Why does the world hate Christianity?

Introduction

Paul has faithfully labored for over two years in Ephesus and God has used him mightily there. The Christian faith was steadily advancing in Ephesus as Paul and his converts continued to faithfully proclaim the Word of God.

The people of Ephesus were witnessing their city’s complete transformation right before their very eyes. Unfortunately, not everyone was pleased with the changes that were taking place.

The advancement of biblical Christianity will fundamentally change any society and it should be no different today. In this passage we learn why the world hates the Christian faith and how we should respond to those who oppose the advancement of Christianity and the changes it produces in a society.

The passage begins with Paul sharing his plans to continue to strengthen the churches that have already been planted and to continue to broaden his ministry into regions he has yet to touch.

He sends Timothy and Erastus on ahead to prepare for his arrival in Macedonia while he remains for a bit longer in Ephesus.

While Paul continued to minister in Ephesus there was a group led by a man named Demetrius who had begun to create a stir in the region concerning the advancement of Christianity in Ephesus.

We must note that Paul and his companions had done nothing unlawful and had been careful to preserve their testimony in the region. The hatred for Christianity was not born of any specific action or behavior but was due to the fundamental transformation that was taking place in Ephesus.

These opponents of Christianity were upset because the advancement of the Christian faith posed a significant threat to their way of life.

They hated Christianity because it:

Threatened Their Livelihood (Vs. 25)

When Christianity takes hold in a region it will affect the livelihoods of many who have gained great wealth through the promotion of immorality and illicit activities.

Demetrius and his fellows were silversmiths, but the primary means by which they had gained their wealth was by the production of idols used in the worship of false Gods.

The Revivals of Billy Sunday- bars would close, businesses would be honestly run, cities were changed in the wake of such meetings.   "I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old and fist less and footless and toothless I'll gum it 'till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition." ?The liquor business spared no expense to destroy him. The brewers even enlisted preachers to fight him. One opponent said, "It would be worth $1,000,000 a day to put Billy Sunday out of business." there was no denying the change that was wrought by the advancement of the Christian faith in these cities. The vice president of an iron company said that he could pay $250,000 more in wages because Sunday's campaign had sobered up his employees and they had become so much more productive.

When the Christian faith is advanced in any society it will affect the livelihood of those who seek to make gains by the promotion of wickedness, immorality, and idolatry.

There are many in our country and in our communities who oppose Christianity because it threatens their livelihood. These understand that if real Christianity is practiced in a nation bars will be forced to close, many celebrities would be forced to find a new line of work, the movie directors and producers would have to find a new way to earn a living, those involved in the promotion and sale of illicit substances would be forced out of business, those who produce and promote all manner of imagery to satisfy fleshly lusts would no longer turn a profit.

Christianity should affect the livelihood of those who are profiting from activities contradictory to the truth of the Word of God.

This is but one reason that the world hates Christianity. They would rather hold onto their wealth and influence all the way to a devil’s hell than to be forced to give it up to gain eternal life.

Mark 8:36-38- what profit to gain the whole world and lose your own soul.

We see that the opponents also felt that Christianity:

Threatened Their Ideology

Demetrius expanded his opposition of the Christian faith to include the fact that it would interrupt their way of worship. Until Paul’s arrival in Ephesus there was a settled belief that the Goddess Diana was to be the central focus of worship.

The advancement of the Christian faith had caused many Ephesians to turn away from the worship of the false God Diana to worship the true and living God!

The preaching of Paul had brought light to the Ephesians and many could now see right through the religious practices of Ephesus and recognized that they were worshipping a false deity all while lining the pockets of a few powerful men.

Christianity will always pose a threat to the world’s ideology no matter the place or time. One of the reasons that so many hate Christianity in our world today is because it stands in direct opposition to their current system of beliefs.

True Christianity cannot simply be mixed with other faiths and traditions, instead it demands that these be put to an end and that God alone is worshipped and followed.

True Christianity is hated by many even in America because they find it is incompatible with their humanistic worldview.

True Christianity is hated by many in the the Middle East because they find it is incompatible with the tenets of Islam.

True Christianity is hated and outlawed by nearly every communist regime because they know that it is incompatible with the principles of communism.

Real Christianity will fundamentally and completely transform the ideology of any society and this alone is reason enough for many to hate the Christian faith and all who promote it.

The Ephesians would have been perfectly satisfied to allow Christianity a place alongside the worship of their false deities but the Christianity that Paul preached demanded an end to idol worship and made the exclusive claim that God alone was to be worshipped.

America would happily proclaim itself a Christian nation once again if we would but compromise the basic, fundamental truths of scripture so that Christianity could coexist with the wickedness and immorality being promoted in our society.

The problem is a Christianity that has made exceptions and explained away the truth of scripture to appease society is no longer Christianity at all!

We can plainly see why the world hates Christianity, but the question remains what should be our response when there is rioting in the streets and violent opposition to the basic truths of the Word of God which make up the Christian faith?

Our Response

Let’s begin with “What not to do.” We cannot compromise the truth in the hopes of appeasing the world. This includes worldly Christians.

We cannot begin to imagine the Apostle Paul running in among the masses and shouting “It’s okay you can worship Jesus and Diana and all will be well”

If we attempt to appease the world and the worldly they will demand more and more until finally there is no difference between us and the world.

If Paul had been allowed to enter into the theater we can be certain it would have been to bring forth a defense of the gospel and of the Word of God.

Even so, we can clearly see that to have attempted to do so among these riotous protests would have proven unfruitful.

Alexander, likely an unsaved Jew, rose to try to defend the Jewish faith and was immediately shouted down as the people cried out not even giving him a hearing.

There are still people in the world today who have no interest in hearing our defense of the truth of the Word of God. They are content to believe a lie so long as their livelihood and their ideology are not threatened.

We also notice that Paul did not stir up Christian rioters to respond to the protests. He could have attacked the men who had risen up against him but this would also have proven unfruitful only giving them real reason to hate him and to hate Christ.

Though Paul and the other Christians in Ephesus had done nothing wrong and had broken no law the impact that they had upon the city was enough to stir up protests and rioting in the streets against them.

We must not back down or quit proclaiming the Word of God. The world would happily allow us to practice our Christian faith if we would only keep it to ourselves and not seek to spread it to others.

What Paul did do was to continue preaching the truth of the gospel and the Word of God. We cannot allow the vocal and sometimes violent opposition of the world to cause us to be silent. We must continue to proclaim the gospel and the whole counsel of the Word of God.

There will be some who, unfortunately, continue to fight against God, but as we continue to declare the truth there will be some who turn from the world and turn to Christ!

Thankfully there was a mayor in Ephesus who was able to restore order and Paul was able to gather together with the disciples Christ in Ephesus to bid them farewell but I cannot help but wonder if Paul may have left them with some advice...

I Timothy 6:12- fight the good fight of faith

II Timothy 2:3- endure hardness good soldiers

Philippians 1:27- stand fast and keep striving together

Jude 3- earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.

Conclusion

John 15:17-21- we need not try to convince ourselves that Christianity will gain the world’s approval.

The world will always hate the Christian faith and those who are sincere in their practice of it. What this world really needs, what our nation and our community really needs are Christians who will stand courageously and boldly for the truth and will continue to unapologetically proclaim it no matter the opposition they face.