“Blessed are you when they heap insults on you and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely because of me.”

(Matthew 5:11)

“You adulterers, do you not know that brotherly love with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever desires to have brotherly love with the world conducts himself as an enemy of God.”

(James 4:4)

“If you were of the world, the world would have brotherly love toward you as its own; but because you are not of the world, in contrast, I elected you from the world, therefore the world hates you.”

(John 15:19)

In today’s world, there are wars and rumors of war; it seems to have become the normal state of being of the age in which we live. Indeed, this is partly because we are fallen men living in a fallen world. Sin leads to conflict, and conflict leads to war. As if the world is not gruesome enough, our sin has led us to have a morbid curiosity about all things horrific and macabre, and thus, bad news sells news. It is a sobering reality, but it is reflective of what Jesus said about what must take place before His return (Matthew 24:6).

Our problem is that we most commonly focus on human events and national conflicts rather than the great, spiritual war in which we are engaged. In the war against the devil and against the children of the devil (1 John 3:4-10), even the greatest military conflicts of man stand as but a campaign. Unlike the soldiers in a campaign, who tend to wear uniforms of different colors or designs, the only way to tell the difference between these two great armies are by the markings of Christ exhibited in each, markings that we know better as the Fruit of the Spirit (Matthew 7:15-20; Galatians 5:16-26).

What strikes me as fascinating is as to just how often those who are children of God — translate that as born-again Christians — are surprised when they encounter the children of the devil in their midst. Unlike a conventional war, where different armies have their separate encampments and generals are constantly maneuvering for favorable footing, the enemy is fighting more of a guerrilla war against Christ’s own. The enemies show up in Christian churches as friendly people who fill a pew (for all of the wrong reasons!). They show up as leaders, as missionaries, and even as pastors. The wolves are amongst the sheep (Matthew 7:15; 10:16; Acts 20:29), and one of the purposes of church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20) is to expose such wolves for what they are and to protect the sheep. Then again, many churches fail to practice church discipline altogether, for fear of seeming “mean, intolerant, or judgmental.” Yet, if a church does not practice discipline, it is allowing the sheep to fall into the mouths of wolves (John 10:12) and is not, in the language of the Belgic Confession, article 29, a “True Church.” In other words, there are entire encampments out there that fly the Christian banner, but are tools of the enemy, the Devil.

In the end, though, as a result of the conflict in which we fight against the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers over this present darkness (Ephesians 6:12), one mark of the true church is that it will be persecuted, insulted, and slandered for the name of Christ. We are not “of” the world; we do not belong to it. We do not fly the banners of this world, but we raise up the Word of God as the standard of Christ. On that, we either stand or fall, and for that, we will be persecuted. So, church, when you do not fit in with the social organizations of your community, be of good cheer, for you are blessed of God. The world hated Christ enough to put Him to death; count it as a badge of honor when the world hates you. But, if the world does not hate you, if the world does not slander you for Christ’s name, if the world does not revile you, then that ought to say volumes; you may be dwelling and even worshiping in the enemy’s encampment.