Your Brother Daniel
For more great blogs as
this one go to: www.Mannsword.blogspot.com
Persecution and its Inevitability
In my arrogant
pre-Christian days, I continually reassured myself that I could handle anything
that life would throw at me. However, after serving our Lord for 36 years, He
has taught me otherwise. I need Him to get me through the most trivial trials.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about persecution. Darkness and
threat seem to surrounding us with outstretched claws. Paul warned that this is
inevitable:
· In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim. 3:12)
Many of us don’t need
this warning. We see it coming. Some of us are already engulfed by its rising
waters. Meanwhile, others are in denial:
· Former Archbishop Rowan Williams told Christians
in the West who complain of mistreatment to "grow up" in a talk at
the Edinburgh International Book Festival today. After years of meeting with
others around the world who face "murderous hostility" for their
religious beliefs, Lord Williams said complaints of persecution among
Christians in the U.K. and the U.S. make him "very uneasy." (Jim
Wallis, Sojourners)
However, it made me very
“uneasy” to read this callous statement, and so I angrily responded:
· ME: When Christians are deprived of jobs,
licenses and even businesses and are told to "grow up," this is not
modeling Christian love. This is playing along with a politically correct
script that has nothing to do with Christ!
· PERSECUTION DENIER: No political correctness
here -- just the kind of perspective offered by Paul and others in the NT. The
so-called "persecution" of Christians in the US pales in comparison
with what Williams has in mind regarding certain other parts of the world. We
need to own this, and let go of the self-pity.
· ME: You might be right that our persecution
pales in comparison to that experienced by Christians in many Muslim lands.
However, it is grossly insensitive to dismiss any suffering, victimization, and
deprivation in West with the words "grow up," because it doesn't
measure up in our estimation. It means that we are to turn our uncaring back on
those who lose jobs, reputations or businesses. It's like telling anyone in the
West to "get over it," whatever their problem might be - depression,
loss of a family member, or anything else, because it doesn't measure up to the
suffering of someone else. Please don't try to justify this kind of
insensitivity by invoking the Apostle Paul!
The persecution-denier might be somewhat sincere. He might not
experience the persecution, because his faith has become compromised and
virtually indistinguishable from the prevailing culture. Therefore, he rides
the waves instead of standing against them.
There are many forms of persecution, and Paul gave us instruction
about how to respond to it:
· Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not
curse. (Romans 12:14)
While I am convinced that we must comfort the persecuted and
expose the persecutor, we must do this in a way that reflects our Master. It
has to be done in love, in the form of a blessing (Eph. 4:29), even as we use
words that might cut to the core. But how can we endure the coming holocaust
and remain other-centered? According to Jesus, it is indeed coming:
· "They will lay hands on you and persecute
you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought
before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in
your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how
you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of
your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed
even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you
to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will
perish. By standing firm you will gain life.” (Luke 21:12-19)
Persecution is
inevitable. However, embodied in these words, Jesus imparts necessary wisdom
that we need in order to endure. Here’s what I see:
1. We shouldn’t be ashamed when we are persecuted.
It goes with being His children (John
15:18-20; 16:1-2). When we are hated, it doesn’t reflect any deficit on our
part, but rather contempt for the Light that we share.
2. We can’t handle
persecution on our own. Therefore, we need not worry about how to respond.
Instead, we need to depend exclusively on Him. If He will give us the words we
need in the midst of persecution, He can also comfort our troubled hearts and
enable us to endure.
3. God is in control. He
has a blessed purpose for allowing the persecution: “This will result in your being witnesses to
them.” Consequently, I have to remind myself that there is great blessing in
persecution:
· “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people
insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because
of me. (Matthew 5:10-11)
This means that we are to regard persecution as
a positive and not a negative. He also purifies His church through persecution
(2 Cor. 4:10-11; 1 Peter 4:1-2). I think that this orientation will help us
accept it. Nevertheless, although God works it for good (Rom. 8:28), the
persecutor works it for evil, and therefore should be held accountable and the
persecuted comforted.
4. God’s plan may even
entail our martyrdom (Rev. 2:10). However, Paul encourages us that the
suffering in this life is in no way comparable to our eternal joy (Rom. 8:18).
5. Nevertheless, “not a hair of your head will perish.” Evidently,
Jesus speaks of our eternal destiny (Mat. 10:28-30). This must remain our focus
– being with Him for all eternity.
How did Jesus endure the
persecution? There’s a lesson in this for us:
· Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who
endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and
lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)
There is an eternal joy set before us. Upon this must we plant our
eyes and dreams and leave the rest to Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment