How will people treat you?
The more your life conforms to and reflects the Bible, the more you will find that people will treat you the way they treat the Bible. Let that soak in for a moment. You might want to read it one more time.
To live a life which is about the Bible does not just mean knowing the Bible. It means knowing the Bible, but it also means living the way the Bible teaches us to live. It also means standing for what the Bible stands for, and standing against what the Bible stands against. It means saying and doing what the Bible says, and says to do. “If any man love God, the same is known of him.” (I Cor 8:3)
So, you say you want to be a Christian, church member, Sunday School teacher, deacon, or pastor. Hopefully, you realize that this means you want your life to be a reflection of the Bible — that you want people to see in you what they see in the Bible.
If that is true, then you should expect people to treat you the way they treat the Bible. For example, if they don’t like the Bible then they won’t like you. If they don’t like what the Bible says, they won’t like what you say. If they don’t like what the Bible stands for, they won’t like what you stand for. If they want to do what the Bible says not to do, and you say they are wrong, you know what will happen. They are not going to like you, to say the least.
It is also true that if people are casual or disinterested about the Bible, you should expect them to feel that way about you. For example, if you are a pastor, and people are apathetic towards God’s word, don’t be surprised when they are apathetic towards your preaching or the church worship services.
It is not really you that they don’t like, it is what you have decided to love and live for that makes them unhappy about you. But, what you have decided to love and live for is also what makes God happy (or unhappy), if you will.
So, the Bible says, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26) It says that because all men don’t speak well of the Bible. If you are a proper reflection of that book, expect people to treat you the way they treat that book. Its just that simple.
Oh, and one more thing. If you stand for the Bible, and are a reflection of it, you will be able to tell what others REALLY think of the Bible by the way they think of, and treat you. They may claim to be the finest of Christians, but if they treat a walking Bible with disdain (or worse), I can assure you that they are an imposter – inside their heart they treat the written Bible the same way.