The Christian world is a funny place, especially as you view the Christian world online and how Christians interact with each other and with non-Christians. The thing that I find fascinating is that there are two sides (extremes, although that word seems a bit, well… extreme), on the one hand there are Christians who don’t seem to understand why the world is so against the Christian faith and on the other there are Christians who seem to love the fact that they’re being ‘persecuted’. Neither of these positions is helpful. The first doesn’t seem to understand the reality of what Jesus says in John 15:18-25, that Christians will be hated and face hostility. The second doesn’t quite understand that the only reason the world should hate us is because of Christ.
For the first set of people, who seem confused by the worlds hatred of Christians and Christianity, I would encourage you to spend more time in Jesus’ teaching and if you’re not facing opposition for the gospel, is it because you’re being silent? Is it because you’re not presenting a Biblical picture of who Jesus is? Is it because you’re not communicating a full gospel?
We’re not supposed to go out looking for persecution, but if we never experience it, that should challenge us to consider if we’re really as committed to following Jesus as we think we are. The temptation for many is to soften the gospel, to make Jesus seem attractive, but by doing so we create a false image of Jesus that makes him powerless and just a nice guy.
Jesus came into the world, calling out sin, calling people to follow God, radically challenging the cultural and religious norms of His day and telling all people to turn to God and enter the Kingdom of God.
That’s a message that divides, a message that offends, and a message that calls sinners from being in darkness and spiritual death, to being in light and spiritual life in God. Do not soften the gospel, do not change who Jesus is, but faithfully and boldly proclaim Jesus to the world and leave the results to Him. One of the big temptations today is wanting to be liked by everybody, but being loved by Jesus is infinitely better than not being hated by the world.
For the second set of people, Christians who seem to revel in their ‘persecution’, I would encourage you to think about whether you’re being hated for your stance on issues and your allegiance to Christ, or because of your attitude, approach to other people and manner of communicating.
I don’t think that Christians are called to go into the world and act in an obnoxious way or that we deliberately cause offence to people. The gospel should be the only thing that offends people, the only reason we should give the world to hate us, as Christians, is because we’re true followers of Jesus. And if we’re living for Him, that will happen.
Sometimes the way I see Christians act online, in particular, makes me sad because whilst people will disagree with them and hate them for being followers of Jesus, sometimes its because of the attitude that people have, the way they communicate and the aggressive manner in which they interact with others.
Every Christian needs to know that we will be hated for following Jesus, we can’t be naive about that, but we need to make sure that we’re being hated for the right thing – that we’re following Jesus.
Chalmers' Blog 
Like you I am constantly surprised at how Christians engage with unbelievers online. Ironically, they would be less likely to do so face to face. I make it a policy to remember that the person at the other end of the comment you may make, is a real human (except for the bots who deliberately stir the pot, not to hard to spot) and not just a profile name. I find this helps me to temper my response, and on the whole I end up having a reasonable interaction and not a polemic one. Great article thank you.
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