Finishing the Race – Strong! (17)

 

Continuing from our last post:

5. Faithful obedience to God’s Word and living under God’s authority can be critical in withstanding peer pressure. If we have been bought with a price, the blood of the Lamb, then we do not belong to ourselves but rather to Jesus Christ our Lord. When this is our Way of Life, then obedience to Christ is natural to us, what is not natural is disobedience and when we are disobedient our system is shocked by sin and shame. The world around us lives in rebellion. Many in the professing church are not disciples of Jesus but cultural “Christians.” Many who have come into a relationship with Jesus still pretty much live the way they want to. This cannot be an option for those who claim Jesus Christ as Lord, we have no option but obedience to Him and His Word. 

I am not speaking only about obedience in things we might consider large, but rather obedience in all things, including what we might consider small things. There are no small things. Obedience in “small” things, whatever they might be, forms our souls to obey in large things. As I write this, I can’t conceive of a small thing that I might be disobedient in, for disobedience is disobedience and is poison and the introduction of an unholy thing into my relationship with Jesus. As John writes, “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). 

Jesus lived under the authority of the Father, and we are to live under the authority of Jesus. Jesus did nothing out of Himself, and we are to do nothing out of ourselves, our life flows from the Vine, without Him we can do nothing. We live under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy Word. 

This Way of holiness forms our souls not only to withstand peer pressure, it equips us to more than overcome this pressure, it forms us to be more than conquerors through Him who loves us. 

6. The sixth dynamic I’ll mention regarding peer pressure is expectation, we ought to expect pressure, opposition, and even persecution. When we expect something we are less likely to be surprised by it, and when we are surprised by it we can more quickly regain our equilibrium. 

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are to go outside the camp, bearing the reproach of Jesus (Heb. 13:13). Paul tells us that the Cross is a stumbling block and foolishness to others (1 Cor. 1:23; Gal. 5:11). This is not only about what we say, but also about the Way we live. 

In John 15:18 – 16:4, Jesus in the Upper Room gives an extensive teaching on our rejection and persecution. He says, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you…If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”

Paul writes, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). If we have never encountered opposition and pressure due to our obedience and witness for Jesus, maybe we ought to consider how we are living, how our lives are being molded. 

When a football or rugby player goes onto the field, he expects to encounter robust physical contact. Imagine the shock of someone who enters a rugby game thinking it is a non-contact sport. Just as such a thing is almost impossible to image, so it should be impossible to imagine a follower of Jesus not anticipating opposition from living obediently under His authority and Word. 

When an experienced quarterback is blindsided, his recovery can be quicker during the play than a rookie player. Since it is not his first or second or third time, his reactions are better. We all need experience, but we will never have experience if we go along to get along and hide our witness for Jesus. Giving into peer pressure is more than hiding our witness to Jesus, it is denying Jesus. 

When we anticipate opposition, according to Jesus’s call to follow Him, we will be less likely to be surprised when it occurs. 

As we conclude this section, I want to emphasize that I am speaking of obedience to Jesus in every area of life, family, work, civic engagement, academic, entertainment, recreation, church. We must not leave Jesus at the door of our office, factory, school, or TV. When we allow the images of certain books and most television to enter our hearts and minds and souls, we are inviting them to form us into their image – and we are fools if we think they don’t. We are bringing idols into the Temple of God. When we acquiesce in unholy business practices we are prostituting ourselves and the Body of Christ, for we are members of His Body.

O dear friends, violence and greed and promiscuously destroy our souls, they become cesspools of poison and numb us to the holiness of our Lord Jesus. The Bible tells us that greed and covetousness are idolatry, yet we obsess over money and possessions and are impressed and intoxicated by their accumulation. How foolish we are. 

This is not theoretical to me, or to my wife. Many times in business we have said “No” because of Jesus. As a result, we have been able to share Jesus credibly with others, to pray with others, to serve others – as our Way of life, as our Way of doing business. One reason I usually had good relationships with wealthy and powerful clients is because my advice and counsel and judgment was not swayed by their wealth, it didn’t mean anything to me, I wasn’t impressed by it at all. I did care about them and told them the truth, whether it was something they wanted to hear or not. Those with whom I did not get along were those who treated others meanly and who did not care about the truth, those “relationships” were usually short lived; I am not for sale, Jesus has already purchased me. 

Nor have I ever felt uncomfortable about not knowing what is happening in Hollywood or Nashville or New York or on television. The content of music and shows and their presentations are, by and large, permeated with violence and sexuality and evil…yes “evil.” These things warp our souls. People who know me, whether at work or in the neighborhood, figure out that there are some things I am not going to know; this does not bother me. They also know that I may make a comment or two about what so impresses them. The really sad thing is that the same holds true for folks in “church” or in Bible study groups – most of them live in the world and are impressed by it. We are to be holy as our Father is holy (1 Peter 1:16). I think we have lost our minds and hearts and souls.

This has been a journey, and it still is a journey. Jesus means everything to me. I also love His People and I do love the world. For the sake of others we must learn to be faithful and holy, always for the sake of others – we must not be self-indulgent with sin, for life is not about us, it is about Jesus and others. If we say we love our families, let us live like it in faithfulness to Jesus. If we say we love and care about others, truly love and care about them, then let’s live like it. (John 17:19; 1 John 3:16).

Again, I write the above to say that this is anything but theoretical to me, it is the essence of my life in Christ. Also, as I hope to share at the conclusion of the entire series, I know what it is to be unfaithful to Jesus and others; I never want to go back there, NEVER!