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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

How Not to Make Friends (Stand Your Ground)

Jesus Responds to His Accusers - 048
How Not to Make Friends
(Stand Your Ground)

In 1936, Dale Carnegie wrote a book on “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. It has been a best seller ever since and never surpassed in its truths and wisdom. His insights are universal and it is a book that should be read by everyone.

However, there are times when winning others to your viewpoint is fruitless. There are some people whose hatred for you and what you believe is so severe that the only solution is to confront and expose them with their attitudes. Trying to win them is a waste of energy.

In Matthew 12:34-50; Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21, Jesus continues His comments on the Pharisees. He is not going to make any friends in this discourse! But again, it is not His fault that they are so opposed to Him as to be unwilling to consider whether His claims are true. Can you believe that there are actually some people who will reject Jesus, even to His face? How do we handle people like that today?

Expose Their HypocrisyMatthew 12:34-37
Jesus realizes that the Pharisees, in general, feel threatened by Him. They like having power over the people, and Jesus is undermining that power. Instead of embracing Him, they have chosen to hate and oppose Him. In less than two years, they will be key figures in crucifying Him.
Since He knows that He will not win them (with the exception of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea) His only alternative is to expose them for the hypocrites that they are. They accused Him of being a demon. Now He tells them that they will be judged by their own words! You cannot always allow your opponents to continue unopposed!

Jesus doesn’t address their attitude towards Him, but instead exposes their double standard, especially in their relationship to God. There will be times when we will have to expose the hypocrisy of those who are opposed to our message. Don’t back down from your faith in God!

Warn Them of the Consequences of DenialMatthew 12:38-45
The Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign with the suggestion that they will believe Him if they get what they want. Jesus replies that they have already had many signs and still don’t believe. They want to deny rather than accept the truth. Jesus claims that foreigners are more open to the truths of God than they are. When the church is established, gentiles will be as open, if not more so, to the Gospel than the Jews.

When we become opposed to someone or something, it is much harder to listen and consider their views. The Pharisees are unwilling to even consider Jesus’ claims or recognize the signs that He has already given. They are adamant in their opposition to Him and His teachings. If they don’t accept what they have already seen, they will not accept more if they were to see it.

Remember Who Our Real Friends AreMatthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21
Again, Jesus’ family comes to speak to Him. Earlier, they were concerned about Him being so busy helping other people that they thought He wasn’t in control of Himself. The suggestion is that they thought He was mentally unstable. This time, they aren’t trying to “take charge of Him”, but they would like to talk. I wonder what they have to say!

Jesus responds that His true family consists of those who follow God’s will. They will want to believe in Him and follow His teachings. That includes you and me and would exclude any “family” members who don’t choose to believe that He is God’s Son, our Lord and Savior.

There may be situations where your family isn’t nearby or they don’t share your values. In that case, your “family” becomes those who do share your values, activities, and proximity. That doesn’t mean you don’t have contact with real family members but that we recognize those closest to us as those who will be there for us if a crisis occurs.

What kind of a friend are you? Do you care about others? Do you do things to help others around you when they have needs? A good way to make friends is to be a friend. Your church is most likely your closest circle of friends. Consider how you can build this circle of friends by inviting others to come to Jesus and join your circle of fellowship.

CONCLUSION
When you are witnessing to others about Jesus, be courteous, respectful and polite. If they reject your witness, then let them go into the hands of God. It is not your job to make them believe, but to try to persuade them to investigate and accept Jesus for themselves.

Next week, Jesus is going to teach us something about gardening. It is a parable that has some very strong lessons for you and me to live by. Join us and we will do some more “Getting To Know Jesus”!