In Acts 24, when Paul stood accused before Felix, the Jews brought a Roman orator, Tertullus, to make their case against the apostle. In verses 5-6, the Bible records a portion of Tertullus’ speech, “For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law.

If we consider this example and many of the other points of conflict between Christ and the Jewish leadership of His day, we come to realize that, in part, the Jews accused Jesus and the early Christians of modernism. They saw them as challenges to the traditions they had created for themselves and, rather than working to understand the Gospel’s core message, they clung tightly to those traditions. While the Jews of the first century followed a faith based on the Old Testament, their practices were a far departure from what God had given initially to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Through the ages, they had built for themselves a system they liked, a model that gave certain people extraordinary influence, enriching those in positions of power.

Ironically, today, much of the world is convinced of just the opposite. Many people in the world around us view faith as outdated, resistance to change or even anti-progress. They view us as either superstitious or backward because we trust the Bible more than modern philosophy and so-called science. The accusations could not be further from the truth, because many of the ideas that are embraced as modern are actually false. The Bible and science are fully compatible when viewed with an honest perspective. Unfortunately, scientific “discovery” is often influenced by whoever is paying for the discovery. If modern ideals are examined, they fall generally into two categories: those that offer some degree of success because they are either based on Scripture or at least do not violate God’s Word, or those that ultimately fail because they are against God’s will.

As a person of faith, it can be hard to understand how so many (often educated) people can miss this point. They embrace modernism (not the kind of which Tertullus accused Paul), scoff at us, and are then amazed when the world’s condition continues to decline. So what are we to do? First, learn the Word of God. We can’t give a defense if we don’t understand the text on which we base our faith. Two, when prepared, invite skeptics to examine the Word. It has withstood the test of centuries of disbelief. Three, be ready in season and out (2 Timothy 4:2) to discuss matters of faith and your commitment to following Christ.

Isn’t it interesting to see how Satan reads the room to determine just how to deceive mankind?