Though I don’t think the phrase is popular anymore, many of us grew up with the little phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” That phrase has fallen out of favor, and in some ways rightly so, because people have learned that, of course, words can be damaging.
But we should not lose all use of the sticks and stones rhyme, because it also has something in it that we need to remember. Whether children or adults, we will face those who say nasty things about us. That is sadly a part of life in this fallen world. And we have to make a decision as to how we will respond. The big point of “sticks and stones” is to help a little one learn that every insult does not have to be responded to, that every nasty little taunt does not deserve tears.
I wonder how well we in the Christian community realize that we are destined for harshness in the world. Consider what Jesus said to his disciples about the kinds of things people would say about them.
Matthew 10:24-25 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.”
As Jesus prepared to send his disciples out on their first mission trip, he warned them that they would face opposition. If people said of Jesus that he did his works by the power of the devil, how much more would the people call Jesus’ disciples devils? He warned them to prepare for nasty words and even threats of physical persecution as they carried the life-transforming message of Jesus through Israel.
It is funny, then, that we modern, American Christians often get so upset when the world around us speaks evil of the church. Why is it that we freak out when Christians are portrayed in a false fashion on a movie screen as Hollywood almost always does? Why do we get so upset when people call us out-of-touch or on the wrong side of history? Why do we find ourselves surprised?
If you do not know, let me be clear: Genuine Christianity will not be a popular thing to a lost community. We are never going to be the cool people. We are never going to be the people that the world respects. While the world will benefit from the presence of Christians, people who care for the hurting, build hospitals, and dig clean wells, the world will not remain our friends the moment we present a genuine gospel message. Why? The world hated Jesus. The people succeeded in having Jesus put to death once he allowed it. No matter how much healing Jesus had done, no matter how many storms he calmed, no matter how many crowds he fed, no matter how much the crowds cheered when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, it did not take a week for the city to scream, “Crucify him!” And we, dear Christian friends, must grasp that the gospel message is and always will be offensive to those who have not come to Jesus in faith.
We should, of course, oppose it when false things are said about the faith or about Christians in general. We should be kind and loving to our communities. We should continue to share the gospel. But, we should not be silly enough to believe that we will ever be the hip place to be in our community. The only way that we will draw crowds to ourselves and be what the world wants around is if we compromise the exclusive message that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone who is our Lord alone. We cannot compromise the exclusivity or the lordship of Christ without ceasing being the church. So, let us be honest. Let us be bold. Let us trust God. And let us have a thick skin, because the world will not say nice things about the church when the world genuinely sees who Jesus is and what he demands.
Pastor Travis Peterson 