“All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” —2 Timothy 3:12

I returned home last weekend after spending two weeks in Israel, where I observed their latest elections firsthand. As you know, a coalition led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu won enough seats in the Israeli parliament to form a new government.

What you may not know, however, is why this story matters to every evangelical Christian in America.

The issue above all other issues

The popular vote was evenly split with about 49 percent going to Mr. Netanyahu and 49 percent going to his opponents. However, as my Israeli friends explained to me, Mr. Netanyahu’s victory was fueled primarily by the rise of a political partnership led by two men who are unfamiliar to Americans but who are dominating the news in their country.

Bezalel Smotrich leads a political party called Religious Zionism which, as Israeli political commentator David Horovitz explains, “ultimately seeks an Israel run according to the laws of the Torah.” Itamar Ben Gvir leads Otzma Yehudit, which “advocates the annexation of the biblical Judea and Samaria for an enlarged sovereign Jewish state in which West Bank Palestinians would be denied equal rights.”

The two parties formed a coalition with Mr. Netanyahu’s secular Likud party to win a sixty-four-seat governing majority in the 120-seat parliament. This coalition, according to my Israeli friends, is fueled less by popular support for Smotrich and Ben Gvir’s actual agendas and more in response to the security threats Israel is facing. Violence in the West Bank is escalating dramatically; Iran continues to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon while pursuing nuclear capacities that pose an “existential threat” to Israel.

As last week’s election showed once again, a tiny nation surrounded by enemies will always put its defense ahead of other political issues.

Kyrie Irving’s suspension and the rise of anti-Semitism

Why is this fact relevant to you and me?

For the answer, we must explore briefly the global rise in anti-Semitism that is contributing to the political situation in Israel.

NBA star Kyrie Irving was suspended last week by the Brooklyn Nets after posting a documentary with antisemitic conspiracy theories and falsehoods on Twitter. Nike also suspended its relationship with him in the wake of the controversy. Irving later apologized to the Jewish community.

Meanwhile, the Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) warns that anti-Semitism is rising on US college campuses at a time when violence against Jews in America has reached record levels. Last year, the ADL reported 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism against the Jewish people, a 34 percent increase from the year before and the highest number on record since the group began tracking anti-Semitic incidents in 1979.

Anti-Semitism has been called “history’s oldest hatred.” Many factors explain this tragic narrative, but one is especially relevant for Christians in America: the Jewish commitment throughout history to maintaining their unique religious identity.

Jews refused to worship the gods of Persia (cf. Daniel 3 and 6), Greece (thus the Maccabean revolt), and Rome (thus the revolt that led to the destruction of the temple in AD 70). They have been committed throughout their history to truth and morality as expressed in their 613 commandments (mitzvot in Hebrew) extracted from the Old Testament that govern every dimension of their lives.

Should the Bible govern morality?

Why is this commitment relevant for you and me?

George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University have just released (PDF) a new report studying morality in the US. Here’s the good news: “Most Americans, regardless of their religious faith, champion traditional moral values.”

Here’s the bad news: 71 percent “now contend that human beings rather than God should be the judge of right and wrong.” Forty-two percent said “what you feel in your heart” is the best moral guide, followed by 29 percent who said we should base morality on majority rule. Only 29 percent said principles taught in the Bible should guide our morality.

By contrast, 66 percent of American adults who possess a biblical worldview said that the Bible should be the main source of determining right and wrong.

As the history of anti-Semitism shows, if you will not bow to the gods of your culture, you will face the wrath of your culture. Paul warned us: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12, my emphasis).

We can therefore determine the degree to which we follow Jesus by the degree to which the world opposes us.

If worshiping God yesterday does not make us different from those who did not worship him, did we truly encounter God? If you and I are not living in ways that distinguish us from our secularized, post-Christian culture, how can we truly be following Jesus?

“A sense of overwhelming awe”

The more we experience Jesus, the more we will become like him (Romans 8:29) and the less we will be like those who oppose him (cf. 1 John 3:1).

Gordon Fee has been called “one of the most influential New Testament scholars who has ever lived.” A textbook he wrote with colleague Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, was the primary textbook I used in teaching biblical interpretation courses in seminary. It is now in its fourth edition and has sold around a million copies.

Fee died recently at the age of eighty-eight. In a 1988 paper reflecting on Bible study and spirituality, he concluded (PDF) that to study God’s word properly, “We must hear the words with our hearts, we must bask in God’s own glory, we must be moved to a sense of overwhelming awe at God’s riches in glory, we must think again on the incredible wonder that these riches are ours in Christ Jesus, and we must then worship the living God by singing praises to his glory.”

By this measure, did you “worship the living God” yesterday?

Will you today?

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 “Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” —Philippians 1:18

A new research facility has gathered the full documentary record of Billy Graham’s life and work in one place. According to Christianity Today (which was founded in 1956 by Dr. Graham), archives that had been loaned to Wheaton College will be combined with “hundreds and hundreds of boxes that remained at Graham’s home office in Montreat, North Carolina, and additional material from his ministry’s former offices in Minneapolis and in storage in Charlotte.”

This state-of-the-art archive is located across the road from the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. It comprises thirty thousand square feet at a cost of $12 million and opens on Monday, Dr. Graham’s birthday.

David Bruce, who served as executive assistant to the famous evangelist, has overseen the project. He notes that its purpose is not nostalgia or history for history’s sake. “Mr. Graham wouldn’t have approved of any of this unless it could be used to further the gospel,” he said. “I hope that people see the work of God in his life, and then all the history he touched, and it can encourage people to reflect on the living, breathing Word of God.”

“We have all of Jesus we want”

Years ago, a wise mentor in one of the churches I pastored said, “Our problem is that we have all of Jesus we want. Not all of Jesus we need, but all of Jesus we want.” He was speaking for more people than our congregation.

Billy Graham knew how much he needed Jesus. He told a 1993 crusade in Portland, Oregon, “I can’t live the Christian life alone. I’m a failure. Billy Graham cannot live the Christian life. I’ve tried. I can’t do it. But with the help of the word of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, I can live the Christian life. But he lives it through me.”

He knew that we need Jesus as much as he did. In 1955, he said on “The Hour of Decision,” “The regeneration of the individual is much more needed than the revolution of society.” He stated that same year, “If I didn’t believe that the Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ held the answer to this world’s baffling problems, I would go back to the farm and the rural life that I love and spend my days in peaceful solitude.”

He declared, “When our minds are on Christ, Satan has little room to maneuver.” And he knew that when we are changed by Jesus, everything about us is changed: “The transformed man loves when others hate. He is just when others are prejudiced. He is understanding when others misunderstand and he is poised when others are frantic.”

Dr. Graham was convinced: “If Christianity is important at all, it is all important. If it is anything at all, it is everything. It is either the most vital thing in your life, or it isn’t worth bothering with.”

“In order that I may gain Christ”

Paul would have agreed. All through his letter to the Philippians, often considered his favorite church, the apostle repeated the same theme. He told them that even though some “proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment,” nonetheless “Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice” (Philippians 1:17–18).

He testified, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (v. 21) and added, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (v. 23). He wanted their “manner of life [to] be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (v. 27) and informed them that their sufferings were “for the sake of Christ” (v. 29).

Paul then offered them “encouragement in Christ” (Philippians 2:1) and encouraged them to have “this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (v. 5). One day, he predicted, “every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 11).

The apostle set the example for all to follow: “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7–8).

Paul’s ultimate purpose and passion were clear: “That I may know him” (v. 10).

“My one purpose in life”

Knowing Christ is the purpose of the Christian life. Everything else about our faith is secondary and derivative. We were created for an intimate, daily, personal relationship with our living Savior.

So, let me ask you: How well do you know Jesus today?

You can know him just as you can know any other living person. Better, in fact, since his Spirit lives in you (1 Corinthians 3:16), he is always interceding for you (Romans 8:34), and he is as close as your next prayer.

You get to know Jesus just like you get to know anyone else: by spending time with him. Read his word to hear his voice. Listen for his Spirit as he speaks to your spirit. See his hand in his creation (Colossians 1:16). Speak to him through the day. Practice his presence by imagining yourself in his presence, and it will be so.

Then do all you can to help those you know to know him. Billy Graham was clear: “My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ.”

What is your “one purpose in life”?

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“Be still before the Lᴏʀᴅ and wait patiently for him.” —Psalm 37:7

Joanna and Chip Gaines are two of the best-known evangelical Christians in popular culture. Their long-running home improvement show, Fixer Upper, was one of HGTV’s highest-rated franchises ever and was nominated for two Primetime Emmys. The couple has expanded into restaurants, home décor, a realty company, and a TV network.

However, in a personal essay for the winter issue of her Magnolia Journal, Joanna opened up about her experience with burnout. While expressing deep gratitude for all the ways she and her family have been blessed, she writes: “I knew I couldn’t keep going the way I have. It’s hard to explain how I was feeling. I was grateful beyond measure, but exhausted. Loved, but feeling unworthy. Full, but running on empty. And because my world kept me busy, I could still feel the wheels of my life humming. What became harder to tell is where they should be headed.”

In writing her memoir, which is set to release on November 8, she was able to reflect on her life in a way that made her more intentional about being present in the moment. She says, “When I look back next time, I don’t want to see a kind of kaleidoscope life—out of focus and jumbled.” Instead, she continues, “I want to live the next season of this beautiful life in focus.”

“Take away my life”

Joanna Gaines is a committed believer who experienced burnout in the midst of great success. She is not the first, nor will she be the last. Job in his travails comes to mind immediately, as do David fleeing from Saul, Moses leading his people through the wilderness, and Peter after his denials of Christ.

But no one in Scripture pivoted from incredible success to deep personal discouragement more starkly than the prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, “the fire of the Lᴏʀᴅ” fell on the altar he constructed (v. 38) and the people fell on their faces and said, “The Lᴏʀᴅ, he is God” (v. 39). However, as soon as wicked Queen Jezebel learned of Elijah’s triumph over her false prophets, she vowed his death (1 Kings 19:2).

So the prophet ran for his life, traveling from Mt. Carmel in the north to Beersheba in the south (v. 3), a distance of 120 miles and as far from Jezebel as he could go. Here, he “asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O Lᴏʀᴅ, take away my life’” (v. 4).

But God sent an angel to sustain him (vv. 5–7), and Elijah “went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God” (v. 8). Here he complained again to God: “The people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (v. 10). God responded in a “low whisper” (v. 12) to his prophet, calling him to anoint new kings and a new prophet to continue his ministry (vv. 15–17).

And he assured Elijah that he had “seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (v. 18).

God “remembers your sins no more”

Like Elijah, you and I can face seasons of deep discouragement and despair. Such struggles come to us from at least three sources: sin, temptation, and circumstances.

If, like Peter, you have failed your Lord through personal sin (Luke 22:54–62), know that God has not given up on you. As he restored Peter (John 21:15–19), so he wants to forgive you and restore you to your kingdom calling.

Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind anything in your life that is displeasing to God. Now confess what comes to your thoughts specifically and honestly. Claim God’s promise to forgive all you confess (1 John 1:9), knowing that he then separates your sins from you “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12), buries them in “the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19), and “remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25 NIV).

Now, the next time guilt comes back, remember that you confessed that sin and are forgiven for it and claim the fact that grace is greater than guilt. You may need to do this one hundred times today and ninety times tomorrow, but eventually the guilt will leave and grace will prevail.

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”

Temptation is a great discourager of God’s people as well. Satan loves to tempt us and then to tempt us to feel guilty that we are being tempted. The opposite is actually the case: the more fervently you serve the Lord, the greater a threat you are to his enemy. If he would tempt Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–10), he will certainly tempt his followers.

Name your temptation and give it immediately to God, asking him for the strength and wisdom you need. Claim his promise: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Now turn to Scripture in response, as Jesus did. Use your temptation as an opportunity for prayer, worship, and intimacy with your Lord. Note and follow this order: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). As Erasmus noted, Satan hates nothing so much as for his evil to be used for good.

“Let us not grow weary of doing good”

Circumstances can be a third source of discouragement for believers. From the stock market and rising interest rates to threats of nuclear war in Ukraine and a “worrying resurgence of tuberculosis,” today’s news can feel hopeless.

But it is always too soon to give up on God. Scripture calls us to “be still before the Lᴏʀᴅ and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7). We are promised: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

To that end, we’ll close with an eighth-century Irish prayer that was translated into one of the most beloved hymns of the church. I invite you to pray these transforming and empowering words slowly to God today:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight; Be Thou my dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower; Raise Thou me heavenward, Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

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