Dear John and Those Who Stand Valiantly:

We've been at this for a while and the end is clearly in sight.  But we press on with our encouragements, admonitions, insights and exhortations.  And along with all these come inevitable and increasing push-back.

We have a LOT of folks, in the world and even in the "church" and even among true believers and EVEN in the eschatosphere .... who just don't want to hear it.  I get push-back all the time, even on stuff that I thought would be no-brainers for anyone able to read.

But not so.  Regardless of WHAT you present or how well you back it up, there are those who simply want to believe what they want to believe, and facts, proofs or scriptures don't matter any more.  It's push-back all the way.

I was distressed by this, so I turned to the scriptures, deciding in the Lord to spend as much time in the gospels as possible for the rest of this month, if "rest of this month" there be.  I aimed for Matthew but my Book fell open at Mark, so I began there and discovered:

From the very beginning, Jesus Himself got push-back.

His own family thought He was crazy.

He was publicly rebuked for dining with "sinners" and for not fasting according to custom

He was hated for healing because it broke their man-made "not on the Sabbath" rule

He was harassed mercilessly by the Pharisees for forgiving sins, even though He demonstrated by an undeniable miraculous healing that He had the authority to do so

He was constantly hounded by people who didn't necessarily want to believe in Him, but still wanted healing.

He was pursued by the "free food" crowd, even though they rejected His teaching

These were not anomalies, but rather "business as usual" during Jesus' just-over-a-year public ministry, at the end of which He was betrayed, arrested, beaten and then executed in the most horrific way yet devised by man (no doubt with Satan's help).  Jesus had a public life characterized by abuse, deceit, rejection, contempt and unkindness.  The common image of a smiling Jesus holding a lamb in His arms while being surrounded by adoring crowds is a pathetic caricature.  Many of those following Him wanted freebies and NOT the rigors of a disciplined life.  When He gave them the truth, many of His disciples abandoned Him (John 6:66) and He apparently had little hope that even the twelve would remain.

So maybe .... just maybe .... all this push-back by friends and foes alike is more normal that we like to think.  After all, the hope is that those who love the Truth will pursue it and embrace it when it's found.  There may be a lot less truth-seekers than we've been led to believe.

Persevere!

Steve

P.S. "Those who stand valiantly" in my greeting is a reference to 2 Esdras 2:47