The Despised Experience

Because a great deal of my life had been given to dissipation, ignorance and superstition before I encountered the Lord Jesus Christ, after encountering Him, I made up my mind that I would spend the rest of my life getting to know Him as well as stand for all that He stands for. Until I read the gospels, I had no idea that truth could be defined as the Lord Jesus Himself. To discover Jesus as being the way the truth and the life John 14:6, was a mind-blowing experience for me; nobody ever told me that before. I had known church-going people prior to that, but I never heard that truth expressed from the mouth of any one of them.

Was it expressed in the way they lived? Possibly, but lots of people lived “good” lives in those days, not just Christians, so there was really no way of telling who lived for Christ and who didn’t. It’s no different today. On the other hand, there are some church-goers today who do confess with their mouth that Christ as the way, the truth and the life, but the reality of that confession fails to show up in their lives. Nevertheless, I’ve been privileged and blessed to give numerous testimonies on this blog to what this has meant for those who took the Lord at His word and acted on it. For some it meant their lives, relationships and marriages began to work, for others it meant they got delivered from chronic illnesses, addictions and perversions.  

Others died peacefully, resting in the promise that there really is no such thing as death, but rather, only life eternal with Jesus their Lord John 11:26. Some have testified of the glorious blessings of God in the midst of trials such as being laughed at and ridiculed for their stand in Christ. Then there were a few who testified of hard trials such as persecution and ostracism from friends, family and work mates … one lady told me that as a young girl she was sacked for mentioning at work that she was doing a home Bible study … and this was during the Second World War! These too give testimony to the promise of Jesus, And you shall be hated by all for my name’s sake Luke 21:17.      

Biblically, ‘hated’ is from the primary word ‘hatred’ which means: ‘to detest’ and ‘to persecute’. All Christians who stand for Jesus are hated to some extent; some more so than others though because they speak up for truth from time to time. But then there is another word for those who speak up for truth a lot of the time – ‘despised’. Not only was Jesus hated, He was despised Psalm 22:6. So were the apostles and many in the early church … that’s why they got slaughtered. ‘Despised’ means: ‘disrespected’ ‘abhorred’ ‘disdained’ ‘disesteemed’ ‘contemptible’ ‘spurned’ ‘scorned’ ‘loathed’ ‘a vile person’. “Despised” is the one-word testimony of some Christians, referring to those within their family; it’s my testimony too.

In standing for all that the Lord stands for has meant for me to be on the receiving end of the most vitriolic or scathing abuses from those who reject truth but stand for untested opinions, lies, rumors, false reports, myths, fables and legends. This happens without even mentioning the name of Jesus or quoting from the Bible! It is not something new in my experiences; it’s been going on for years, but lately the Lord has shown me that not only am I hated for standing up for truth, I am despised. The other night I lay in bed thinking “hatred” was the issue but “despised” became the stronger emphasis. It still was the next morning and during my Scripture reading time, the Holy Spirit confirmed it using that very word, despised. 

I realize my stand for truth is the reason I’m despised, no other reason. I know that, because when I once stood for what they stand for I was liked. “Truth divides,” they say. More than that … it gets you killed! I see murder in their eyes. Why am I drawing attention to this? It is my firm belief that in the days ahead before Jesus returns, some Christ-loving, Bible-Christians are going to come into the despised experience -and by that I mean, Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes will be those of his own household Matthew 10:35- 38 cf. Micah 7:6. 

And should we not have sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, daughters-in-law, mothers-in-law, it will make no difference. Family members of any kind closest to you will fill the gap more than adequately! On top of that, brothers and sisters in Christ will despise you for your stand too. That’s what it’s coming down to and too many Christians are ill-prepared for it. It is not spoken about in most churches; they’re too caught up in trying to win their communities through biblically-compromised social gospel activities or participating in seeker-friendly church programs. You see, there are Christians who are yet to see Jesus as THE way, THE truth and THE life. For them presently, He’s more A way, A truth and A life! God is going to challenge that.

When the challenge comes, some will repent of their sin and embrace the Lord whole-heartedly for who He truly is. And when they declare such with their mouth as well as their way of life, despised is what they’ll become by those closest to them. That will be painful. It will also be humbling. Not only does the devil use the despiser, but he’ll do all he can to use you too, by getting you to respond in like manner. In other words, as you’re being cursed, you too will want to curse rather than bless Luke 6:28. If you fall for his tactics, he wins, you lose; death rules, life takes a back seat. When life takes a back seat, however, so does truth. That being the case, you’re now out of the way … THE Way. Only humility, repentance and blessing puts you back on top.

Getting caught up in the devil’s tactics is a sure way of having you doubt the person whom Christ says you are in Him. We must agree with God, we must agree with His word and obey it. For example, if we heed the commandments of the Lord, the promise is ….the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not beneath…. Deuteronomy 28:13. When the despiser sees you acting like them they justify themselves, but also believe they’ve got the better of you. When they see you acting like Christ, it convicts them. They know they’ve lost and that knowledge makes them madder still! That’s the power of God and they know it. It also demonstrates the power of blessing.

“Why is it that you have to bring God and the Bible into everything?” they venomously ask, even when God and the Bible don’t get mentioned. To me, that’s a sign that the Spirit of Truth has manifested Himself and the devils or spirits motivating that person well and truly know that. That’s why my reply is often, “Because, apart from God and the Bible, there’s no other source of truth and they always expose what’s not truth.” Given that most people despise any truth that comes up to confront them, one should expect to be mocked and ridiculed for what they stand for, then hated if they speak up, then despised if they often speak up. People ask why no one gets upset when talking about non-Christian beliefs. It’s simple. None of them have truth.

Given that Jesus is THE truth means that He is the owner of truth. And given that born again Christians are joint-heirs with Christ means we are joint-owners of truth. How about that! What we say, Jesus endorses. Truth-despisers don’t have that privilege. Is it any wonder they react the way they do? We’re standing on rock; they’re sinking in quick-sand. That’s why they riot, scream, rant and rave when challenged for what comes out of their mouth. When God’s people grasp that reality and hold on to it, come hell or high water, what a difference that will make to their lives. That’s what’s coming for some. Being despised for the name of Christ (Truth), is to be blessed. Why? The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you 1 Peter 4:14. 

It is not for nothing that Jesus told us to bless those who curse us. To bless, is to use effectively, one of the mighty tools of spiritual warfare. It is a sure way of activating Proverbs 26:2 over our lives, a curse without cause shall not alight. In other words, unless we’ve done or said something to deserve it, the curse has no effect. The despiser believes we deserve it but we must know we don’t … and when you stand for all that Christ stands for, you’ll know you don’t. To bless is to keep God beside you, to retaliate is to have God step back. The reality is they’re cursing God anyhow, not us, so that’s another reason for us to bless and to forgive. Your hurt feelings will fight your faith in this, but faith wins when we humble ourselves to God.

There’s another good reason to fight feelings with faith by blessing and forgiving those who despise us. Undeserved curses return to the one who curses. Or, as Bible commentator Matthew Henry puts it, “……the curse will at length return upon the head of him that uttered it.” I don’t want that for any truth-despiser, but I especially don’t want it for one who’s a family member. After all, that’s the reason the Holy Spirit has us challenge untested opinions, lies, rumors, false reports, myths, fables and legends in the first place. We don’t do it to be cute! As spiritually dead people, ignorant and superstitious, they’re on their way to hell; it’s partly our job to make sure they don’t get there.  

Many there are in the church who have for years been rejoicing in their redemption experience. They enjoy God, they enjoy what they know of His word, they love their families and they love their fellow Christians. They enjoy the comfort of God as they endure certain hardships and trials, but they are not speaking up for truth when they know they should. They want no deal with persecution and conflict; they want no deal with being reproached and reviled as He was. They want no deal with having their name cast out as the Lord’s was; they are peace-keepers. But unless we go through the despised experience, we will increasingly find ourselves acting as though we’re the tail rather than the head, beneath and not above. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution…….? In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us Romans 8:35-37.