Stage In The Sky

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – 1 John 2:15 

“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” – John 15:19 

Yesterday (Tuesday Oct 10, 2023), a 60-year-old co-worker I’ve known for years…she’s someone I enjoy teasing and is almost like a mother figure to me. She said, “Rock, you’re so contradicting. You’re supposed to be this Christian, but it seems like you really don’t like people.” 

She said this upon hearing how I am in my boxing class. I pick the heavy bag that’s away from everyone else with my back turned to others so it’s easier for me to focus and not worry about what everyone else is doing. She also knows that I don’t like crowds or social events where all you do is just socialize.  

I explained, “I love and care about people as Christ tells us, but…it’s not that I hate people. It’s just disappointing. It’d be like if my brother was a thief who robs and steals. I still love my brother, but I’d be disappointed with him. It’d probably bother me if I hung out with him and all he did was brag about his things…things I know he bought with stolen money.” 

“You’re supposed to be a Christian, but you don’t like people.” I think the reason why it bugged me so much is ironic. Because yesterday my heart was bleeding for the loved ones dealing with the massacres in Israel.  

I don’t have any close Jewish friends. I don’t know anyone from Israel. But when I heard that children were killed. When I heard that men and women, innocent civilians were gunned down, some were raped, stripped naked, and spat upon in the back of trucks…my anger blazed.  

No lie, that very morning, the morning before I went to work where my co-worker criticized me…I wept. I saw the above BBC video where a husband recognized one of the bodies raped and killed by the Palestinians. I felt his pain. And I cried for him.  

Is that not love? Love for humanity. Love for my fellow neighbor. 

I think there’s a flaw in the perception of what people think a Christian should look like. I think people assume that if you love people, you’re happy with them. Picture all the football games, the tailgates, the music festivals, and good times at the sports bar. 

There, you’ll find a lot of people who simply enjoy the company of other people. You see them laughing, smiling, and drinking it up. That must mean they all love each other, right? And if they love each other, then that’s what being a Christian is all about. Right? 

I think everyone’s different. I’m not going to shade true Christians who are simply blessed with that kind of life. But there are men like me…who endure a different kind of life. 

Part of the problem is that there are WAY too many people who CLAIM to be Christians, but their Christian in name only. They don’t put God first. They haven’t read the entire Bible. And it’s easy for others to simply take them at their word. 

Allow me to call your attention to this video. It’s an edited snippet of this much longer video. Here we have a beautiful 29-year-old influencer giving a Q&A session about love and relationships. She says early on, “Oh I want to have fun while I can and have two or children later.” In this video, she’s asked “Do you incorporate God in your life?” Her answer will surprise you.  

When I saw that video, it hurt my heart. Talk is cheap. She claims she wants a God-fearing man but does she really? I’m a God-fearing man. And I’m willing to bet if she met me, she wouldn’t like me. Why?  

Well for starters, I believe in waiting till marriage to have sex and I don’t engage in the hook-up culture. And when I get married, I plan on leading as the head of my household as God commands. This means finding a woman who’s willing to submit to my leadership. I desire my wife to be to be self-controlled and kind. All of these things are in accordance to God’s word the Bible (check the links). 

If I ask her to stop posting half naked pictures of herself online, will she submit? 

“Hey! She was posting pictures of herself before she met you!” 

Hey! I used to talk and flirt with other women before I met you! (This is all hypothetical. Let’s move on) 

The problem I have with her SAYING that she wants a God-fearing man while living a worldly lifestyle and likely rejecting men who are Godfearing is that it hurts us. She’s an “influencer”. A lot of Women have a herd mentality. Ladies will see her example and follow suit, the same way they followed Beyonce and Cardi B. 

If she claims she wants a God-fearing man, and then goes after a rich entertainer/athlete who prioritizes money, fame, and status over God…what message do you think that sends to the plethora of other young women. It’ll likely encourage them to do the same while making true Christians seem like we’re weird, lame, and boring. 

Because the truth is, WE ARE LAME AND BORING in the eyes of the world. We enjoy modest lifestyles, the simple pleasures of life and the blessings God provides. We don’t cave into the world and jump on bandwagons, trends, or go through 304 phases. We resist temptation and work hard to get what we want, which is the fruit of our labor as Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes.  

This isn’t always exciting, especially if you’ve been bewitched by the world and social media to think relationships and love should be an emotional drama filled rollercoaster of jealousy, heat, animosity, strife and struggle.  

And it’s people like her, any Christian who indulges in that lifestyle while flaunting that God is number one, that’s corrupting many others who simply don’t know any better.  

Back in 2020, my late elderly cousin read my essay on “Christian Women” and she said “I need to do a Pharisee Check.” She was accusing me of policing other Christians because I encouraged them to actually live according to Bible standards. Don’t just say it. Live it! And she got mad at me. 

And the crazy thing is…most of the Christians who criticized me for shining a light on what the Bible actually says…I noticed the thing they all had in common was that they gave into the temptations that led to their major mistakes. Everything that I warn young people to avoid in these essays, they did. 

They had sex before marriage. They went through multiple divorces. They had children outside of wedlock. They lived that street lifestyle. And instead of commending me (or God for blessing me) for the strength and discipline to resist and defy the world, they wanted to silence me…as if to say, “You ain’t nothin special. You just as bad as the rest of us.”  

It’s all good though. For every Christian I had to deal with like them, I’ve also had plenty of encouragement. A nearly 80-year-old man named Brother Moses comes to mind. He’s known me since I was eleven. Was married to one woman for over sixty years and dedicated his life to serving God and preaching the Gospels. I sat down with him last year for a lengthy conversation and he completely understood.  

I told him, almost tearfully, “I hate this world.”  

And he smiled a gentle smile and said, “I know. I hate it too.”  

And that’s the truth. I think life, especially human life, is the most precious thing on earth. I hate that so many of us are going to die because of Satan and his wicked influence. Thus, I hate that so many have given into his wicked influence. I hate that so many don’t understand that. And I hate that the wicked have the biggest platforms to corrupt the greatest numbers. 

I read the Bible every night because it gives me the strength to endure. It’s like my alone time with my Heavenly father where he reminds me that we’re not alone. That, and our predecessors had it ten times worse.  

Yesterday, when my co-worker said “You’re so contradictory. You said you’re a Christian but you seem to not like people.”  

Soon after, I thought about the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. I wondered what my co-worker would say if she met those two, or Paul, or Peter or John after he just saw the vision of Revelations? Jeremiah, in particular, was known as the “Weeping Prophet.” He lived in devastating times just before the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BC.   

I can’t help but compare myself to the Prophets of old because I see a strong parallel between what’s happening in America and what happened not just during the fall of Jerusalem, but also the collapse of Rome.

We’ve been suckered into thinking Diversity and Inclusion is our greatest weapon. It’s not. NEVER HAS BEEN. Our greatest weapon was our values, our faith and morality in trusting in God.  

In Isaiah’s time, he saw king after king fall to the hands of outsiders and it was God’s doing. The Assyrians thought it was due to their own might, wisdom, and prowess but it wasn’t. It was God using them to discipline and chastise his people for their idolatry and debauchery, where even the widows and fatherless were corrupted. 

During Jeremiah’s time, he pleaded for the people to repent. One of the most powerful scriptures was in Jeremiah 6 13-15 where he rebuked the Priests and false prophets who tried the keep the people complacent. They’d tell the people that there was peace, when there wasn’t. God was angry at the people.  

Jeremiah was the weeping prophet because he knew the death and destruction that awaited those who refused to obey. My own heart bleeds the same way. I work with a lot of nice, good-natured, amazing people who don’t know God and don’t care to know him. I know what’s going to happen to them if they don’t repent. I love them. I cherish them. 

But because they have free will and choose not to pay God any mind, because they choose to live the way of the world…I have to leave them alone. Not just because it makes me sad and I have to suppress my disappointment. But because very often through peer pressure, they inadvertently attack my faith, daring to make me the fool for believing in that which I have not seen. (John 20:29) 

I may not be able to preach the Gospels as much as I’d like at work. But at the very least, I will turn away from the PRIDE they put on display. You will never see me applaud my peers for getting laid over the weekend. You’ll never hear me say, “Ah, that’s good,” when I hear that they aren’t married, yet they live with their boyfriend or girlfriends. You’ll never see me smile when a mother tells me her child is gender fluid. 

Notice that last part. God warns us to “avoid” such people.  

“But Rock! You boast! You’re always bragging about your team or how you’re the best at your job.” 

Those are called jokes! I like to tease. That’s part of my charm. I like to stir up the competitive spirit in my peers to bring out the best in them. Even in my family. I literally inspired my brothers to do at least 90 push-ups a day by poking them with “Y’all can do it too. I mean…it’s not like I’m the strongest brother or anything.” Followed by the Smirk. 

And just like that, we’re all doing it. At least 300 push-ups a week. Boom 

I think the one who said I don’t like people…I think she’s like a majority of Americans who were raised in “Christian” families that go to church on Sundays. A lot of them have read bits and pieces of the Bible.  

They have a firm grasp on the main message of repentance, forgiveness, and Jesus being the son of God who died for our sins…but they don’t live by Bible principles. They don’t see anything wrong with things like sex outside of marriage, getting drunk, pursuing money and pleasure, or divorcing someone simply because you’re no longer happy. 

You’ll hear a lot of modern Christians say, “I believe everyone should do whatever they want if it makes them happy.”  

You’ll hear a lot of them say, “It’s none of my business what they do. As long as they don’t shove it down my throat.” 

You’ll even hear them say, “There’s a time and place for religion. There’s no place for religion in politics, education, or entertainment.” 

At Matthew Chapter 22:36-40, Jesus Christ said that this is the greatest commandment. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

Ladies and gentlemen…all your heart. All your soul. ALL your mind. ALL. Never will you hear me say there’s no place for God in ____. He’s everywhere. He affects my every decision. When it comes to major purchases, visiting family members, promotions, taking on new clients, asking a woman out, I pray for his guidance. I lean upon him for strength and endurance.  

And if I claim to love God…how can I approve, celebrate, and condone things that he hates, calls an abomination and has made clear that he will not allow in the Kingdom of Heaven?  

You have to choose. You can’t be a friend of the world and a friend of God. Too many people think they can, but that’s like holding on to two ships that are drifting apart. You’re either going to fall to your destruction, rip yourself apart, latch on to the ship that’s going to sink, or by the grace of God, cling to God’s ship and let go of everything else. Trust me, I’ve been there. 

And because I see too many people jumping that sinking ship, it disappoints me to hang around them. I don’t want to watch their award shows. I don’t care to listen to their music. And please, spare me their hypocritical grandstanding on what’s morally good or bad.  

Lastly, I’ll leave you with the example of King Josiah. Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh, one of the most wicked kings you’d ever read about. Manasseh led the nation into worshiping false idols and sinful practices. It was King Manasseh that had the prophet Isaiah killed by sawing him in half. The people were so bad that God literally said, at 2 Kings 21:13 “I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a dish”.  

So when King Josiah was king, 18 years into his reign when he was 26-years-old, one of his priests found a scroll, the Book of God’s laws that was apparently tucked away and disregarded for so long. When King Josiah heard the words of the Law, he tore at his clothes in grief and anguish.  

He learned the truth. There was no peace. God may love everyone, but his blessings come with conditions. Those who rebel, those who disregard, ignore, defy, reject, and couldn’t care less what God thinks about you and how you live your life…those people are in danger. King Josiah understood this!  

Josiah said to his priests (2 Kings 22:13), “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” 

The Prophet Huldah answered, starting in verse 16, “‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’  

“18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.  

“20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.” 

Ladies and gentlemen…I try to be the light that Christ talks about. I smile and I try treat everyone with love and kindness, whether I like you or not. But I know the truth. A lot of people are going to be destroyed. If I didn’t love them, I wouldn’t be disappointed.  

And NO! I don’t walk around looking disappointed. Most people describe me as gregarious and a joy to be around. But I will confess…I have a time limit on how long I can tolerate an insufferable personality before I start to get a bit cranky and my honest thoughts start to burst forth…like a crack in the dike.