But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. — Jude 1:17 & 18
There are some things I will never forget from when I was playing basketball near my hometown. My parents would drive me to the gyms and we would play teams from all around the area essentially every Saturday. Our team was far from professional and we made mistakes each and every week.
Our coach would try to encourage us to focus and play better. In the other ear, we would always hear those mocking us for our mistakes. Parents from the other team would say things, the players would laugh or make fun of us when we made mistakes. Sometimes they even made fun of us because of our team name and that we were not very good just because we identified with our local school.
It was never enjoyable to be mocked and ridiculed for identifying as a member of that team or even for not being perfect. Every action was analyzed and ridiculed. Every time we put on our uniform people were watching us.
Isn’t that how it is today as a Christian? We wear our Christian name everywhere we go and it seems our every action is analyzed and we hear mocking and ridicule just because we call ourselves a Christian. We are ridiculed for our faith that sin is wrong, in a world that wants to accept any form of sin. We hear the words of world leaders saying that Christians should simply go into hiding and not be allowed to speak out about situations of life.
We find a reminder in Scripture about those very things here in Jude. He is telling as part of the letter that near the end of time, mockers will become more and more. These are people that are more interested in chasing their ungodly lusts than actually believing and serving God.
If ever a time matches this description, it could certainly be our day today. It seems that all our world is consumed with is chasing ungodly lusts and it seems that the mocking and ridicule of Christians is getting much worse.
So what did Jude recommend in that situation? To remain faithful, to show love, to show kindness and compassion, and to spread God’s word so that it might save others from their ultimate demise. While it can be easy to become discouraged based on what is going on around us, remember the words of Jude. It was told long before our existence these times would come. Stay faithful, stay committed, and stay focused on the price to come!
