What happened on the Olympic stage?
My heart has been heavy today as I try to wrap my head around the direct mockery of our faith and our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the worldwide Olympic stage. Would any other religion be so openly and boldly attacked? I don’t think so.
As I prayed today, the Lord reminded me of a little verse I shared with my fifth-grade Bible school class just last week.
David said to [Goliath], “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 1 Samuel 17:45, KJV
The Israelites Mocked God
Friends, Goliath mocked the Israelites and their God (our God!) to the point the whole army was afraid to confront him. They hid in their tents and stayed away in fear. But then, little David enters the story with a basket of food and a fiery passion to defend His Creator. That day, because of David’s unshakable faith in the God of the Armies of Israel, the Lord helped David defeat his giant.
Right now, to me, this culture war feels like a giant. It keeps taunting our kids and our families. And honestly, I want to be like the Israelite army and stay away, hiding from all of it in my tent. But even there, through the internet, social media, and TV, it keeps finding us.
So how do we fight this modern-day Goliath who keeps making fun our faith and trying to snatch up our kids in his corrupt appetite?
Should we all just brush up on our slingshot skills and start knocking people over the head with rocks? As much as I want to at times and even giggle at the thought of it, Jesus taught us a better way.
A new way.
Stand Firm
At the very table the world just mocked, Jesus invites those who blasphemed Him to sit down and eat. Even at the last supper, Jesus washed Judas’s feet.
This worldwide display just proves what we already know. Jesus was relentlessly mocked during His ministry on earth and told us that we would be too. “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22, NIV
But, friends, Jesus didn’t let the harassment stop Him. And neither should we. It’s time to stand firm in our values — but also be brave enough to invite those mocking us to sit down at our tables. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Now is the time to let the light of Christ burn so brightly through us that others who don’t believe as we do can’t help but want to sit with us in His warmth — and get to know Him more.
An Invitation
And it’s there, through the hard, the uncomfortable, and the difficult, we begin changing the world — one soul at a time.
If anything, this reminds me that we’ve still got a whole lot of work to do. So, friends, remember the God of the Armies of Israel is with us.
It’s time to get busy.
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting,”
Galatians 6:7-8, KJV
Need more encouragement?
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