John 15:18-27
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
John 8:31-38
Jesus' Disciples Know the Truth, and This Truth Will Set You Free
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
When one reads what Jesus did in the gospels, we see that God, was the center of His life...He talked about His Father all the time...He was not looking to be politically correct or segregate His worldview from God...Jesus could and did talk about His Father at anytime and on any day...And in this respect, where Jesus was always thinking and talking about God, He was a rebel...
However, many people want to separate what they believe on Sunday, with what they believe on other days...So some people would and will not talk about God at work, and believe He is a Sunday only God...Secularism is a belief system that rejects religion, or the belief that religion should not be part of the affairs of the state or part of public...Jesus was not One who believed in secularism...He thought the world centered around God and He let those He spoke to and taught know that God is the Center of the Universe...Jesus believed that His teachings and His Words about God would make and set you free...
This world is much different from God's Kingdom...Living in this world and belonging to this world, is different than God's Kingdom...Jesus said He chose His disciples out of this world, and told them that they would be persecuted for following Him...And Jesus says that is written in the Law, "They hated Me without reason."...
Pastor and author Alistair Begg wrote, “If you live in such a manner as to stand the test of the last judgment, you can depend upon it that the world will not speak well of you.”...
And philosopher Criss Jami writes this about secularism and about those who follow Jesus, “On a social level, secularism is safe...As literally the world's most fundamental conformist, the secularist wants to call himself a revolutionary all in the same...In most parts of the present world, rebellion against Christianity is not really much of a rebellion if one is to consider 'rebellion' something of a courageous sort or a bold act...Long ago Christ was crucified, and in some form or another, to this day, the scorn continues for 'little Christs'...The world hates Christians, and according to Christ, it is supposed to hate Christians...A true Christianity is a true rebellion; and for one to be 'freed from Christianity' is for one to religiously conform to the pressures of the rest of the world, for one to be freed from freedom.”...