Dale Partridge - Real Christianity #94： How To Deal with Online Haters, Persecutors, and Enemies

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Real Christianity. Today we are talking about how to do with online haters, persecutors, and enemies.

00:00:06.160 This is a topic that I think a lot of us deal with at some point and to some extent.

00:00:12.960 As we post more of our lives on the internet, we have people that are frustrated and offended by what we say.

00:00:21.140 So we're going to talk about that today.

00:00:22.420 Another note is that Veronica is back by popular demand, and it's nice to have her back on the show

00:00:27.000 because I did several solo shows, and she is here.

00:00:31.140 If you're a regular listener to the show, thank you,

00:00:33.860 and we'd love to have you review the podcast just by going to the podcast app on Apple,

00:00:39.440 just tapping the stars.

00:00:40.560 You don't even need to write anything, but if you do write something, we will read it.

00:00:44.000 A few things before we get started.

00:00:45.340 One, if you guys are interested in planting or starting or pastoring

00:00:53.300 or exploring the idea of a biblical house church,

00:00:58.420 especially in the wake of the coronavirus.

00:01:00.600 It really is becoming a more popular conversation.

00:01:04.380 I'm getting more and more inquiries about that.

00:01:06.520 If you want a free PDF,

00:01:09.300 you can grab that at relearnchurch.org forward slash house.

00:01:13.900 And that's a PDF titled The Basics of Biblical House Church.

00:01:18.820 It's a 10-page PDF that I've written on the basics of what it means to do what we do

00:01:26.200 and house church planting and how you can do that on your own

00:01:29.780 and some really great information there.

00:01:31.580 So again, that's relearnchurch.org forward slash house.

00:01:36.900 Second announcement, which is another big deal,

00:01:40.360 is the new program that we launched just last week

00:01:43.940 on how to break free from the bondage of pornography.

00:01:46.580 and you guys have been asking us for months maybe even years now yeah I think you had mentioned it

00:01:53.940 a long time ago on a podcast that that was on your heart to put together a curriculum for that

00:01:59.260 but we were in the thick of our trial season we just didn't have the door hadn't been opened yet

00:02:04.500 yes we but the door has been opened we created a simple gospel-centered program for breaking free

00:02:12.140 from the bondage of pornography and we've had i think 60 to 70 people enroll already in it this

00:02:19.320 last week yeah and it just launched this week it just launched yeah not even a week ago and

00:02:23.740 i have received a handful of testimonials that will make you cry and they're just amazing from

00:02:31.000 wives from uh men who have been through through the program the program is for men and women

00:02:36.240 And if you are struggling with pornography and you are having habitual sin, meaning that you're walking in it on a regular basis, I promise you it is worth checking out.

00:02:50.000 Just go to standinvictory.org.

00:02:53.220 Again, that's standinvictory.org.

00:02:56.800 It is a very affordable program, and I hope that it will set you free according to the promises of Scripture.

00:03:04.180 All right. On that note, Veronica is going to kind of lead us in to some discussion. Then we're going to dive in to two questions that we're going to be talking about. A question to Veronica and a question to me about this issue.

00:03:16.900 Yeah. So if you guys have followed us long at all on social media or on the podcast, whatever it is, you know that we stand for biblical truth on this podcast.

00:03:27.480 And as a result, we get a wide variety of pushback now because we live in a more civilized time.

00:03:35.560 We're not necessarily dealing with a violent persecution, but the verbal, emotional and accusational attacks are still a type of persecution.

00:03:46.340 yeah um additionally the spiritual uh warfare has been quite intense especially the last couple

00:03:53.360 years yeah like amazing how connected they are yeah totally almost almost every time dale releases

00:04:00.140 some type of big ministry project or shares some type of uh biblical truth scripture on social

00:04:07.560 media it is almost always countered with a media attack or someone pushing back hard on us online

00:04:16.320 or sending us hate mail um or a family is struck with illness or some type of suffering but almost

00:04:24.100 always i can definitely connect several different moments of you putting something out and a

00:04:31.120 literally sometimes within minutes yep some type of other crazy strong attack comes from

00:04:37.620 somewhere yeah it's so much so that you can't deny that it's spiritual because it's like this is

00:04:42.540 this is ridiculous like how how incredibly connected they are and so yeah it's just a

00:04:48.340 crazy reality yeah and it's actually yeah a long time ago it would discourage me and i'd get 0.62

00:04:54.480 you know sad about it but now it's happened so often where you said it's such a stark contrast

00:04:59.440 you can totally see it that it's actually like boosted my faith yeah it's made you realize that

00:05:04.860 wow there there actually is spiritual warfare going on and it's made evident when you're when

00:05:11.480 you're in the thick of it right there um you know what we've learned is that spiritual warfare it is

00:05:17.580 real it's a real thing we all are you know engaged in it whether we like it or not we are engaged in

00:05:25.000 it and if it's not real for you and you're a christian um it's it's maybe because you're not

00:05:31.640 in the war um but you know when you when you get to stand for the gospel when you stand for biblical

00:05:38.340 truth, when you proclaim biblical truth, you make bold statements. You're basically shooting

00:05:45.460 arrows into the enemy's camp, and you're becoming a threat. You're a hostile threat to the enemy,

00:05:51.960 and there's going to be a retaliation of some sort. Not always, not on every single element,

00:05:58.380 but this shouldn't shock us because the scriptures promise that this will happen. It says

00:06:04.060 in 2 Timothy 3.12, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

00:06:13.520 All. That's a big word, all. I talk about this in my book, Real Christianity. If you're not

00:06:19.980 receiving some type of resistance, it's likely that you're not living a godly life. Now, I know

00:06:27.340 that's a crazy, maybe even offensive statement. I'm going to say it again, though. If you're not

00:06:33.560 receiving some type of resistance as a christian it's likely that you're not living a godly life

00:06:39.060 or if you are living a godly life it's because your life is so private that it's not actually

00:06:46.460 contributing to the great commission and affecting the culture around you um and so you're you're

00:06:53.460 you're basically not currently being engaged in the spiritual warfare or being used and we hope

00:07:00.900 that this episode is going to actually change that for you because I think there's a lot of

00:07:05.060 dormant Christians that are silenced by fear and concern and worry and anxiety that they're the

00:07:15.460 fear of man which we'll talk about in a bit and we we want you to be able to say I'm willing to

00:07:21.680 stand up for the truth of the scriptures for the gospel of Jesus Christ whatever the cost and

00:07:28.420 that's our hope to encourage you guys today. Yeah. Um, so today Dale and I are both going to

00:07:33.960 answer a question in regards to how we deal with the resistance that comes with standing for

00:07:39.180 Christian truth online. Um, but we thought it would be helpful to read a few passages on the

00:07:43.520 topic that might sober us up and get our minds, um, in alignment with the scripture on the issues

00:07:49.720 before we get started. Um, so I'm going to read three scriptures and then we'll move into the Q

00:07:55.340 and a the first one's going to be matthew chapter 5 verse 10 blessed are those who are persecuted

00:08:00.800 for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven catch that real quick blessed blessed

00:08:07.240 are those blessed are the persecuted um first peter 4 verses 12 through 14 beloved do not be

00:08:16.280 surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange are

00:08:21.580 happening to you but rejoice in so far as you share christ's suffering that you may also rejoice

00:08:27.860 and be glad when his glory is revealed if you are insulted for the name of christ you are blessed

00:08:33.660 because the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you this is i mean yeah i mean just did you hear

00:08:39.260 that right there just um you're insulted yeah if you're insulted that's just you know which we are

00:08:46.080 often for the name of christ for the name of christ yeah it's just powerful stuff here

00:08:49.360 You're blessed.

00:08:50.980 Okay, and then the last one is John 15, verse 20.

00:08:54.900 Remember the word that I said to you,

00:08:57.160 a servant is not greater than his master.

00:08:59.760 If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

00:09:04.180 I like this quote that I heard Vady Bauckham say,

00:09:06.960 suffering is common for all.

00:09:08.740 However, persecution, which is a form of suffering,

00:09:11.200 can be avoided.

00:09:12.260 All you have to do is compromise.

00:09:14.660 And that's what a lot of people do, right?

00:09:16.780 You want to avoid persecution?

00:09:18.420 Just compromise.

00:09:19.360 be quiet don't say anything yeah they're just silent yeah just which is a compromise right

00:09:23.260 it's just a form of like i'm just gonna not gonna say anything um and we know the great quote i

00:09:29.300 think it's from the 18th century um all that require is required for evil to prevail is for

00:09:36.220 good men to stand by and do nothing um and that is i think a true principle in what we're seeing

00:09:42.160 in spiritual warfare the church is supposed to be the pillar and the ground of the truth

00:09:48.380 This is in 1 Timothy chapter 3, I believe.

00:09:52.240 But we are, as a body of Christ, the church upholds all the truth in the world.

00:09:57.060 We are the pillar and the ground of the truth.

00:10:02.020 And, you know, we're to be this roaring lion of scripture in the world to proclaim.

00:10:08.480 We have been given a commission to speak and to say things and to represent Christ, to be ambassadors of Christ.

00:10:17.300 But instead, instead of being that roaring lion, we've actually opted to become the sleeping giant.

00:10:23.460 And I think that we've come, especially here in the West, to prefer comfort and popularity and pleasure over furthering the gospel in the culture.

00:10:33.800 Vance Havener once said, popularity has slain more prophets of God than persecution ever did.

00:10:40.660 That's a bold statement right there.

00:10:43.020 that we desire sometimes to be popular, and that is actually the thing that's killing us

00:10:48.120 over persecution itself. We just want to be liked and loved by people, and it prevents us from

00:10:55.620 speaking the truth. And I think that's really true of our generation currently. And it's time

00:11:01.700 to wake up. It's time to wake up. We have a really unique moment here with the coronavirus really

00:11:06.940 shaking up the culture and giving us an opportunity of fertile ground for the gospel to plant the

00:11:13.400 seeds of the gospel we know that we are nothing as it says in first corinthians that paul is

00:11:18.960 nothing apollos is nothing we're just people who are planting seeds and watering it but it's god

00:11:23.580 who brings the increase and um so we got to focus it's not about politics we should be focused on

00:11:29.980 it's not about church stuff it's not about uh personal platform it's not about money it's about

00:11:36.420 moving the gospel forward. Now, the church has a role in that. It's the core mission of the church,

00:11:42.860 but our focus in this episode is about moving the gospel forward and speaking that raw truth. So

00:11:48.520 before we get started, I'm going to ask Veronica a couple questions, but I want to share

00:11:52.600 a quick story. I put a little note here in my notes about this story. We heard from some friends

00:11:58.540 who do missionary work in the Middle East, and they told us about a friend who, a couple who

00:12:05.580 came from Iran to escape physical persecution. And the physical persecution over there is

00:12:10.460 intense. If you've seen some documentaries about it, the women are raped regularly for

00:12:16.400 following Christ, and their response to rape is just amazing in the way that they've processed

00:12:23.280 this scripturally, in the way that they've basically given their body to the Lord. It's

00:12:28.160 Just amazing, deep, detailed stuff.

00:12:32.200 But, you know, this couple decided, hey, let's flee Iran and come to America.

00:12:38.820 And they came actually here to the Pacific Northwest.

00:12:40.640 We're here in Bend, Oregon.

00:12:41.960 They came up to the Portland area.

00:12:44.120 And after being here for several months, they made a decision that they were going to return back to Iran.

00:12:50.960 And they made that decision because they realized that the sleepiness, the spiritual sleepiness and the complacency, the spiritual complacency was actually more seductive and dangerous to their spiritual health than the physical persecution of Iran.

00:13:09.300 And so they were so concerned about the spiritual laziness that we have here in the West that they thought this is more dangerous than just going and being around the intense physical persecution of the Middle East.

00:13:23.720 So just let that sink in for a second, and then we're going to talk about these ideas of speaking truth.

00:13:30.740 So we're going to talk to Veronica and ask her a question that was written to us on Instagram,

00:13:36.360 and then we're going to go to a question that was written to me on Instagram.

00:13:40.420 All right, Veronica, she says,

00:13:43.400 I don't know you very well, but I have a sense that you're an introvert like me.

00:13:48.520 How have you been able to handle being married to a man who speaks biblical truth

00:13:52.680 and gets a lot of online attack because of it?

00:13:56.220 My husband is bold too, but every time he speaks up,

00:14:00.100 people push back and it's hard for me to watch.

00:14:02.720 Do you have any wisdom on this?

00:14:04.160 you have no idea this has never been i've never struggled with this i don't know what she's

00:14:10.000 talking about sorry this is like a perfect question for veronica the perfect question

00:14:16.020 oh no we'll see okay well um i read this question earlier and so i'm gonna i took some notes and so

00:14:22.600 i'm gonna be looking at those um i think it's important to remember uh that we live in a

00:14:29.420 culture who loves to complain. People love to complain. They love to grumble. They love to

00:14:34.480 nitpick. Um, and it doesn't matter what the subject matter may be. You could be talking

00:14:38.920 about ice cream and people would find something to complain about their ice cream. Um, we all

00:14:45.660 want our husbands to be appreciated rather than be criticized. Um, and Dale, my lovely husband

00:14:53.160 here is for sure the most criticized person that I know personally at least I know there's people

00:15:00.040 that are criticized more than you but personally that I know in person you are the most criticized

00:15:04.520 person that I know um and I have to admit I did not always handle this very well that's why Dale

00:15:11.880 makes a joke you know nothing about this I did not always handle this very well there have been

00:15:16.480 several occasions in the past, um, where I would get frustrated with Dale or emotional and upset

00:15:24.020 about him speaking such bold truth, um, because it offended so many people. Um, even when I actually

00:15:31.820 agreed with what he said, um, because it aligned with scripture biblically, um, I would just get

00:15:39.760 really insecure because it would make so many people mad. And even some people that we knew

00:15:44.120 personally would, you know, have their feathers ruffled by it. Um, but I recognized over the

00:15:50.000 years that what I was really struggling with, what I was actually dealing with was people

00:15:55.900 pleasing. Um, because I, I wanted there to be peace and I wanted people to like us. Um, but

00:16:02.620 as Christians, the only one we should be seeking to please is God is the Lord. Um, in Matthew 10,

00:16:11.560 34 verse 10 verse 34 through 39 Jesus says do not think that I came to bring peace on earth

00:16:19.320 I did not come to bring peace but a sword for I have come to set a man against his father a

00:16:24.300 daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's enemies

00:16:29.360 will be those of his own household he who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy

00:16:36.100 of me and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and he who does not take

00:16:42.780 up his cross and follow me follow after me is not worthy of me he who finds his life will lose it

00:16:49.640 and he who loses his life for my sake will find it um persecution is the evidence that there

00:16:57.720 is uh two opposing kingdoms here um jesus didn't come to bring peace in these two kingdoms

00:17:04.540 but to make a divide crystal clear yeah um and that's exactly what's evident in these moments

00:17:13.060 right is this just this big divide that's happening yeah so for me you know when dale

00:17:18.340 posts something controversial or some bold biblical truth that is hard for a lot of people to

00:17:25.660 accept i shouldn't necessarily be surprised uh when my husband exercises his gift and there

00:17:33.460 is pushback um why else would it require boldness um i know that dale is walking in the spirit

00:17:41.820 i know that he is seeking the lord i know he isn't being careless and just spitting out random

00:17:48.120 thoughts on on the internet on social media several of the the things that you have posted

00:17:52.840 you have sought counsel on you've sat on them you've thought about them you've prayed about

00:17:56.760 them i know you're in the word every day so i know it's not just something that you're just

00:18:00.140 doing carelessly. Um, so I had to learn that, uh, when my husband is being attacked online

00:18:08.680 or having to walk through maybe a challenging conversation with, um, a personal relationship,

00:18:15.540 the last thing that he needs is more criticism from me, whether it makes me uncomfortable or

00:18:22.300 not. And trust me, I've been guilty of that, of criticizing him as well. Um, but again,

00:18:26.640 this is just something I have learned over the years. That's the last thing that you need.

00:18:30.140 Um, in those moments, I actually need to stand by your side and stand closer to you more than

00:18:38.880 ever. Um, and when attack comes, instead of getting all squirmy and uncomfortable about it,

00:18:45.820 I get to say, good job, babe. I'm really proud of you. Like that, that takes boldness and you

00:18:52.340 stood firm, like good for you. You know, I want to encourage my husband and, and praise him in

00:18:58.000 those difficult moments um because i'm sure i mean for you it's not always easy to be on the

00:19:04.060 receiving end of all that criticism even though dale does have incredibly thick skin god created

00:19:09.280 you that way um and if you are married to a bold um truth speaker i just want to say praise god

00:19:17.680 um you're married to somebody that has a backbone who the lord can use in some incredible and really

00:19:25.060 mighty amazing ways um we as wives should want our husbands to preach the word boldly especially

00:19:34.000 in today's day and age in this time that we're living in um and if you're struggling with it

00:19:39.160 i actually want to challenge you to be on guard and fight that temptation to get your husband to

00:19:46.660 tone it down because that is a people-pleasing spirit right there it can be controlling too

00:19:54.360 And yeah, it can totally be manipulative and things like that.

00:19:58.540 Proverbs 28.1 says the righteous are bold as as a lion and God created Dale this way.

00:20:07.340 I may not have the thick skin, but like I said, you do.

00:20:11.140 And I praise God for that.

00:20:13.120 And it wasn't an easy journey by any means.

00:20:17.080 But yeah, I've just kind of had to grow through that.

00:20:22.400 And I've had to grow through it, too. 0.94

00:20:24.360 um you know and the lord has taught me a bunch in this time and and also um i've said stupid

00:20:31.780 things before um i've gotten better we all have yeah i've gotten better um over the years of being

00:20:38.260 very very very careful um and as the heat turns up you get more careful in terms of uh you go well

00:20:46.500 what i'm going to write here in this modern you know socio-political crazy media driven world is

00:20:54.860 that this could be on cnn in 30 minutes um and you got to be very careful on what you say and um

00:21:01.860 and that i i've learned that lesson i i've also yeah learned to spend more time in prayer and

00:21:06.120 actually to have veronica often review or listen to my message before i post it or have somebody

00:21:12.300 look at it. Have somebody from my theological advisory board take a peek at it before I post it.

00:21:19.200 I've created new rules for how I determine if I should speak on something or write something

00:21:26.080 online that are biblical but also wise and protecting of the war we're fighting. I don't

00:21:36.920 want to lose a battle a tiny battle and and you know prevent my my fight in the war I want to go

00:21:43.600 for the war and not get stuck in the little battles so there's lots going on here one thing

00:21:48.200 I want to point out that Veronica mentioned here if you're a wife and you have a husband that's

00:21:55.300 being bold and I would even say on the other side if you have a if you're a husband and your wife

00:22:01.000 might have a gifting of boldness too I think you could both work both ways be supportive of that

00:22:06.020 as long as it's happening in the spirit, in wisdom, and in counsel, for sure.

00:22:13.120 And you can actually, as a wife, to encourage that boldness,

00:22:17.300 because, yeah, it's much better to be married to a man who's going to be bold

00:22:20.640 than it is to be married to a man who's going to be afraid.

00:22:24.040 And so if you want to encourage that, you can actually encourage that

00:22:28.080 through positive reactions to that.

00:22:31.660 And the way you give a positive reaction to something like that

00:22:33.820 is just trusting the lord that he'll take care of you in that matter um so thank you i felt honored

00:22:39.800 in that statement that you made i um um it's been a work in us for sure we've definitely had great

00:22:46.520 conversations about it for many years yeah there's been several moments where you're wanting to post

00:22:54.240 something and you'll have me read it and i'm like i hear what you're saying totally agree i would

00:22:59.240 just rearrange some of these words or not use that people are gonna take it this way yeah um

00:23:04.220 regardless you know if it's Todd's word there's gonna be somebody that's offended yeah you can't 0.84

00:23:09.100 yeah you can't create an unoffendable Christian post that's not possible um okay second question

00:23:15.600 was given to me and I'm gonna answer that and just kind of give my perspective it says Dale

00:23:20.140 I have a small following online but I still want to use my social media profiles to honor God share

00:23:27.200 scripture and talk about important biblical matters. That said, every time I publish something

00:23:32.380 biblical or convicting, I get nasty comments and mean messages. This has made me hesitant to post

00:23:38.220 more. How can I overcome my fear of these people? Well, guys, if you see me post things, I dive

00:23:44.940 straight into the comments and I am managing, you know, lots of comments. And I try to be

00:23:51.420 very balanced and give an honoring response to people with scripture. But yes, you are going to

00:24:01.680 get nasty comments from people because the gospel and the truth is offensive. And I want to talk

00:24:06.880 about this for a second. Matthew 5, 44 says, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those

00:24:14.240 who persecute you. So this is one thing I want to kind of set as a foundation. I actually have a

00:24:19.240 handful of people who regularly persecute me. Um, and I know their names and they're after me

00:24:27.440 in a variety of ways. And I do pray for them regularly. Um, I try to be cordial with these

00:24:33.960 people if they reach out to me in some way. Um, and I'm not saying this to boast. I'm saying this

00:24:39.120 because this is what scripture calls us to do. It should be normal Christian life. If people

00:24:43.900 persecute you and people get mad at you and people get offended, um, pray that the Lord

00:24:49.700 changes their hearts. Pray that there can be peace in the midst of the calamity. Pray that

00:24:54.540 there can be unity, even if you don't have uniformity. Um, and meaning that you can find

00:25:00.320 that unity without uniformity. And sometimes you can't, sometimes you're just going to have to be

00:25:04.140 bold and people are going to be upset. And that's just what it is because, uh, John, um, uh, oh,

00:25:12.680 I'll talk about this, this verse in a second, but Jesus says, if they persecuted me, they're

00:25:16.160 going to persecute you.

00:25:17.940 We shouldn't expect to have a lesser reaction than our Lord did.

00:25:26.440 If we're going to be representing Christ and speaking his words, we shouldn't expect to

00:25:30.540 get a more tempered reaction from the culture.

00:25:36.400 We should expect to get more, if anything, because he is not worthy of it.

00:25:43.460 He was the greatest and the most pure, sinless human being on the planet, and he still got killed.

00:25:49.600 And this is something we need to remember.

00:25:51.440 So I'm going to talk about why this happens.

00:25:53.560 People ask me all the time, why are people so mean?

00:25:57.580 Like, why are people so intense?

00:25:59.320 Why are people so offended?

00:26:00.200 Why are people so angry?

00:26:01.500 Why do people lash back?

00:26:02.700 Why do people not hear the truth?

00:26:04.480 And there's one answer for this, and it's in John 3, 18 through 21.

00:26:09.620 I actually just preached on this yesterday at church.

00:26:13.160 And it says, John 3, 18 through 21,

00:26:16.980 He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already.

00:26:22.160 Now, why? This gives us the answer of why these people who don't believe are condemned.

00:26:29.360 It says, because they've not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

00:26:32.640 Verse 19 is important, this next verse.

00:26:35.260 And this is the condemnation.

00:26:36.780 He tells us why people don't believe, why people don't like the truth,

00:26:42.900 why people won't listen to the Christian message.

00:26:46.140 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world,

00:26:50.220 and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

00:26:55.980 Verse 20, for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light,

00:27:01.660 lest his deeds should be exposed but he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may

00:27:08.660 be clearly seen that they have been done in god okay so we know in john chapter one that jesus

00:27:14.700 is the light he's the light he's the life he's the word in in flesh he's the word made flesh

00:27:20.580 but he's all like he's the light he's the source of all light in the world um and there's one

00:27:28.660 reason why people don't believe in Christ. And there's one reason that people don't want to

00:27:33.060 accept the Christian message or like the truth of the gospel or like the truth of the scriptures. 0.96

00:27:36.920 They love their sin. They hate the light because it exposes their precious darkness. And when it 0.99

00:27:44.540 exposes their precious darkness, they get angry and they, they lash back. John MacArthur used an

00:27:50.380 example about when you shine the light, they're like picking up a rock and the bugs that are

00:27:55.060 under. They're scattered to go look for more darkness. There's just a hatred of the light.

00:28:02.020 And this is why the world hates the truth. This is why the world hates the church. This is why

00:28:07.680 the world hates you when you're speaking truth. You're a flashlight. You're shining truth on

00:28:14.580 matters. When you go speak out against abortion, when you go speak out against any politically

00:28:20.000 charged issue with the truth of the gospel. It's a flashlight. It's a light beam. We're a city on

00:28:25.540 a hill, a light without a lampshade on it. When you come around, you're shining light and we're

00:28:32.780 light bearers and it's our very presence is offensive to people who hate the light. They

00:28:39.400 hate the light. Um, and you know, I think about bats, right? That like they have photosensitivity.

00:28:45.560 they hate the light. They shriek literally at the sign of light. I think about nightclubs at

00:28:54.620 1 a.m. on Hollywood, downtown Hollywood. Imagine turning on the light. Imagine turning on the

00:29:01.280 light in the middle of 1 a.m. Everybody's dancing and drunk. What happens there? They're frustrated

00:29:07.680 it at the exposure of their motives in that specific moment. It's not ignorance that people

00:29:16.280 deny Christ. It's not lack of understanding that people deny Christ. The vast majority of the

00:29:21.520 United States and the people here in the West have heard the gospel and denied it. People reject

00:29:26.640 Christ. People reject truth. People get angry and offended by it because men love darkness.

00:29:32.360 They love darkness.

00:29:33.820 In John 7, 7, it says,

00:29:35.040 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

00:29:41.500 Okay, this is Jesus came to testify that the works are evil.

00:29:45.940 And they don't hate you.

00:29:47.900 They hate Christ in you.

00:29:49.500 Paul says, it's not me who lives, but Christ in me.

00:29:52.720 And so when you are an ambassador for Christ and you're a representative of the light,

00:29:57.020 people hate the light.

00:29:58.460 They hate the light.

00:29:59.060 And that's why they're offended.

00:30:00.260 That's why they're going to write those mean comments.

00:30:02.160 That's why they're going to get angry.

00:30:03.540 That's why they're going to push back.

00:30:05.080 That's part of it.

00:30:06.240 And so just, it's not about convincing somebody.

00:30:09.760 It's about presenting the gospel and may the Lord open their eyes who are blind

00:30:15.340 and they open up their ears who are deaf and may the Lord change the heart.

00:30:19.740 And this is why prayer is the first opportunity, the first chance you go,

00:30:23.860 hey, this person's persecuting me.

00:30:25.680 sure you want to defend yourself with scripture with truth you want to do so with meekness and

00:30:32.020 respect you want to present the truth in love but at the same time you can't change hearts

00:30:36.940 you can't change you can maybe change minds intellectually in a logical conversation but

00:30:43.100 the only one that can change the heart is the lord and that's an important perspective to keep

00:30:47.280 while you're doing this um verse 21 it says but he who does the truth comes to the light

00:30:53.080 that his deeds may be clearly seen

00:30:56.500 that they have been done in God.

00:30:58.540 So people who believe love the light.

00:31:02.480 If you're a Christian,

00:31:03.620 the reason you're posting these really great truths

00:31:06.240 and quotes and scriptures

00:31:07.520 and positions on these biblical matters

00:31:10.240 and a culture that's against it

00:31:11.540 is because you love the light.

00:31:13.220 You want to shine light

00:31:14.680 on these matters of darkness and of truth.

00:31:17.920 And that's, you're a light worker.

00:31:19.920 You like the light.

00:31:21.020 and you know this is the reason that you listen to this podcast is because we turn the light on

00:31:28.980 very bright on this podcast you like the light you're a believer you love the light you love

00:31:34.920 being around other people and other ideas that shine the light and in fact I would say if you're

00:31:39.900 a Christian and you're a born-again believer that you prefer the light you actually want more light

00:31:45.720 in your life. You want more things to be exposed because you know the dangers of sin and you don't

00:31:51.480 want to have any dark spots in your life. You're ready to hear the truth. And because of that,

00:31:56.740 that's why you share the truth. That's why you push the truth out that way. And the whole reason

00:32:02.580 is why? Because the safest place to be is in the light. And that's why we speak truth. But we are

00:32:10.080 in a spiritual war, and there are people out there who don't like the light. They don't. They hate

00:32:18.200 the light. They love darkness. That's the reason that they get angry. Now, sometimes it is an

00:32:24.020 intellectual discussion, and you need to be willing to have that. You need to be prepared

00:32:27.240 to have that. 1 Peter 3, verse 15, always be prepared to give an answer or to give a defense

00:32:34.560 for the hope that's the gospel that's in you

00:32:38.020 and do so with meekness and in fear.

00:32:40.140 Be prepared to have an intellectual response

00:32:43.020 as well as a spiritual response.

00:32:44.620 And this is why we need to have more people in the church

00:32:47.780 reading their Bible on a regular basis

00:32:49.500 so that they can actually talk about it biblically

00:32:51.980 and then also have their intellect strengthened

00:32:55.360 so that they can defend it logically.

00:32:58.160 But at the end of the day,

00:32:59.700 the one that's going to do the heart work is the Lord

00:33:02.020 And we need to embrace that reality and pray that God would do that work in our enemies, in our persecutors, and in the haters that are on the Internet.

00:33:10.640 And so you can be prepared as you want to be, my friend who's asking this question.

00:33:15.840 You can write the perfect message that cannot be misinterpreted.

00:33:20.060 And at the end of the day, people are still going to be angry because they hate the light.

00:33:24.360 And you're probably posting things that are very right, if that's a thing to say.

00:33:32.020 All right. Well, that was that was good. Hopefully that was helpful for you guys.

00:33:35.580 And hopefully you're encouraged to have more conversations about this.

00:33:41.480 And I'm not saying that you all need to become like me.

00:33:44.600 You know, I have a calling that the Lord has put on me to preach and to be in full time ministry.

00:33:50.780 But yeah, there are often times where like something you'll post something or preach on something or some type of situation comes up.

00:34:00.100 and i'll just like look at you and laugh and i'm like like i don't know anyone like you

00:34:05.060 i don't know anybody else that can handle this like you can it's incredible there's a few people 0.50

00:34:10.980 out there no i mean yeah there's a few people but we like we like uh ali stucky she's out there

00:34:17.240 speaking some pretty raw truth out there she's a wacko no i'm just kidding that's the way you said

00:34:21.820 it she's out there she's out there yeah we like ali and um and then uh the benham brothers are

00:34:27.820 out there speaking and standing up for bold truth. Um, there's a handful of others, you know,

00:34:32.840 some of the great preachers, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, John Piper, these guys out there that

00:34:36.880 are preaching a strong truth. Um, Robbie Zacharias is a great resource for exercising logic and

00:34:43.000 intellect and, and being able to prepare yourself to defend a position. Um, so yeah, the Lord has

00:34:48.820 got many people that are willing to stand and many people that don't have huge platforms that

00:34:52.520 being bold and so we hope this is encouraging for you guys again those links that i talked about in

00:34:58.580 the beginning of the episode was relearnchurch.org forward slash house if you want to learn more

00:35:04.340 about creating a biblical house church experience we also created our house church planting school

00:35:10.220 st justin's st justin's st justin's.org and then if you're struggling with pornography and you

00:35:17.000 really are ready to be free from that and walk in repentance of that go to

00:35:22.240 stand in victory org all right I think that's it until next week we'll see you

00:35:29.240 guys then take care

Dale Partridge - April 22, 2020

Real Christianity #94： How To Deal with Online Haters, Persecutors, and Enemies

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