Christians: The Fellowship of the Whacked Funny title, eh? I mean.. an awful lot of people think that Christians are whacked.. right? We go around preaching words about someone who lived 2000 years ago.. as though He's with us today.. as though He is the ultimate example of what a person should live like and do. But what an awful lot of Christians don't realize is just how whacked we're supposed to be. Ok.. sounds strange, doesn't it? Sounds almost blasphemous, right? Well.. let me explain where I'm coming from and then you'll probably catch on to why I used this title. Back in the days of Jesus.. Rome was in control of the land of the Jews. The Jews wanted them gone.. and figured that Jesus did too. But when Jesus died on a cross.. everyone.. including his very close disciples.. scattered.. and left Him to Himself. What more was there to do? Jesus was dead.. He couldn't do anything more.. could He? The Legion of Rome was set on conquering the world. And from what I remember it did a very good job of doing just that. At first glance, it may seem that Rome even conquered Jesus -- that He lived and died like everyone else.. and that He wasn't the Son of God that He claimed to be.. or even Messiah. Jesus seemed very clearly to be just another false prophet.. one who had his time on the planet.. and then went the way of all creatures.. unto death's door. Now I'm not going to focus on Jesus' Resurrection just yet. Why? Because there is an awful lot that we, as Christians, need to learn from His death.. things that we don't want to see most of the time. But one thing we can learn from His death is so powerful that it just can't be ignored... nor should it. I'm talking about the fact that He chose to die. Simple? Maybe. Easy? Hardly. Painful? You bet! But why did He do it? Ok.. if we're even a mediocre Bible student, then we should know that He died to save men from sin. He died to bring all mankind who would listen unto God once more. But let's examine His death a little more scrutinously. Let's look now at the day of His surrender unto His captors at the garden of Gethsemane. Did He put up a fight? No. Did He have the ability to? You bet! Couldn't He have called billions of angels to come down and put an end to what God had called Him to do? Well.. He had the authority.. but why didn't He? We are taught by voices all around us that when you're cornered.. you need to fight.. When you are hurt.. you need to stand up and fight back. When your rights are taken away.. you need to stand up for truth and let the world see what is truly beautiful and truly ugly. The U.S. is well known for its military might. It has battled and helped win great onslaughts of evil in this world. But what about Jesus? Did He win or lose? Think about it a second.. then read on. To me.. one of the greatest things one can learn from the death of Jesus was the fact that it was voluntary. Yes, Jesus was listening to God.. and yes, God wanted to use Jesus' death for a purpose greater than any of our own lives could be used for.. but look at this more closely. Look at the fact that even though Jesus.. being completely innocent -- being completely without fault.. and not only without fault.. but being totally able to call the entire Earth into the Sun if He chose to.. being totally able to destroy every single person who wanted Him dead... being totally able to stand up and let His righteousness be counted.. He let Himself be murdered. He *allowed* Himself to experience the blows of the hammer as the nails went through his hands.. the pummeling by the Romans and the taunting.. the inhumane lashes that robbed Him of most all His strength. Jesus could've stood up and done anything.. and He did.. He chose to accept it. But He didn't just accept the blows.. He showed love to those who were doing it. He asked God to forgive them for what they were doing. He *took* the "whacks" the world had to offer.. and only returned them with tenderness and gentleness -- Like a lamb to the slaughter. And this is where you'll understand the title of this essay. You see.. the world is full of people who are trying to find their way in this blackness we call life. Everyone, at one time or another in their lives, lives with life as a blackness.. trusting only in that which they have believed is actually worth trusting in. But how does one decide what is worth trusting in? When you are little.. you probably were able to trust in the floor because you noticed that every time you put your feet down, it didn't break. The same goes with the ground outside. If you jumped on it really hard, it didn't give way beneath you. You found strength in the ground.. in walls.. and in rocks. How do you tell if a rock is strong enough to take a beating? The easiest method is about as childlike as you can get -- You hit it against something else that's hard and see if it breaks.. or if it stays. This is how many people.. if not all of us.. try to determine what is actually worth trusting in. We can't really tell by looking around us what is truly trustworthy.. and so we do an awful lot of testing. Granted, if we put *faith* in something -- without proof -- then we will find out its worth via how well it stands up to the trials of life. But before we put faith in things, it seems a human tendency to put such an object for faith through great testing. The testing often in this life often takes place just as I described above -- as whacking something into the faith-object.. and seeing if it still holds together. And this is where we come in big time. Jesus told us about this in His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:38-48, we are told that when we are attacked by an enemy.. or compelled to travel with someone.. or have our goods taken from us.. we need to not only accept the person who does it.. but we need to love them in return.. giving them more than they asked for. Jesus said, "If a man strikes you on your right cheek, turn him your left. If someone sues you and takes your coat.. give him your cloak as well. If a man compels you to go one mile with him.. go two." (paraphrased) This is how we show love to a world that doesn't see it anyplace else -- a world where fathers and mothers abandon their children early.. if not at birth -- a world where families split up after even years of great love between each other. In this life.. as you probably already know.. there are plentiful examples every single day of unloving behavior. It doesn't take much effort to be unloving. It can take *considerable* effort, however, *to* love and be loving. And in the case where we are presented by God into the lives of others who have not yet met Him.. we can be sure that they will, far more often than not, find it in their hearts to test our love.. to see if it's real. Everyone wants to find real love... that is.. until they find out that it doesn't always want what they do. Many people don't want "real love" because it's what convicts us if we are doing wrong. We often want people to just "be happy for us" when we are happy.. when the best thing we can do for each other isn't to be happy.. but tell each other when we are headed in a dangerous or painful direction.. rather than just "be happy". So how do you tell real love? How does the world test to see if it's real love we have in our veins? Simple. Just like kids will bang a rock to see how solid *it* is.. people will test our Christian love by banging.. or.. "whacking" our love with all the pain in their own hearts -- all the tumult, sorrow, and anguish that they feel inside because they have sought to find peace and love and acceptance.. and only found more hardship and trouble. The general concensus in the human mind is: "That which breaks should not be trusted in." So.. people who have been broken up inside will throw every painful thing in their heart at us.. all their anger.. rage.. guilt.. hatred.. you name it.. and insult us.. our Savior.. and our God. And it is only when we stand straight and tall.. still there.. still loving them.. that many will finally give in and realize, "Hey.. this is real love!" As Christians.. we shall *all* be whacked from time to time. And in this age where parents are not spending near enough time to develop true relationships with their kids.. and where people marry for feelings they claim to be "love" or "true love".. and then give up at the first sign of trouble.. in such a land as this.. we can assume that nearly every single time we bring up God and His truth.. we're gonna be whacked.. and often quite soundly. We need to realize that we need to not only allow it to happen.. but, if not welcome it, show as much love as we possibly can to those who whack us.. so that we can show them that Jesus isn't some guy who died 2000 years ago and is still in the tomb. We need to show everyone around us that the love that died for us *lives* in us.. and that it is strong enough to take the biggest battering the world can dish out. Many Christians follow the notion that Jesus would've died if there was only one sinner to die for. I tend to agree.. He is loving enough to do just that. But let's go a step further. What about us? What if it takes one million deaths of Christians before a single soul.. seeing the love in their eyes.. finally sees God's love.. and repents. Aren't the deaths worth it? Isn't all the pain.. all the temporary pain.. worth having one more soul find eternal rest and love? So here's where we stand. If you stand for what is right.. you will be whacked. If you keep standing, you'll be whacked even harder. You can take to the bank the fact that those who stand the strongest for Christ will be whacked the hardest. So when it happens to you.. when you find yourself being struck.. whether with fists or with words.. when you find yourself on the receiving end of all these whacks.. remember.. Jesus took whacks too.. and more than you ever will.. and He took them so that anyone.. *including* you.. could find eternal peace and love. Let His love flow through you and reach those who are giving you these whacks. You never know.. you just might see your attacker in Jesus' arms someday.