The story in Acts 17 gives us a clue as to why Christians were hated by some.

Vs 5: Envy – Paul was successful, had a following, and some were envious of his success

Vs. 7: the Christians weren’t falling in line with everyone else in their devotion to Caesar. They followed some new guy and weren’t part of the club everyone had to be a part of.

Vs. 11: were not fair-minded. They simply didn’t treat Christians fairly. I imagine they were less receptive to Paul’s new message than they would have been to some other new doctrine.

What has been your experience today? Are people envious of your church? Do they get upset because you live by a different standard? Do they seem more open to other viewpoints and closed to yours, just because it’s Christian?

I know I have experienced every one of these oppositions. So what do you do when they come? We can’t leave town like Paul did, unless you are a traveling evangelist. We see that Jason, a guy that lived in Thessalonica, stayed there and went through greater persecution. Just be reminded that we face persecution and the scriptures (James 1:2-4) encourage us to “consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.“