The Attack on Christianity

When we speak of the attack on Christianity, we are also speaking of the attack on God. This goes all the way back to Genesis chapter three when the serpent, or the devil, deceived and lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Lord warned Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here’s what the Lord told Adam.

 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”  Gen 2:16-17

But when the serpent appeared to Eve, he asked her this.

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?  Gen 3:1

Eve responded this way and pay attention to how she adds to God’s command.

“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”   Gen 3:3

God has said nothing to Adam about touching the forbidden fruit. I guess Eve added a little extra punch to God’s command. But the most important part of the command is if they ate it, they would surely die. So, were they going to drop dead if they ate it? We know that wasn’t going to happen because they didn’t drop dead when they ate it. Adam and Eve were created without sin and would not know physical death unless they committed a sin. They would have lived forever without knowing or experiencing sin in their lives. But they did sin by disobeying God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit. So, the serpent seizes on the ‘you will die’ portion of God’s command and lies to Eve and tempts her and Adam into eating from the forbidden tree. Here’s the lie Satan told Eve.

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Gen 3:4-5

Convincing Eve that she wasn’t going to die, she took a bite and offered a bite to Adam. Satan lied concerning death. Adam and Eve did not drop dead when they took a bite but they did eventually die because at the moment they disobeyed God’s command, sin entered the world and them and death came with sin. The serpent, or Satan, played on the threat of instant death and in that way convinced Eve she wasn’t going to die, instantly. This was the first attack on God and His people following the creation.

It has happened over and over down through time. We move into the New Testament and the covenant of grace and see Christianity under attack. Actually, we see the attack even before the cross. Jesus was seen as a trouble maker who was attempting to steal the thunder of the religious leaders of that time.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the religious leaders and made up the Grand Sanhedrin, or the religious council. They worried more about Jesus winning the people over with His message than their own personal walk with God. Many Jews believed because they were children of Abraham, they were good to go as far as their position with God was concerned.  Jesus and His twelve disciples were under attack by the religious council throughout His ministry on earth. He told His disciples not to be discouraged about this.

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.  JN 15:18-19

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.   JN 14:27

When the world, the unbelieving world, comes at us with their attacks, insults, mockery and calls us the various names they like to use, relax because they are attacking God by attacking us. The world hates us and some are frightened simply by our presence. Jesus gives us a peace which the world cannot and will not understand. Don’t respond with an attack since it just feeds fuel to their attack and their misunderstanding of Jesus. What else do you expect from them? They don’t know God. They don’t understand God or His people and the gospel message.

Here's the truth. They attack, comment on and slander something they are totally ignorant of. They find verses in the Bible which they might have heard a Christian use in defense at some time and they look for others which they use to ridicule with but they are so far out of context. But we can’t expect them to know since they don’t know. We don’t return with an attack. We should use the situation as an opportunity to begin a discussion in order to explain the truth to them. If they are willing, good. If not, don’t waste your time. Jesus told His followers this.

“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.  MT 7:6

While Stephen was being stoned for his message concerning Jesus as he stood before the High Priest and the religious council, a young Pharisee named Saul stood and watched in total approval of the stoning. After all, his God and his religion were being attacked by this new movement referred as the Way. Following the stoning of Stephen, Saul would round up Christians and jail or kill them. He continued this persecution until he, himself was saved on the road to Damascus. He was on his way to round up more followers of this Jesus. He changed his name to Paul and was led by the Lord to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He started many churches across the then known world and was heavily persecuted himself as a result. Paul was executed by the Romans for his ministry work for God. But during his time being led by the Holy Spirit, he never wavered or gave up as a result of the persecution he endured. Paul knew and understood that the unbelieving people who constantly opposed him, did so out of their ignorance of God.

This is what we Christians must always understand and be aware of. Those who bring the attack on Christianity do so out of their ignorance of God and who He really is.

And always remember the attack is on God Himself. Think about it. The Atheist is angry at a God they don’t even believe exists. Why should you be angry at something that doesn’t exist? Their anger is at God’s followers but their complaint is aimed at something they don’t believe is real or exists. At that point, it should be compassion we feel instead of anger.

If you experience harassment at work for your Christianity, keep in mind, the person attacking doesn’t understand or realize who God really is. Pray and ask God for an opportunity to speak to the person about their ignorance concerning God. Always be ready and prepared to help those ignorant of who God really is. Help them while you explain the gospel to them. Help them by praying for them. They might never listen to you but you don’t know that until God moves one of you on.

There are plenty of people on social media who post rants about Christianity. Most of them have taken scripture out of context or twisted it to meet their agenda. Most of those rants prove what Jesus told the Sadducees in MT 22:29.

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.  

This so true of so many critics of God in today’s society. What more can we expect from them? They are not saved, they don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and they can’t understand and comprehend as we Christians do. We need to be calm and hear them out and then, if they are willing, attempt to share with them who God really is. Tell them what God has done in your life. Tell them what He delivered you from when you were saved. But don’t return their rant with a rant of your own. Of course, most of these rants are on social media because they would never tell you this to your face. Most of them.

Consider the faith of the Apostle Paul. Think about how he was beaten, ship wrecked and heavily persecuted by those who didn’t believe in God or Paul’s message. He never gave up. He never retaliated. He simply prayed and trusted in God. He trusted in the leading of the Holy Spirit. Finally, the Church, Christianity and the Lord Himself has been under attack since the lie of Satan in the garden and it will continue until this world is destroyed by fire. It’s nothing new and it will continue. I could tell of the persecution in other countries such as China, India, Sudan and others but then this would be a book instead of a long blog post.

-Bill Petite