Christ. He being love incarnate, could have won all hearts to himself if love were enough because noone has ever been capable of demonstrating love with such completeness. We are commanded to love so, we must extend love to everyone, including the lost. "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you," Matthew 5:44. But extending love will not exempt us from being reviled. The cross is offensive and hated. It insights rage in people. "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." John 15:18. The more we come away from the world, lay down the desires of our own flesh, or selfish nature, the closer we will draw to Christ. This results in becoming more and more offensive to the world and its culture. To glorify Christ is to offend the world. The lives we are called to as Christians is to be hated by this world. And when we are hated for Christ's sake we have truly accomplished something for the kingdom of God and we have taken another step closer to Christ.