What Can Man Do Unto Me?

Let me set the scene for you.  It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon in Farmington, New Mexico.  I was 11-years-old and bored.  So I did what all kids in the 80’s and 90’s did when they were bored - I went outside.  I didn’t feel like riding my bike or reading a book on the grass (which were my usual go-to activities).  Instead, I came up with a genius idea.  I was going to evangelize to my neighbors.

I felt it was important for everyone to know that I loved Jesus and that He was a good God.  I couldn’t go door-to-door by myself, so I did what I felt was the next best thing.  I grabbed my walkman and headphones, popped in my cassette tape called “Kid’s Sing Praise,” went outside and pushed play on the walkman.  For the next 45 minutes or so, I walked in a big circle around my backyard, singing along with the tape to songs like, “Praise Him, Praise Him,” “God Is So Good,” “Make Me a Sunbeam,” “My Jesus is Alive,” and many more.

When I tell you that I sang, I mean, I REALLY sang those songs.  I was singing at the top of my lungs.  I just had to be sure everyone heard me.  Now, I think it is important to fill you in on a little detail - I was not blessed with a beautiful singing voice.  I can somewhat stay on tune if I am singing along with something, but it is far from anything that people would choose to listen to.  I’ve always said that the Bible says to “make a joyful noise to the Lord.”  It doesn’t say it needs to always be on key. :-)  But the fact that my voice wasn’t the greatest didn’t bother me.  I wanted to witness to my neighborhood.  I wanted to literally shout out my love for Jesus.  And my scratchy and sore throat later that day proved I did just that.

You know, I’m not sure that my singing that day had any impact whatsoever on anyone who may have heard me.  I do know people heard me because they would walk by and look at me through the chain link fence, but I probably didn’t cause anyone to come to the Lord because of my singing.  Yet, I still look back on that day and smile at that little girl who didn’t care what people thought of her, who wasn’t afraid of what they might say about her.  I guess you can say the “fear of man” was not yet present in her life. She just wanted to share her love for the Lord.

I wish I could say the courage young Emily displayed that day is still there, but it isn’t always.  As I got older, I became more concerned with being accepted, with what people said about me, and how I looked to others.  There have been times in my adult life where I have had a very clear opening to share the gospel with someone, but I didn’t.  One instance in particular that I remember was when I was in college.

It was the end of a long semester and I was flying home.  I was tired - no, I was exhausted- and couldn’t wait to get home and have a break from schooling.  I boarded the plane, sat in my seat, and got ready to sleep for the almost 3 hour flight to Denver, Colorado.  Soon after, a girl roughly my age sat in the seat next to me.  We got to chatting as the plane taxied and then took off.  It didn’t take long for me to see that the girl was going through a lot in her life.  She was in some tough circumstances and was feeling hopeless.  I knew I had the hope that I could give her.  But I am ashamed to say, I didn’t tell her.  I didn’t give her the gospel.  I was selfishly thinking two things: 1. I was so tired and just wanted to sleep, and 2. I was afraid that she would get mad at me for talking about the Bible to her and we would be stuck sitting next to each other for 3 hours and it would be uncomfortable.

So I sat there, closed my eyes, and went to sleep.  That event happened nearly 20 years ago, and I still carry the guilt of not following the leading of the Holy Spirit to share the Good News with her.  I still pray for her when she comes to mind.  I pray someone has come into her life that is more bold than I, and has shared with her the hope she needed.

Jesus was very clear - we are to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). See that?  It says to “every creature.”  We need to share the hope that is within us to everyone.  And we need to do so boldly - not with fear of being rejected.  Because the reality is, there will be those that will reject us.

Speaking not only the gospel but all the truths of God’s Word might possibly cause us to lose friends, perhaps even family.  It might set us apart from others and make us feel left out.  But guess what?  We are in good company.  The world rejected Jesus as well.  Jesus said in John 15:18-19, “ If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” Jesus told us that following Him would not be easy, and that we would be hated because He was hated.  But that shouldn’t stop us. Because it isn’t us in particular who is being rejected.  It is God.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but the world is quickly getting worse and worse.  We do not live in a Christian age.  What is evil is now being called good, and what is good is being called evil.   There are so many believing the lies of the devil, and they need to be lovingly told the truth of God.  As believers, we know that the day is approaching when God’s patience will run out, Jesus will return to claim His followers, and time to turn to God will have ended .  We have to tell them. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

No, we cannot live in fear of man or rejection. My goal is to go back to the courage that I had when I was 11.  To not be afraid of what others will think.  To boldly stand and tell of the love of God, and to call out what is wrong and evil.  I want to essentially grab my walkman and headphones again, and go around loudly proclaiming my faith in Christ. I know that it will cost me friends.  I know that it may even cost me family.  I know that it may be lonely.  It already has done all of that.  But I cannot live in fear of man. Because, in reality “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” (Psalm 118:6)

If I truly believe what I say I believe, then none of the rejection should stop me.  I want to live out what the Apostle Paul wrote in Acts 20:24 (which happens to be the verse I claim as my life verse), “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”