Standing Up For Your Rights

Acts 8:32,33 Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. (NRSV)

I was taken recently … no, “taken” is entirely the wrong word! I was deeply disturbed recently … by something a very popular Christian wrote on social media. Deeply, deeply disturbed.

The man I’m talking about has close to 400,000 followers. He purports to be a Christian. This is what he wrote: It’s time Christians stand up for themselves and start boycotting people who disrespect our faith.

That post garnered some 73,000 likes, 64,000 comments and almost 5,500 shares. Now, with our faith under attack from all sides it seems these days, perhaps that doesn’t seem such an unreasonable perspective. The idea of “standing up for your rights” has become quite popular these days amongst God’s people. But just because something’s popular, doesn’t mean it’s all of a sudden right. This was my response to his post:

Acts 8:32,33 Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. (NRSV)

Jesus, it seems, wasn’t in the business of standing up for His own rights. Quite to the contrary. He laid down his life for sinners like you and me, so that through His suffering on that Cross, He could purchase for us the right to become children of God.

Like a sheep to the slaughter … in His humiliation justice was denied him.

Where would we be today, had He argued His innocence before Pontius Pilot instead of remaining silent? Where would we spend eternity, had He avoided the Cross? No. Jesus gave up His rights that we might live. What makes us think these days that we should be any different?

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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