Opposition to Mission

Introduction 

It’s not hard to tell when you look at me, that I am a small guy. I’m 5’6 and weigh 165lbs. But in high school I was an even smaller guy. Heading into my freshman year of high school, I was 4’11 and weighed 80lbs.  

One of my biggest concerns going into high school was being picked on because of my size. I was afraid of being prey to predators looking for someone to bully. I knew my size would invite someone to take a chance at feeling better about themselves, but I was afraid of what to do once it happens. I can either fight back or simply let it happen. If I don’t fight back I’ll be seen as a punk and it’ll be an invitation for other kids to take their chance. But if I do fight back, all my dad would hear is I got in trouble in school for fighting.  

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.  

Ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place? 

The truth is being sent on mission by Jesus is no different. We love Jesus and we want to represent him faithfully and proclaim him in the mission field (which is wherever we find ourselves with unbelievers), but we also don’t want the shame it might bring, the rejection, the disdain, the loss of privilege, opportunities, and relationships that it might bring.  

We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 10:16-25, that there is no escaping opposition when they are faithfully on mission. As he sends them out on mission into their local communities in 10:1, he gives them further instruction for the journey and tells them that opposition beyond a simple “no thank you” rejection of the message will be a reality. People will seek to do them harm simply because they represent Jesus.  

While the instructions Jesus gives aren’t directly to us, they nonetheless in a general way apply to us. Not just us today, but Christians from the past and in the future.  

The main takeaway from the message is this: Being on mission (proudly proclaiming Christ and doing works that reflect the proclaimed message) will invite opposition but we must endure with wise character knowing that God is with us. 

Turn to the person closest to you and ask them “are you ready for some trouble?”, “are you ready for the heat?”

Let us pray.  

Expect Opposition – 10:16a 

Jesus continues his set of instructions to his disciples as they depart for the mission field by telling them in 10:16a to expect opposition. It reads “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves.” 

Ponder on that imagery for a second. Sheep in the midst of wolves. Pretty strong imagery. Sheep are prey and wolves are predators. He acknowledges that the disciples are going out to engage in a world where people are not simply going to say “no thank you that’s not for me” but they will actively seek to put them down. They will actively seek to malign their character, they will actively seek to demean them, they will actively seek to destroy them, they will actively seek to oppose them.” These are not people with nice intentions toward them.  

They will have more power, more money, the weight of the institutions behind them, they might be more educated, and they will use all of that against them.  

It feels like a death sentence, doesn’t it?  The truth is this was the reality for the first disciples and for majority of Christians in the first 300 years of Christianity and it is still the reality today for a lot of other Christians including us.  

It’s just that our wolves might not have as sharp of a teeth. We’ve got domesticated wolves. We've got wolves constrained by human rights. But don’t get it twisted, they are still wolves nonetheless.  

The opposition we experience when we faithfully go into the mission field might not look like the ones Jesus promises his disciples but it will be present.  

Jesus does not want his disciples going into the mission field with rose-colored glasses and we shouldn’t as well.  

It’ll be nice for people to like us and respond kindly to us but that might not be the case. And that should not stop us from going into the mission field; that should not stop us from preaching Christ and doing the works of mercy, and compassion, and restoration.  

Sources of Opposition 

Jesus moves from the expectation of opposition to sharing three sources of opposition that they will experience as they go on mission both locally and globally.  

They will experience opposition through the court system, through the political system, and the family system. Aren’t those supposed to be the core systems we go to, to find refuge? Even in our day, the court is where we go to have our rights acknowledged, the political system is how we fight our advocacy, and family is where we feel safe from the outside noise. But when it comes to Jesus, they all would turn against the disciples of Jesus.  

Let’s read 10:17-18 and 21-22. “Beware of them, because they will hand you over to local courts and flog you in their synagogues. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles. 21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of my name” 

The courts will rule against them and hand down unjust punishments, the political rulers will not reject their advocacy and succumb to pressure from the lobbyists, and family members will betray those they are supposed to love.  

This was the experience of the early disciples and early Christians.  

Stephen, a leader in the early church was stoned to death because of Jesus.  

Peter was crucified upside down because of Jesus. 

Paul was beheaded because of Jesus. 

Ignatius, a Bishop of Antioch, was eaten by wild animals in AD 107 because of Jesus.  

Polycarp, a Bishop of Smyrna and disciple of Apostle John, was burned alive in AD 155 because of Jesus.  

The question produced by opposition is what are you willing to lose for the sake of Jesus? Are you willing to lose relationships, are you willing to be unjustly treated, are you willing to be defamed, are you willing to be shamed, are you willing to lose opportunities and privileges? 

The truth is most of us won’t experience opposition where our life is in danger, but our comfort can be. And so, we have to ask ourselves, we willing to sacrifice our comfort for Jesus? The comfort of being liked, the comfort of being thought well off, the comfort of being included, the comfort of climbing up the corporate ladder? 

Because of the nature of my job, I’m always asked during hiring and security process if I have any secondary employment. I gotta be honest, I’m always nervous about telling them I’m also a Pastor. I get nervous because I don’t know what that would mean to those asking, especially when I’m aware of their values. Will they use I against me? Will they make certain assumptions about me that’ll affect how they treat me? 

A few months ago, a colleague unexpectedly came to my desk and saw on my computer screen a YouTube video of my sermon. He asked “yo is that you preaching.” I didn’t know what to say, so I said, “yea I think so.” Again, I wasn’t sure what his response would be to know he has a Pastor for a colleague.  

But friends, Jesus says that opposition will come and trying to prevent it is a losing fight if we plan on being faithful.  

We either have to be faithful on mission or not. And if we’re not, we don’t have to worry about opposition. But when we are faithful, opposition will come.  

Jesus tells his disciples how to respond to opposition.  

Response to Opposition 

That brings us to our third point. Jesus gives his disciples three responses in the face of opposition. He tells them at the end of 10:16, “Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.”  

Be wise, yet don’t be ungodly. The kitchen is already hot, don’t pour gasoline on the stove.  

Opposition will come but don’t let your conduct add fuel to the fire. Be wise in how you go about the mission yet not compromising your character.  

Peter would later write the same thing to Christians experiencing opposition in 1 Peter 4:15 when he said, “Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.” 

I think sometimes what we might call opposition because of the gospel is opposition because we’re being a jerk.  

Theologian Craig Blomberg commented that “Shrewdness and integrity form a crucial combination not often found in the Christian church. In fact, we more often invert the two, proving to be as guilty as serpents and as stupid as doves!” 

That might be a bit harsh but it’s not too far off. We don’t want to be wise and ungodly, we don’t want to be unwise but godly, we don’t want to be unwise and ungodly.  

We want to be wise and godly.  

Wisdom on mission means understanding the culture we’re speaking to, it means knowing how best to communicate with them, understanding the elements and circumstances that might contribute to them giving us favorable attention.  

We must be a church that is on mission in our local community, but we must be wise and godly in how we go about it. Wise means we are open to innovation and exploration, but godly means we don’t defame the name of Christ or blur the line between what’s sacred and what’s common.  

Here’s the second response to opposition – Know that God is with us. Let’s read 10:19-20, “But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you are to speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because it isn’t you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.” 

In the midst of engaging in with wolves, Jesus tells his disciples to set aside anxiety and retain confidence that the Spirit of God is with them.  

We have God in us and with us when the wolves are barking loudly with spit drooling down their mouth. And because God is in us and with us, we have no need to fear the bark. More on that next week. Let’s move on.  

Here’s the third response to opposition: Endure and don’t give up. Let’s read 10:22-23 “But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” 

When I think of endurance and not giving up on the mission field, I think of Prophet Jeremiah. He’s known as the weeping prophet because his ministry was a lot of weeping over Israel. He was assaulted and opposed in many ways. At the same time, his ministry did not bear much fruit when it came to repentance from the people.  

How do you stay on mission while being opposed at every level yet with no wins to celebrate?  

Imagine pushing a car uphill. Fingers getting blisters. Sweat dripping down your eyebrow. Hours have passed. And there is no visible movement with the car.  

Opposition is not fun. Being isolated is not fun. Losing opportunities is not fun. Being shamed and rejected is not fun. But we must endure and not give up. We can’t afford to stop being on mission. We can’t afford to stop representing Christ in wherever we find ourselves with non-followers of Jesus.  

And when we do, we can rest knowing there is a blessing in the experience.   

Blessing in Opposition 

That brings us to our final point blessing in oppostion. The blessing in opposition is simply we get to be like Jesus. 

As a kid, nothing brought me more joy than to do what my dad did. I wanted to be like my dad. A son is filled with joy when he puts his dad’s shoes on and puts his dad’s pants on even though they don’t fit. It’s the experience of feeling like you’re like your dad now.  

How much more should we feel blessed when we get to be like our Savior Jesus? That’s what we find in 10:24-25 which reads “A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!” 

If Jesus was maligned and demeaned, what’s the big deal if we get maligned and demeaned? It is why Acts 5:41 says of the disciples after they had been flogged by the local  court that, “Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.” 

It is a blessing yall to be treated badly because we belong to Jesus.  

I know it sounds weird to say and it is not a coping mechanism but one of the ways we can easily identify with our savior who was shamed, rejected, maligned, demeaned, and killed for our salvation.  

Conclusion 

As we wrap up, it is this Jesus that we proudly proclaim in the workplace, in the park, in the grocery store, on the bus, on the train, at family dinner, and wherever else we find ourselves with those who don’t follow him.  

I got wise with my potential bullies in high school. I worked out to get stronger, I joined the wrestling team to gain fighting skills, and made friends with big players on the football team. Four years and not one fight.  

We go on mission knowing that opposition will come. And we must be wise and godly knowing God is with us to help us endure to the end.  

The big question I want to leave with you all is this: how can we at Restoration Church be on mission in our surrounding communities with wisdom and godliness? May God lead us in the path of reaping harvest for his kingdom.