Alienated to God

Today in my exegesis class, the professor (Lawson G. Stone, whose blog is among my links) spoke about how thoroughly Jeremiah was rejected by his audience. Jeremiah’s alienation from his peers resulted in his being “alienated to God.” This thought reminded me of something I heard on the news last night.

Evidently, actor Alec Baldwin (one of my dad’s favorites…NOT!) recently left a scathing phone message for his daughter, and the message was leaked to the press. Reporters were criticizing Baldwin for his rudeness and impropriety. One reporter questioned Baldwin’s brother, Stephen Baldwin, about the affair. Stephen used this opportunity to promote his Christian faith, saying, “I love my brother. I am praying for him and ask others to join me in praying for him.”

Not long ago, I heard Stephen Baldwin referred to as “the [Baldwin brother] who became a religious fanatic.” This was said pejoratively, of course, and it is just one of many occurrences of a growing anti-Christian sentiment in our country. Also this week, by way of example, I stumbled across an advertisement for a satirical claymation cartoon called Moral Orel. Evidently, the show is a cynical and irreverent portrayal of Christianity in America. The user reviews that I read on Amazon wildly praised the show and reveled in a hatred for the Christian nut-jobs they knew. I haven’t seen Moral Orel, but I don’t intend to either.

Apparently, based on the increasing number of bumper stickers I see that attack Christianity in one form or another, this feeling is shared by many. More and more, moral stances and beliefs of Christian believers are not just under attack, but are downright loathed and dismissed as ignorance. But, like Stephen Baldwin, aren’t we called to be known as “religious fanatics” or “Jesus freaks”?

I used to think that it was unwise to “rock the boat.” It was best to blend into society and thus minimize the difference between Christianity and our surrounding culture. After all, we want to portray a positive witness, right? We don’t want people thinking we’re weird, do we?

Matthew 5:11-12 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What if, like Jeremiah, we are called to speak the truth, regardless of the response? What if we have to choose between God or society's acceptance? What if Jesus wants to bless as we overturn the tables of sin, seek truth, shine light in the darkness, etc. … and pay the price for it? The good news is that, although we will be rejected and alienated by men, we will be “alienated to God.”

Not a bad place to be.