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“Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12

What do you do when the odds seem against you? What happens when everything you’ve staked your faith on seems to be crumbling around you? Have you ever come to a crisis of faith, a challenge to the things you have committed your life to?


The book of Revelation is filled with imagery of smoke, locusts, bowls, curses and blessings. Jesus is portrayed both as the Lamb that was slain and as the conquering King on a white steed. Life for the saints (read: “followers of Jesus”) is challenging. Even if we take Revelation as a description of the Final Days before Christ comes, we have all felt the pressure that comes from trying to be true to Jesus when it takes us against the current of the world around us.

But we need to be watch ourselves carefully. It can be heartbreaking when Jesus’ followers act as if our “warfare” is with people, which is quite the opposite of New Testament teaching. I myself have wept as Christians unload anger and vitriol on a President they disagree with. One friend even described him as “ungodly.” I wish I knew the President well enough to make such a judgment, and it surprises me that other followers of Jesus think that they do.

I am not ignorant of the reasons. Many will quote his stance on abortion and gay marriage, drawing their conclusions that because his opinions differ from their view of Scripture, that he must indeed be ungodly, let alone a follower of Jesus. Of course, the same reasoning has to apply across the board, right? We must also say that anyone who claims to follow Jesus, but disagrees with the conservative right cannot be saved. Yes, and to be true to our logic, we must also call them ungodly. Have we forgotten what the “requirements” for being a Christian actually are? And, do we believe for one moment that calling names is the most effective method for winning people to Jesus?

We need to be careful when it comes to talking about “swimming upstream”. When we turn our personal and political beliefs into religious dogma and call down fire upon political opponents instead of heeding Jesus’ definitive words about dealing with “enemies”, (as if I even need to quote them: “Love your enemies…”), we have a knot so tangled people cannot tell the difference between political bias and personal faith in Christ.

In regard to our President, reports I have read tell us he currently has six strongly evangelical pastors he meets with regularly. They pray together, discuss Scripture and he invites their input into his own walk with God. The testimony of one of those pastors indicates Obama is deeply committed to Jesus, and struggles greatly with how to govern and serve Christ. He may not have come to the same conclusions many have about a couple of issues, but he has come to the conclusion that is all-important: Jesus Christ is the One who died for his sins, rose from the dead and is coming again; and the President is learning what that means for his own life.

The saints must endure, but they must endure by keeping the commandments of God. It seems that I remember Jesus commenting on the two greatest commandments: “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I do not know why we often treat those as if they are amendments and not the primary constitution of Christianity!

Let us consider how Jesus dealt with the “ungodly”. There was a woman who was caught having sex with a married man. The people were ready to stone her. What did Jesus do? He got between the woman and her accusers, wrote in the sand and said, “The one with zero sin can throw the first rock.” They walked away one by one. Jesus told her that he did not accuse her, and to go her way without sinning anymore.

So, if we, as followers of Jesus, think someone is “ungodly”, should we be posting ugly things about him on Facebook, forwarding half-truth emails that have been sent to us, carrying out tirades and using his name as an epithet, and marking him for agitated accusations? We are called to be different, and the primary difference is how we treat people who are not like us. Everyone can be nice to people they agree with. People in the kingdom of God are called to play nice with those they may not like so well, or who are even antagonistic against them. This, indeed, calls for perseverance.

It takes far more divine help to express continued compassion to those we disagree with than it does to call fire down upon them. Let God decide about the fire, we will obey Jesus’ admonition to love as we have been loved. Those in the trying times described by the book of Revelation are encouraged to “hold fast to the faith of Jesus.”

Let us go back and learn Him again. Let us read of His Shepherd heart. Let us see Him deal with outcasts, healing the servant of a military oppressor, speaking at the well with a “known” immoral woman, forgiving, as He takes His last agonizing breaths, the very ones who nailed Him to the cross.

Yes, let us persevere in the commandments of God: to love Him and to love others. Let us endure in the faith of Jesus: the One we read of in the Gospels. Let us find every way to imitate His ways which drew people to God in the call to love, forgive and offer hope to “all nations”. Let us take heed to repent if we have replaced the “faith of Jesus” with the “dogma of my favorite political system”.

How I long for loving, warm men and women who, instead of angry vindictiveness, find ways to express the love of God to those who need it the most. I am the least of all His followers, I have failed Him often, but I know now, more than I ever have, that His road is one of Compassion. If it appears I am walking any other road than that, I will try to ask myself the hard questions, and hopefully, learn to love the difficult people with an even deeper love than before.

Lord, help me to continue in Your ways, even when the way is difficult and challenging.