In the 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ," director Mel Gibson presents a curious scene: the devil—intentionally played by a woman (Italian actress Rosalinda Celentano) to have an androgynous appearance—carries in his arms a bizarre-looking baby (played by a dwarf actor, also Italian, Davide Marotta), who looks at Christ with an ironic and mocking air, amidst the scene of his flagellation.
The scene was initially misunderstood by the audience, so the director himself later explained that the intention was to show Satan's attempt to make Jesus rebel against the Father, demonstrating that even the devil cared for his "son," while God was allowing his own, completely innocent and without any sin, to be cruelly tortured and humiliated, leading him to a horribly painful and dishonorable death, like that of a criminal.
This scene demonstrates the truth of a question posed by the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon:
“Do you expect to be honored in a world where your Lord was crucified?”
In fact, the devil and his supposed "son" in the film were not subjected to the horror that Jesus was.
And in the world in which humanity finds itself, even if he were to incarnate or send a representative (in this case, the Antichrist), they would not be treated as Jesus was.
Similarly, as Spurgeon shows, it is absurd for a Christian to expect to receive honor, glory, and prestige in a world that treated the Lord Jesus Christ himself as an outcast, condemning him to the worst punishments and the worst execution available in his time.
Jesus himself made it very clear that those who followed him would be hated by everyone (according to Matthew 10:22) and that, in the world, Christians would experience afflictions (see John 16:33Therefore, when we see people who identify as Christians being loved, respected, and praised by the world, that is, at the very least, a very bad sign.
RECOGNITION
The Multishow channel has launched a new award category to choose the best Gospel hit of the year.
The winner was Kleber Lucas, along with the self-proclaimed atheist Caetano Veloso, for the song "Deus Cuida de Mim" (God Takes Care of Me).
However, the main point to highlight is not the award itself, but the fact that people like Kleber himself — who has never hidden his sympathy for Candomblé, even going so far as to perform in terreiros (Candomblé temples) and finance the restoration of one — as well as others like Priscilla "ex-Alcântara," who abandoned Gospel music and now defends progressive causes, and Leonardo Gonçalves, who presented the award (he had to end his career as a Gospel singer due to an incurable problem with his vocal cords, but even before that he defended leftist ideologies, totally incompatible with Christianity), are gaining more and more space in the secular media.
Invariably, people like these—as well as many others who have the same attitudes—make a point of showing everyone how many friends they have and how much they are loved, cherished, well-treated, admired, and prestigious; demonstrating great joy in meeting with them, even though, when they do so, they act as if there were nothing Christian in their lives (and one wonders if there really is), behaving like any other people in the world.
Kleber Lucas has already released several videos of the parties he attended, always dancing samba and with a drink in hand.
Priscilla has already appeared on Fátima Bernardes' show consulting a tarot reader and, on the day of the Multishow awards, when questioned about the radical change in her appearance, she said that "I'm a Gemini, I'm not afraid of change.".
Leonardo Gonçalves, along with Kleber Lucas, appeared at Lula's inauguration as President of the Republic, seemingly ignoring or even not caring about the blatantly anti-Christian ideology he defends.
In short, there is no shortage of examples of people in the Gospel community who say one thing and do another.
What should come to mind for Christians in moments like these is the scene from Mel Gibson's film: the world did not crucify or defame the devil or his "son," but rather crucified Jesus.
And here's a question: what kind of "Christian" is honored by the world that crucified its Lord?
The answer appears in Paul's epistle to the Galatians:
I am shocked that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all.
(Galatians 1:6-10 – KJA)
What is happening is that some people are confusing you, with the aim of corrupting the Gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed!
As I have already revealed to you before, I declare once again: whoever preaches to you a gospel different from the one you received, let him be accursed!
Am I now trying to win the praise of human beings, or the approval of God?
Or am I just trying to be agreeable to people?
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ!
It is interesting to note that Paul emphasizes that there is no "other gospel," but rather, perversions, that is, distortions of the true gospel that he and the other apostles preached... and anyone who did this was declared anathema, that is, cursed, condemned to hell!
The “gospel” that accepts things like leftist ideologies, astrology, syncretism, and the like, may be many things, but it is not the Gospel with a capital G, but rather a distortion, something molded according to the convenience and desires of those who believe in it and preach it, therefore being a “gospel” with a lowercase g, which saves no one.
However, it is this "gospel" that attracts the worst that can exist in the life of a person who calls themselves Christian: the acceptance, admiration, and friendship of the world.
LIMITS
It is important to emphasize that there is no prohibition in Scripture against a Christian having friendships with unbelievers or people of other faiths, but if these friendships and acceptance stem from a "Christian" accepting to mold the message of the Gospel in order to win them over, then this self-proclaimed "Christian" is not preaching the Gospel nor is he concerned with pleasing God, as Paul says, but with pleasing men.
Such a person falls exactly into what James says:
Adulterers!
(James 4:4 – KJA)
Or are you not aware that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Anyone who truly preaches the Gospel, who confronts sin, and who cares about living according to what they preach, will never be treated by the world as Kleber Lucas, Priscilla, Leonardo Gonçalves, and so many others were and are treated.
Quite the contrary, he will receive the treatment that Jesus received: rejection, mockery, and, in extreme cases, even imprisonment and death.
However, both the laurels of worldly friendship and the tribulation of Christians for not being friends with it have a very serious limitation, namely, that of time: even though the Multishow award may make Kleber Lucas gain more prestige in the secular world and consequently more money — the same happening with the media space that Priscilla and Leonardo Gonçalves are having — none of this will make the slightest difference in the eternal sense (if they continue to tread this path, they will inevitably lose their souls), just as the tribulation of Jesus and that which Christians may face will not affect their destiny in the afterlife.
Just as Jesus resisted every opportunity he had to prevent his passion and death, not coming down from the cross, but persevering to the end, and therefore, having fulfilled the Father's will and inherited the name that is above every name, to which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the Lord (see Philippians 2:9-11The Christian who perseveres in following him will also be a co-heir of the glory he received, which surpasses even that of the angels (see Hebrews 1:5), regardless of anything—be it his origin or what he may have gone through while he was in the world—because God will consider him a son, a brother of Christ himself (see Romans 8:29) and heir to all that he inherited (see Galatians 3:29).
The warning applies to everyone, again in a phrase by Spurgeon:
“Christians are not in danger when they are being persecuted by the world, but when they are being admired!”.
Any adversity or hostility from the world can never do anything other than kill the body of the Christian (confirm in Luke 12:4…but your soul will be safe in the Lord’s hands (check John 10:27-28) and will receive his body back on the day of resurrection.
Let us all, therefore, be friends of God, even if we displease the world: this is worth infinitely more than any prize, money, or earthly recognition.
In the Bonds of Calvary
ORIGINAL TITLE: FRIENDSHIP AND ADMIRATION FROM THE WORLD
A servant of Satan who openly proclaims himself to be a servant of Satan will never influence as many people as if he were to pretend, at least for a time, to be a servant of the Lord God!
These harbingers of hell have an increasingly clear mission: to create the right conditions for the revelation of the Antichrist… and all this is just another example. indication That the end times are rapidly unfolding, and before the Lord returns like a thief in the night, the prophesied reign of the Antichrist must be consolidated not only in Brazil, but throughout the world!
In the 2023 phase of "The Worst Gospel," I decided to use new formats in the hope of helping to increase the reach of content related to the Scriptures—stories, videos, shorter texts, guest authors…—and this publication, which I took the liberty of revising and illustrating, is part of that project.
Thank you for reading this far.
I still need all the help I can get: comments, shares, and reactions help spread this content, which was entirely produced with the intention of contributing to the edification of the Body of Christ in the world.
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