Christian Living

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Persecuted for Christ


18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. John 15:18-20

One of the least preached messages of the modern Christian era is the message of persecution. It is gauranteed that if one is genuinely born again by the spirit of God, they will put up with some variation of persecution. Of all of the signs that someone is genuinely born again is persecution. It is not doctrine and it is not theology, because a lot of ivory tower bible scholars are lost, having only knowledge of Christ but not the spirit of Christ himself. Persecution certainly isn't the only sign of true Christianity, but it is perhaps one of the most significant. If in any way, you are being mistreated because you live for Christ, that is persecution. Martyrdom is the ultimate of course of all persecution.

Those living is North Korea's brutal totalitarian communist regime can testify to this. North Korea is the final frontier for intense Christian persecution. No where on the face of the earth is it more dangerous to profess Christ then in North Korea. Bibles are prohibited, churches are prohibited, and professing anything other then complete allegience to Kim Jong is punishable always by death. In 2005 an underground church was discovered by North Korean police. Twenty-five Christians including their pastor were rounded up and given the opportunity to renounce Christ and pledge allegience to the volatile Jong. They refused. Each one of them were forced to lie face down on the ground, while a bulldozer was driven over them.

We don't hear stories like these in the secular media because they could care less about how many Christians are murdered around the world every year. Utter one word about abortion though, and they will villify you ferociously. That's what Christians are facing though, a callous and hypocritical hostility from most of society. Now martyrdom is not the only stand one makes for Christ, and not everybody is asked to do it. John the apostle was not martyred and he was as faithful as any servant of the Lord. Many of history's most faithful Christians lived a peaceful life free of any physical violence. I think sometimes when we read the scriptures and witness some of the atrocties the disciples had to endure, we tend to think we must too in order to prove our faith. Some Christians will, but others will not be asked to.

Persecution has many faces. Recently my unsaved parents split up after 31 years of marriage. Adultery was commited by my natural dad. My mother is beside herself with rage, grief, and vengeance. My baby sister, aunt, uncle, and her friends have all joined the parade of flogging my dad. I do not for one minute condone, like, or am comfortable with what he has done. I am however, a Christian; I cannot hate my dad, I must be peacable, and civil to him and pray for his soul. My mom however, blasted me a few days ago for not hating my dad, for not taking part in the vicious maligning he has recieved. Not that he hasn't brought it upon himself, but as a child of God I can't do that. She knows I'm a Christian, and I told her why I couldn't hate him, but I was still the object of her anger because of the stand I had to make based on faith in Christ.

So It isn't always violence, imprisonment, bloodshed, and death that exemplifies persecution; in fact most of us are persecuted everyday in the smallest of ways. If you're determined to live for Jesus you won't have to knock on doors to draw rejection. Just be a Christian, and it won't be long. It's inescapable. If you're new in Christ and haven't experienced hostility yet, wait a while, it's coming. The more you walk with God, the more his spirit will inhabit you, and the less you'll jive with the world. The more you absorb Christ's spirit, the more withdrawn you become from the methods and practices of the world, and the world takes notice. It sometimes is very subtle, especially if you have to work at an occupation surrounded by unbelievers. Jokes are told which you don't laugh at, language is used which you don't use, gossip is engaged in which you take no part in, and the unbelieving notice this; they notice that something about you is not like them. When they begin to mock you for it, or treat you unfairly, that's persecution. Some of us have family we rarely see because we've been forced to seperate from them due to their worldliness. Family members wonder why their Jesus freak relatives won't be in the presence of heavy alcohol consumption, foul language, or other practices that are ungodly during family gatherings. It grinds them that we spend more time with our spiritual brothers and sisters then we do them.

Persecution though is the result of something spiritual more then physical. The light which dwells in us glows in the darkness which surrounds us.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

The reason Christ was hated with such passion is that his light was so bright that it was unbearable to those around him who walked in darkness. He was so holy that people couldn't stand it, least of all the godless, hard hearted pharisees. It was his spirit that was hated and not his physical presence. This same spirit dwells in us, and this same spirit will draw the same hostility he got. The world has no reason whatsoever to hate us, because we haven't done anything to them. It's him in us they hate, and atheists hate Christians with a ferocity that is almost bloodthirsty. The world can tolerate muslims, buddhists, and members of various religions; but not Christians. Christians are the most hated group of people on the face of the earth, and it's unfounded, unjust, but completely par for the course. It should be that way.

Peter said we are a pecilar people, and to most of the world that's abundantly true. Freaks, wierdos, bible-thumpers, narrow-minded imbeciles, and religious extremists. That's persecution. The stands we take against the practices of the world are always met with fierce resistance and frightful hatred. Any other group or clique could rise up and proclaim their stand against immorality but if a Christian does it then he's an intolerant bigot. There's no rhyme or reason for this other then the spirit of the Lord provokes their anger.

We are not loved by the world because we forsake its principles. This draws their ire because the world loves darkness more then light. Our light irritates them, and when they let us know we endure persecution. We rarely have to utter a word most times to draw malevolence; the character we display is enough. They'll hate you for being you.

James said:

14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14

Our time here on earth is very brief, and although we may have to endure the world's ire, it won't last long. Compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us, it is a minute sacrfice. Jesus did it for us, and in him, persecution is bearable, enabling us to walk through the narrow gate and into eternal glory with God.

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