After writing last week on the final beatitude from Matthew 5 the persecuted church has regularly been on my mind. The Bible speaks a lot about persecution being a reality and expected part of the Christian life. One such verse is:
‘You will be betrayed…they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm, you will gain life.’ (Luke 21:16-17)
Even if you have a bit of a martyr complex, I doubt this has been your experience of Christianity. We might get a bit of flak, be called "brainwashed" or "Bible-bashers", or be kept at arm’s length by certain people, but we don’t go about our day expecting to die for our faith.
Recently, in my home group, we have been looking at the book of Esther and last week I was astounded by the faith and resilience of Mordecai. He deliberately disobeys a king’s commands by refusing to kneel. He knew that he should only bow the knee to God and therefore refused, despite the consequences to bow the knee to Haman. Haman took offence to this and as a result Haman persecuted the Jews. Mordecai must have felt responsible but he had stood up for his faith. We don’t experience this sort of persecution currently in the west. But in the east, it’s a different story. There, Christians are betrayed, they are marginalised, they are hated, and they are put to death. Recently in the Open Doors magazine I read about life as a Christian in North Korea. One Christian, speaking about his friend, said, “When he came to faith, he made the decision that one day he would die for Christ. Every Christian in North Korea has made that choice.” It’s so far removed from our experience that it’s hard to imagine.
So, when Jesus said, ‘Stand firm’, was he just referring to these Christians? Those facing severe persecution? Maybe it doesn’t apply to us in the West. We don’t need to stand firm and endure. We can sit back and enjoy!
Well, no. Not at all. I think that’s the problem we have currently in the west. Maybe we’re too comfortable. Many Christians are following the culture of the western world, which is far from God’s blueprint for humanity. In the west, we are in a battle but a far more subtle battle. Ephesians 6 tells us about the armour of God and what we need to stand our ground against the Devil’s schemes. In many ways, we in the West are unarmed because we're not facing obvious oppression. Why wear such heavy armour on such a nice day? What use is a breastplate right now? What good is a sword or a shield? We aren’t standing firm amidst persecution, but amidst complacency.
Maybe we aren’t in battle now, but our comrades are. We’d better get used to the armour now while we can. Let’s arm ourselves and stand firm, if not in solidarity, then at least in readiness.
Song for today
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high his royal banner,
It must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory
His army shall he lead,
Till every foe is vanquished,
And Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Stand in his strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you,
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor,
Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger,
Be never wanting there.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor's song.
To those who vanquish evil
A crown of life shall be;
They with the King of Glory
Shall reign eternally.
You can listen to it here.
Prayer for today
Loving and gracious heavenly Father,
We thank you for all your goodness to us. Thank you that you have opened our eyes to the light of your gospel. We ask today that you will help us to stand firm on the truths of your word. May we not be swayed by the world around us.
We also pray for all our brothers and sisters around the world who are facing real persecution - those who are facing imprisonment or even death. Give them courage to face the persecution and give them boldness to continue to share the good news of the gospel.
May we live for you and serve you in all we do.
In Jesus’ name
Amen
Photo by Zach Reiner on Unsplash
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