On Sunday we concluded our sermon series about Responding to Persecution with a message about “The Persecution of Our Faith”. This is by no means an easy subject to deal with, but Christ made no secret of the fact that these kinds of things would happen to His followers. We do in fact see some level of persecution even in the United States, but it has been steadily growing. Christian beliefs are increasingly being considered outdated, backwards, foolish, and even hateful by our secular society. The question becomes this: How will I respond when someone is being completely unjust and unfair?
Thankfully Jesus gives us some very clear direction in this regard from Matthew 5 and Luke 6. In these passages Jesus describes many unjust scenarios and how to respond…
Luke 6:27-30, 35-36 (NASB)
27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.
35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
The easy thing to do when persecuted is to take up offense with our persecutors, to become resentful, and to take on the victim role. But that isn’t the picture Jesus paints, nor the example He gives us when He is unjustly persecuted. The picture Jesus paints and instructs us to walk in is one of peaceful resistance to evil and always responding in love. It is walking in His strength so that we can joyfully bear the cost of following Him. While we prepare ourselves mentally to do this in big ways, we also have opportunity to practice love and forgiveness every day as we refuse to pick up offense in even the minor things.
Chinese Pastor Wang Yi has walked this out and outlined his thoughts in several letters to His congregation. He was taken into custody in December and has not yet been heard from. I encourage you to read some of the things He has said and to be encouraged that it is possible to stand firm in love while being persecuted, without picking up offense (see links below). Let’s remember to pray for him and his church. If you’d like to sign a petition requesting their release you can do that here.
What a mission we’ve been given and what spiritual freedom there is in following Christ!!!