MONEY, FAME, and POWER
Kendra Intihar
Today's Scripture: "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15:19, ESV
Theme: Jesus chose you, which may cause the world to hate you. Don’t give yourself over to the fights of this world; you are not of this world.
WHY DON’T YOU HATE ME?
I’ve been a Christian for a very long time – since I was a little girl. I remember hearing John 15:19 and reveling in the idea that the world would “hate me” because of Jesus. I wore this verse like a badge of honor in high school, envisioning some imagined future persecution because I confessed Jesus as Lord. To be sure, Christians have been persecuted in this world in very real ways, but in 1997, in my rural, majority-Christian town in North Carolina, that was a bizarre martyrdom fantasy that, annoyingly, never came to pass.
FRIENDLY AND PATIENT CLASSMATES
Even at my most insufferable moments, when I would force my atheist and agnostic classmates to listen to me proselytize, they didn’t hate me like they were supposed to. They’d just nod along until my monologue was over. Not one ounce of persecution. I didn’t realize until I was an adult that all my youthful evangelizing was much more “worldly” than “godly.” I was seeking recognition for my excellent Christianity instead of seeking Christ, whom I professed. These days, I can readily and sincerely acknowledge, just as Paul did, that I am the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15), stumbling toward the embrace of Jesus, who loves me so… even when I’m insufferable.
AMERICAN IDOLS
What does it mean to be “hated” by the world in a country where we are free to practice our faith as we choose?
When Jesus was beginning His ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted. Satan, the tempter, approached Him and offered Him “the world” via three different temptations:
- The temptation to provide for physical and material needs without involving God.
- The temptation to work miracles and become popular without faith.
- The temptation to gain and wield political power.
This is still what the world has to offer us: Money, Fame, and Power. The three “American Idols” that tempt us all. Jesus overcame those temptations so that we can, also.
It’s no coincidence that Jesus was tempted by the things of this world in Matthew 4 and then fresh out of the wilderness, in Matthew 5, He offered us the paradoxical kingdom of heaven: Not money, but poverty of spirit. Not food, but a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not fame, but meekness. Not power, but humility and peacemaking.
NOT OF THIS WORLD
The world wants warrior kings, but our King hung naked on a tree, executed. He didn’t embrace money, power, or fame like the kings of this world, and when His friends tried to defend Him against enemies, Jesus told them to put away their weapons (John 18:10-11). He said that people who belong to Him don’t fight on His behalf (John 18:36). It's hard to conceive of a Savior who would rather die than kill His enemies. It’s harder still to conceive of a Savior who calls His people to do the same thing. The world hates that which it cannot understand, so if we are destined to be hated, let it be because we are sincerely loving, honoring, and blessing our enemies in the Name of Jesus.
Make it Personal: Take a moment to read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-10. This is how Jesus expects us to engage with the world. Contrast the Beatitudes with our current culture. How do Jesus’ words here contradict what the world asks us to esteem and value?
Pray: Jesus, You’ve been so clear. This is not my fight because this is not my kingdom, and You don’t require defending. How could I, so small and imperfect, even feign to defend the God of the Universe? Yet I have! Forgive me for the times I’ve chosen the ways of this world over You. When someone asks me to draw a sword, help me instead to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to “give also my cloak,” and to wage peace in Your Name. Amen.
Read: Matthew 5:3-10, Romans 12:14-21; James 3:9-18; Matthew 16:26
Weekly Memory Verse: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:16-17, ESV