I don't know about you, but when I imagine defending my faith and standing up to injustice I imagine the 'other' people being those who aren't called Christians, those who believe something different to me.
I forget that a counterfeit that is labelled the real thing can be even more dangerous.
John describes an encounter in the Philippines. The mayor of a village was bulldozing villagers houses for his own building projects. John and others with him ran in front of the bulldozers and attempted to disable them. That was when a vigilante pointed a rifle at John. But it was the t-shirt that drew his attention. The man pointing the gun and supporting the bulldozing of villagers homes wore a t-shirt reading "Kill a Communist for Jesus".
These people who called themselves Christians also later used scripture to justify asking these people to turn in those who had supported their opposition of the corrupt mayor.
It should remind us that our faith is not defined by going to church or knowing Bible verses, or by calling ourselves "Christian" - it is defined by our actions, our beliefs and the love of Jesus acted out in our lives. It's about a real encounter and relationship with God - because without that we open ourselves to twisting even the words of the Bible to suit our own purposes.
And isn't that what the devil loves. A counterfeit that looks like the real thing. The boundaries between the Truth and a warped version can get so much more blurry, than if we compare our faith to someone who believes something completely different.
The truth is not just knowing the words - even the devil knows the words. The Truth is Jesus. The living Word is Jesus.
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