Our ladies’ Bible study is going through 1 John. John circles through several different themes throughout His letter.

One of those themes concerns false teachers and the unwillingness of the world to hear God’s truth.

• Chapter 4 warns us about false prophets and tells us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
• In chapter 3, verse 13, John said, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”
• Then in 4:1-6, John says the people who follow the “spirit of the antichrist” will not listen to us.

Back in his gospel, John recorded Jesus as saying, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (15:18-20).

It’s helpful to take a moment to consider the Bible’s different uses of the word “world”:

There’s the physical world: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3, KJV).

There’s the world of people. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Then there’s the world system that sets itself against God. “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14). This system is led by “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). It’s this meaning of “world” that is indicated in John 2, where he tells us “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

What do we do when the world desperately needs the gospel, but doesn’t want to hear it?

My initial reaction is to pull back and not bother them.

But what does Paul say in Romans 1:16? “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel itself has power to open people’s eyes. to convict them of their need.

Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

God’s Word is powerful.

We don’t share God’s truth like a club, beating people over the head with it. But we share it in faith and love, planting and watering seeds, trusting God to bring them to fruition.

When I was in college, God brought to our church a new family who quickly became my “spiritual family.” I’ve written before of Mrs. C., who became a mentor to me long before that word became so popular. Mr. C. told one time of taking a girl home from an activity when he was a young man. The girl was a Christian and tried to talk to him about the Lord. He blew up at her. But just after dropping her off, he thought, “What was she talking about, anyway?” Though he reacted negatively, God used what this girl said to spark an interest which eventually led to his salvation. I don’t know if she ever knew that. She probably thought the encounter was a failure.

Of course, there are times to pull back. Peter tells wives of unbelieving husbands, “be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct” (1 Peter 3:1-2). He goes on to encourage them to “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (verse 4).

We can’t nag people into the kingdom. But our lives can demonstrate His beauty and grace.

We also share His truth with our love. “No one has ever seen God,” John writes (1 John 4:12). So how do we show them an invisible God? He goes on to say, “if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

How do we share God with a world that doesn’t want to hear?

We share His Word, kindly and graciously, as He gives opportunity, trusting Him to shed light in the hearer’s heart.

We demonstrate a godly character.

And we show His love.

That’s what Jesus did, isn’t it? “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He loved us before we were ready to hear, when we still wanted to cling to our sins instead of turning to Him. He patiently kept drawing us, though we spurned Him so many times, until He finally won us over. “I drew them with gentle cords, With bands of love” (Hosea 11:4, NKJV).

Sharing God’s truth may bring a negative reaction at first, as Mr. C. blew up at His companion, as people have persecuted God’s representatives through the centuries, as they mistreated and killed Jesus Himself. But even while Jesus was being tortured and murdered, His death was atoning for His persecutors.

If people persist in not believing God, eventually He will leave them alone. C. S. Lewis has said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.'”

But while we can, as much as we can, let’s share His light.

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