"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance of life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

 

By the Lord's providence, I returned to the Lake Worth beach and casino this past weekend to preach for the first time in a year or so. The beachfront and casino have been completely remodeled, with refurbished structures and a landscaped walkway running parallel to the beach south from Kreusler Park. The weather was quite warm, but I found a place under some palm trees that provided shade and began to preach. While there seemed to be very little foot traffic, I was soon approached by two sheriff's deputies who were responding to a "disturbance."

 

Both deputies were professional, kind and courteous, and soon determined that no "disturbance" had occurred, and in fact, made it clear that they were there to protect my first amendment liberties, not infringe on them. I thanked them and continued to preach as they went on with their duties.

 

About a half hour later, however, there was a 'disturbance,' when a very angry and intoxicated woman confronted me, eventually becoming so agitated that she grabbed a page from my Bible and tore it out. The deputies responded quickly as I continued to move away from the woman (practicing my "bob and weave"!) and her friends eventually took control of her. The deputies warned her that further confrontation by her would result in her arrest, and I was able to continue preaching.

 

Afterward, as I looked at the torn pages from my Bible, I realized that I needed to keep my Bible closer to me when a confrontation occurred. But after more careful consideration, two lessons quickly emerged.

 

First, the gospel demands a price to be paid. Our salvation cost the Savior His humiliation and His life. (His 'humiliation' refers to His leaving the glories of heaven and taking on flesh and blood, and living amongst His creation for thirty three years.) And Jesus admonished His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24). Paul demonstrated in his own life what it meant to 'take up the cross;' "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14). The New Living Translation (NLT) phrases it like this: "Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead."

 

To deny ourselves and take up our cross means that we are called to put our own interests aside for the cause of Christ. Because our citizenship is in heaven, and no longer in this world, we are given interests in things above, not things below. Evidences of genuine conversion include a love for Jesus Christ, a love for His word, an increasing hatred of sin, and a love for God's people, the church. As these 'things above' draw more and more of our interest and time, there will be a commensurate price to pay for leaving behind the things of this world. Some of the things that might 'fall away' or have to be laid aside include relationships, possessions, careers, hobbies and past times, habits and preoccupations that are inconsistent with living a life pursuing "holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

 

For each of us, this new life will look different. What our lives have in common, however, is an increasing desire to serve our Lord and Master by paying the price He demands in love for our ultimate good.

 

Second, the gospel demands a confrontation to occur. Some open air preachers resort to "shock and awe" tactics to draw a crowd, calling out the sins of groups or passersby and egging on hecklers. (There is a difference between engaging a good heckler, which helps to draw a crowd, and provoking someone to further anger.) As I become more adept at gospel proclamation I have discovered that the gospel itself will often provoke a confrontation. According to our opening passage, gospel preachers and all genuine believers are "the fragrance of death to death" to those who are perishing; our commitment to the cause of Christ and our lack of fear of our opponents is "a clear sign to them of their destruction" (Philippians 1:28). Simply proclaiming the unadorned gospel, without hyperbole or name-calling, will evoke a response from anyone within hearing. Some responses will be more pronounced than others, but everyone responds to the gospel (see Philippians 2:10-11).

 

The angry woman who confronted was screaming that I was a hater of homosexuals (as she claimed her companion was), and calling for me to die and using all matters of profanity. Now, in my preaching I had not mentioned homosexuality at all (although Lake Worth has a large gay community). But that didn't matter; the Holy Spirit was convicting her through the proclamation of the gospel of her own sin, her lack of righteousness, and her coming judgment. She was responding to that sense of conviction and her own fear of destruction at the hands of the God of all holiness, "who is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead," as the ancient creed testifies.

 

As you live in the calling of Christ that you received when you were born again, you likewise will experience confrontation, perhaps more or less directly. In the coming months and years, as our culture continues to sink in the widening gyre of depravity and immorality, your gospel witness will be exposed and confronted by the forces of the enemy and the world.

 

Already, on the issue of homosexual activism and egalitarianism, mainline Protestant denominations have rejected the purity and sufficiency of the Scriptures and the gospel of the Savior for the friendship of the world. 'Same-sex marriage' is impacting wedding planners and photographers and bakers as 'human rights commissions' impose fines and sanctions on those independent business owners who decline to provide services that impugn their conscience. Confrontation is unavoidable.

 

Yet, we have the eternal hope of the gospel itself! Our Lord spoke to His disciples on the evening before His sufferings on the cross, "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). 'Tribulation' is the Greek word thlipsis, which means a pressing or affliction; one definition reads "suffering due to the pressure of circumstances." While Jesus promises that afflictions and sufferings are the cost of our salvation, we are to be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world! As the great apostle wrote to the church at Corinth, "For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen" (2 Corinthians 4:17). So be encouraged, believer! Take heart - our Savior has overcome death and sin, hell and the world. Our reward is an eternal weight of glory. Take heart in adversity and conflict, in confrontation with the lost and the wickedness of the world. Death has lost its sting, death has lost its power.

 

Let us recall, too, the sufferings of those believers in Iraq and Syria and Tunisia, where the Islamic State is murdering and displacing non-Muslims in gruesome and grotesque ways. Whatever price we might have to pay and whatever confrontations that we might encounter here are certainly very slight in comparison with what our brothers and sisters overseas are suffering.

 

And pray for the woman who tore out that page from my Bible. Pray that the LORD would use that impromptu and inadvertent "gospel tract" to bring her to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore that woman's sins in His body on the cross, "that (she) might die to sin and live to righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24).