So, what do you believe? Who are you because of your beliefs?
There are people and organizations that are now identifying Christians as Neo-Nazis. Really.
One basic rule about life, in modern times, is that if you believe something, you will be criticized, and the criticism might be unfair. It will probably be unfair. Brace yourself.
I am writing as a Christian, and in the Bible we have these words: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3: 12 and 13)
We are promised that if we live the best life that we know, we will be “persecuted” which is more than just criticized. When we believe something, we get in the way of people who believe something else. Be something and we will be competition for something else. That is a promise in the Bible. “All who would live… shall be …”
If you haven’t heard, someone has decided to label Christians as Neo-Nazis, and those words are painful, but we were warned. If you want to know more, here is a video link from Australia:
So, are you a Christian like me? Do you feel like a Nazi? I don’t.
We know the Nazis were evil and you may know that they often persecuted Christians. They did not identify as Christian, and they would probably be insulted, if they heard the new rumors.
Can you believe that Jesus told us this is a good thing:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.(Matthew 5: 10 to 13)
Being persecuted and unfairly criticized comes with doing the right things. One follows the other. The bad people don’t like competition.
Are you a Christian? Have you been criticized, or even persecuted? Here is another example:
So, how would you answer criticism like this? You should be ready. We need to know the dark side of doing the right thing.
So, how does the other side work? How is it possible to identify Christians as Nazis, or some kind of fool?
The first rule is that persecuting criticism is unfair and dishonest. If we know that, we know that attacks from the enemy are constructed. That means an idea must become a plan, and a plan must grow into an argument. For example, people who oppose Christians can construct them into any ugly name with a label. It doesn’t have to be true, but it must do damage.
Constructing an image has another name; idolatry. An idol is something that we build, to help ourselves. Usually we make a god that we worship, and look to for help.
There is a variation to this. We can construct a false image of something that we hate, and appy that constructed image to someone we don’t like, the competition. It’s a variation on solving our problems with an idol that we built.
Some experts believe that critics of God, who don’t want God to exist, solve their problem by constructing God in a form that is easy to criticize.
Idols that we build can solve our problems, or at least we believe they can:
A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine. He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. … he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’ They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire, yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand? (Isaiah 44: 13 and 14, and 17 to 20)
For example, labelling Christians with false images, or labelling God as something we can reject. That’s a reverse way of worshipping an idol. We make something that is easy to reject, and we make a way to despise the false image that we have constructed.
There is a lesson that all believers need to learn. We need the real thing, the false thing never works:
OpentheWord.org 
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