Grace Upon Grace
Scripture Reference: John 15:18-16:4
Discussion Guide
Matt Zainea, Rockford Location on July 26, 2022
Speaking Into Hatred
Big Idea: The more we abide in Jesus, the more we will be alienated from the world. How should we respond when the world hates us? What does Spirit-led courage look like in my life? How can I bear witness by the Spirit this week?
The world seems full of anger and hate. When Jesus was on earth, He was also hated. What does it mean to courageously follow Jesus when faith and the world collide? Matt Zainea will help us understand this tension from John 15.
Check out the below notes, questions and thoughts and discuss them as a group. Be sure to take time to open and read Scripture, praying with and for one another as you consider what it looks like to follow the way.
- Nobody likes to be hated.
- The more we abide in Jesus, the more we will be alienated from the world.
1. In what ways does the world hate Jesus and His followers?
To disbelieve in Jesus is to hate him.
To change what Jesus said, is to hate him.
Group Question: Have you ever felt alienated from the world (or even your own family) because of your love for Jesus? Please share an example with the group.
Four Ways the World Hates Jesus
Cosmically – The very universe itself comes into question. The world rejects creation. We become our own individual universes.
“The world’s hatred of Jesus necessarily includes unraveling the truth of the universe as a singular, boundaried cosmos with consequences for violating its interwoven and protecting limits.” We despise the boundaries of the universe. The undoing of the universe includes the undoing of humanity.
Socially – Does the world hate life? How has the world reacted to the reversal of Roe v. Wade? How does the world react when you express a biblical worldview of LBGTQ related issues?
Social Cycle
- Laws are written to say you can’t do a certain thing.
- The people say, “We’re oppressed by the law, remove the boundaries.”
- “We need new boundaries to protect us.”
- “We want to be funded.”
- “We want those who are against us to be punished.”
It’s never a peaceful coexistence.
Group Question: Have you ever thought of disbelief in Jesus and his teachings as hatred toward Jesus, or is that a new concept for you? Many unbelievers will say something like, “Jesus was a good moral teacher, but I don’t believe He was God.” How do you think an unbeliever would react to being told that not believing that Jesus is God is to hate Jesus?
Relationally – What is behind most of our political and social conflict is Satan vs. Jesus. The world’s hatred of Jesus comes out of mouths we don’t expect. We all become conduits of Satan at one time or another, but when it comes from a loved one, it really throws us.
Personally – John 16:2-4
Verse 2b “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” Hatred for Jesus will most often be covered in compassionate language.
Group Question: Thinking in the categories of “flight, fight or freeze,” when someone you care about attacks you personally regarding a disagreement on politics or current social issues, do you tend to run away, attack or ignore?
Group Question: Remembering as it says in 2 Cor. 2:11, we are not unaware of the enemy’s schemes, how would it change your response in conflict to remember that Satan uses our mouths as a conduit to tear one another down and breed hate, dissension and destroy relationships?
2. How should we respond?
As Christians, we feel squeezed and we think we’re being squeezed between truth and love. We think we choose one or the other. But God’s word says that love and truth are one in Jesus Christ.
John 15: 22-27 – The Holy Spirit bears witness to who Christ is, so we will bear witness to the world. (Definition of bear witness: to show that something exists or is true. Evidence or proof of something being true.)
We believe Jesus is the creator and redeemer, and because of that, all of life is sacred. Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
Present in our Witness
Dignity – We are always addressing image bearers of Christ. Do that face to face whenever possible.
Compassion – To know the other’s story, try to understand their view point.
Clarity – We must be clear, not about causes, but about the gospel of Christ.
Christ – Jesus Christ, the son of God who has come into this world, died for our sin so we can be resurrected and have eternal life.
Not Present in our Witness
Disgust – When we are disgusted with the people, we elevate ourselves above them and forget that they are worthy of dignity and respect.
Anger – Does your anger bring forth the righteousness of God?
Mockery – Sometimes the world hates us because we’re really obnoxious, not because we follow Christ.
Pandering – There is no middle ground. We don’t give up an ounce of what we know to be true, but we hold onto what we know to be true. But, we present it in a winsome and loving way.
Group Question: When considering the two previous categories, what characteristics do you need to grow in and what do you need to discard when responding to the hatred?
In light of the act of courage by the Supreme Court’s statement, Matt Zainea wrote the following. “I do not pretend to know how our family, friends and neighbors will respond to the truth that Jesus is Lord. And even if we could for see what would happen, it would not be wise nor life giving to let that knowledge influence our witness. We can only do our job which is to bear witness in word and in our lifestyle that Jesus is Lord. We therefore proclaim that Jesus, the only son of God, is creator of the universe that he made it for us and desires to be in relationship with us in it. And because creation is his, its purpose and direction is always unequivocally life, both now in this world saturated with death because of our sin, and in the future where his redemptive work has healed the universe fully for time everlasting. Membership in this life-only, abundant, Christ-embodied world is gained only through repentance of sin and uncompromising faith in Jesus. We are duty bound and equipped by the Spirit to proclaim this through our whole being and our life together.
Big Idea:
1. What does Spirit-led courage look like in my life?
2. How can I bear witness by the Spirit this week?
