Dealing With Opposition

Luke 7:30-35

Year after year, we see people put into drug or alcohol abuse prevention programs. Some programs are tremendously expensive while others are federally funded, yet none have a very high success rate, because so few of the people are motivated to change. As long as the person thinks he is getting what he wants from the activity, he has no reason to change, and will resist any effort to produce it.

The same dynamic shows up in every area of life. It is at the core of our current political situation. Those who feel they are benefiting fight to maintain the their position, and do their best to destroy those who are demanding change. The attacks by both parties during the last election illustrate the level to which they will go. While the multitudes and publicans loved the changes Jesus promised, the leaders struggled to maintain the status quo.

“But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.“ (Luke 7:30)

The lawyers and Pharisees hated having to abide by Roman law, but they preferred it to having everyman free to make his own decisions. If every man was their equal, they would no longer be superior. They attempted to destroy his following by running down what he did, much like the media tried to picture George Bush as being unintelligent. Jesus described it a being like a bunch of kids making fun of others. They are inconsistent, and frequently irrational in their accusations against others.

“And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” (Luke 7:31-32)

The Pharisees and Lawyers hated John’s message that they were sinners and needed to repent, implying that he was some kind of kook because he maintained a stricter religious standard than they did even though he did not require them to. It must be Satanic. When Jesus practiced the same standard they did, They implied that he was not religious enough because he lived like common people, not quite up to their standard. He must be a wicked man.

“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children.” (Luke 7:33-35)

Foolish people are so sure they are right they refuse to listen to any idea but their own. Proverbs 28:26 declares, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” In their pride and determination to maintain they ignore good advice and Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 warns, “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” No amount of evidence or logic will make a person change if isn’t willing to. Proverbs 29:9 warns, “If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.”

Warnings only make them more determined, because they are not wise. Proverbs 12: 15 states, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” We mustn’t become as dogmatic and determined to force them to our opinion, because if we do, we become just like them, according to Proverbs 26:4. “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” At the same time, we are not to lend their ideas legitimacy by treating them seriously. Proverbs 26:5 instructs, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”

How we handle opposition has a great impact on how our message is perceived by others. Angry attacks and accusations make us appear to be worse than the opponent, while a failure to answer implies we have none. How often we lose our testimony because of our response.