One of the most difficult parts of the walk as a follower of Christ is loneliness. It’s often surprising and confusing for believers who begin to walk in the way prescribed by the Bible to find themselves abandoned and even hated by those who they once called friends and family. Although we do not hear the message much in the pulpits today, Jesus said we would actually be hated by everyone on account of Him. (Matthew 10:16-23)
In this increasingly turbulent world, we’ve come to experience this pressure more now than ever before, in our lifetime. It seems as though the only voices which seem to have any support are those who yell in anger, shaking their fists at another group of people.
Despite the yelling, those who read the Word and follow Christ follow the path of meekness. They have both Truth and Mercy bound securely around their neck (Proverbs 3:3) They know that to deny Truth and not speak it is to deny God, as God is Truth, and no deception lives in Him. They know that they cannot forsake Truth without forsaking God.
These same also know that they cannot deny Mercy and Loving-kindness (Hebrew: chesed – חסד). They recognize that by shaking their fists in rage or by joining the sea of scoffers, they have abandoned Love. Sadly, among those who bear the name of Christ, today, many have abandoned the path of Messiah for the path of the party. They believe that they fight for Truth, yet in their abdication of the statute of Love as a companion to Truth, they’ve unwittingly erred and gone off the path of Truth.
So what can we conclude? Am I endorsing a side? Do we choose Truth or Love?
As it says in Psalms, Mercy (chesed) and Truth are united together, and Righteousness and Peace are in intimate union (Psalm 85:10)
This tells us that without both, we have neither.
Don’t give up
If you’re feeling tired, lonely, or even angry in the wake of all that is happening today, I encourage you to remember that when the world is shouting, the Voice of the Spirit comes as the still small voice, who speaks reason and healing and provides strength to the meek.
I encourage you not to let your season of loneliness cause you to stumble and choose a side which makes scoffing and reviling people a sport.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14-16 that you are like a candle which is intended to be a light to the world. By reflecting His Love and Righteousness, you are a Witness for Him. But what witness do you have if you’ve traded your candle intended as a light to the world for a torch intended to burn it down? Furthermore, how can you call yourself a Disciple if that’s your cause? Lest anyone be emboldened by this, thinking I’m simply criticizing protesters, I want to be clear. All who use their lives to rage and war against man have turned their candle into a torch. Instead of sharing Truth and Love, they’ve divided the two and lost both. What was meant to help the lost man see is now brandished as a weapon to destroy him, all in the name of Truth.
One side says they fight for Love, yet they hate more thoroughly than any group I’ve ever seen. Another says they fight for Truth, yet they scoff, mock, and act like petulant children. In these who say they stand for Truth, yet there is no Love or Mercy in their words, their words only serve to empower the falsehood they claim to stand against by making it look more loving than the Truth they’ve expressed in a spirit of arrogance and scoffing.
How can taking a stand for Truth bolster falsehood? Only when it has missed the mark by dividing Truth from Love.
Finally, to those who continue on the path of meekness, who direct their energy toward fighting the ongoing fight within themselves to keep both Truth and Love bound around their neck in a time when it is so easy to let anger take hold – and for those who find themselves battling with sorrow and loneliness in this time – I hope to offer the following words as encouragement.
Choose Sight & Be Light
As painful as loneliness is, it can be helpful to remember that the greater pain is to be lost while surrounded by those you believe to be your allies. It’s better to have sight and to walk where you choose than to be blind, surrounded on all sides by more blind. The one with sight walks with direction, though often in loneliness and hardship. Another stands shoulder to shoulder with his comrades, yet his movement is dictated by the motion of the mob. Like the waters in the ocean, he doesn’t know where he is or where he’ll be tomorrow. Neither would it matter, as he has no choice in the matter.
It’s true that he is not alone, but he also has no control over his position or destination.
I encourage you today to choose sight over blindness. The hour is close where the blind will devour one another without mercy. Make no mistake, whether they proclaim to fight for Love or for Truth, whether they bear the name of Christ (in title only) or not, no member of the Body reasons for itself, choosing its own thoughts and not those of the Head. In your own body, the Head dictates instruction and the body members follow, just as Christ modeled for us by only following the desires of the Head above Him, who is the Father.
Whoever does not have the Son, does not have the Father. And whoever does not follow His commands, is not a member of the Body. But as for you, if you are a member of the Body, you remember His teachings.
Love your neighbor, guard your light, and above all, be kind to your brothers and sisters who are walking in the Faith. All who claim to be of the Faith but who walk purely in self-will, who scoff at and revile dignitaries and authority, and all who make it a sport to mock the opposite party at every chance, these are not brothers and sisters. The Bible says to avoid these types.
Yet there are also brothers and sisters who stumble and err. With these, we have patience and bear up one another’s burdens, doing all we can to help one another, remembering that we have our own weaknesses also. Do not write off a brother for making mistakes, but be cautious to not fall into them yourself by association. Pray for discernment and study closely on how to identify who is and is not of the flock. Walk carefully with tremendous prayer and with fear and trembling, lest you judge incorrectly and push a brother who is simply immature out by himself to be devoured, leaving his blood on your hands.
We who are of Messiah also remember that our call is to love our enemies and pray for them who despitefully use us. Though we find ourselves all day as sheep to the slaughter, we remember that this world is not our home.
In your fight for Truth, always remember to Love. Remembering also that if Christ, Himself, laid down His body, we may also be one day called to do the same. But whether in body, in reputation, or in material goods, whatever is taken from us, let’s do it in a manner which honours Him so that when we are stripped naked, we are clothed by the Light of His Glory, which is demonstrated in our peace and our Love and stands testament to a Power which is greater than the world and its cares and possessions.
Recall also that to be executed for being a scoffer brings no Honour. Yet, as He was executed while the world scoffed and jeered, His final words still resound today as an example to us:
Father forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.
Luke 23:24
It’s only for a season
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I encourage you to take up hope and hold on to it. Though we walk in loneliness, we are not alone. Though we weep for a season, Joy comes in the morning. Though we are afflicted, struck down, cursed and lied about, it is only for a short while.
For those who endure to the end, what is coming is so much greater in magnitude than the pain of today. So much so that all will be able to say, as did our Brother Paul,
For our light affliction, which is only for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2 Corinthians 4:17
In all things, keep eternity in view — not only for yourselves, but also the eternity of those who are around you. Do all that you do to help secure eternity with the Father for yourself and others, knowing that it is only by the Son that anyone has access.
Keep in mind that your witness is the Light which was lit and is kept burning by the Father, by way of the Son. That Light is to illuminate the way for those around you to find eternity. Its intention is not for yourself, but rather for those around you, even those you may now call enemies, and yet by God’s powerful force that is Grace, you may one day call Brothers and Sisters, Fathers and Mothers.
We were all once enemies of God, having been shrouded in darkness and trapped by sin, yet it was by His Grace and Mercy that we were set free and that we now stand as Sons and Daughters. So do not let it surprise you that enemies become friends, or even when friends become enemies. Christ came not to bring unity (immediately). Instead, division is the immediate result, because there is still sin abounding on earth, and the battle between Light and Darkness wages on, taking human lives as casualties in a spiritual war.
Nevertheless, the Word reminds us to take Heart – for He has overcome the world!
Like our seasons of pain, loneliness, and affliction, even the time of division is only for a season.