Though it has been several years, I still remember well, a court battle in North Carolina in which the American Civil Liberties Union had taken on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for the mention of Jesus’ name at periodic meetings. A federal magistrate ruled against the county, insisting that their prayers mentioned Jesus “too many times.” The court acknowledged that the county included a wide variety of speakers at invocations, and from various faiths, and yet for Christians to mention the name of Jesus in prayer, “too many times” represented some violation of their understanding of the law. It should come as no surprise, since Jesus has said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18)” The darker the world gets (spiritually), the more it will despise Jesus, “the Light of the world,” and us, His followers.
The Apostle John put it like this, “… men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)” People reject God outright, because they know that if they admit that there is a God who can be known by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, they will have to answer to Him—And they answer to no one! But how can a Christian not mention the name of Christ?Our feelings toward Him are expressed in our music, “Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day, without Him I would fall.” This is America; we can talk about Jesus here, right? Actually, the scriptures are clear—those of us who have committed our lives to serving God and our fellow man, in the footsteps of Jesus, His Son, will be despised for the simple mention of His name.
Dear brother or sister, “Are you a soldier of the cross? A follower of the Lamb? And will you fear to own His cause or blush to speak His name?” Please recall, “…there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).” I know that I can speak only for myself, but here I stand; “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; For Thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”