Persecution: Normal and Expected
“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” – John 15:20
In a recent conversation with Pastor Vic regarding the church in persecution, he asked me to write the devotion knowing we would be hearing a message on this subject. After giving some thought, my mind was drawn to an article written by Nik Ripken, author of The Insanity of God. I was Nik and Ruth’s pastor in California during their overseas service in a closed country. Over a nearly ten-year period of travel around the world interviewing believers in persecution, the resulting stories made their way into that first volume. Having experienced Nik’s persecuted church workshop on several occasions, I decided to include exerts from that article.
When Nik began gathering these interviews and learned of widespread persecution on several continents, he was compelled to ask these pastors and lay leaders, “Why have you cheated us in the West? Why haven’t you written these stories down? Where are the books that chronicle your faith in persecution? These stories are worthy of a movie. These are Bible stories come to life! Why have you not shared these lessons learned?”
As the questions were asked, these men and women sat in stunned silence. Finally, one brother stood up, took the interviewer by the arm, and drew him to the end of the large room by the eastern window. Looking out he asked: “Sir, when your sons were growing up, how many mornings did you take them to the window and say, ‘Look, boys, the sun is coming up in the east this morning?’” The interviewer responded to the obvious silly question with “Well, I never once did that because the sun always comes up in the east!” Gently, the wise brother made his point: “Sir, that is why we talk little of our persecution and suffering. That is why we have not written our stories down. And that is why we have not made a movie. Our persecution is always with us. It simply comes as we walk with Jesus. It is like the sun coming up in the east.”
Normally, when we send a person or a group out on mission, we begin our prayer for their safety. Safety under daily circumstances, such as travel to/from the field and to be free from illness such as drinking contaminated water. However, we must understand that our mandate is to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and many times that will seem like the gates of hell. During my time at the International Mission Board, our department sent thousands of people to the mission field. I stood before them, especially the 20-something Journeymen and told them that I assured their parents that the IMB would keep them safe. I went on to say that was a lie. The fallen sinful world in which we live has inherent danger with some that we can guard against and some we cannot. But persecution is another story. Nik goes on to share three principles that we must clearly understand.
First, persecution is normal for those who follow Jesus. Scripture makes this point from beginning to end. It is, quite simply, like the sun coming up in the east. Persecution is neither good nor bad—it just is. Certainly, Christians are not to seek persecution. But, at the same time, Christians need not give in to it as a crippling fear with attempts to avoid at all costs.
Second, conversion is the primary cause of persecution. That may sound strange, but consider this simple truth: When people come to Jesus, persecution results. And the only way to stop persecution is to keep people from coming to Jesus. Conversion and suffering for the faith are simply two sides of the same coin. Many Christians in the West hold to a missiology of suffering that is, at the very least, biblically inconsistent. Believers in persecution ask for prayer that they be found faithful in the midst of persecution, that they be bold in their witness, and that God would use their suffering to bring others to himself. They do not ask for others to pray that their persecution end.
Third, even when missionaries do everything right, the result of a bold and culturally-astute witness will be the persecution, suffering, and martyrdom of others. That’s the result of “the mission enterprise.” Tertullian boldly proclaimed that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Church history has proven this time after time.
The Purposes of God? What do we do when Joseph is wrongly accused and thrown into Pharaoh’s prison? What about Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail? Practically speaking, what do we do when that happens today? We protest and contact governments and United Nations officials. We demand that the person be freed. We righteously claim that rights have been violated. We point out that no crime has been committed and we say that we will settle for nothing less than release. We threaten sanctions. And that’s all understandable.
But what if God has determined that he needs this person in jail for a season? Or, at the very least, what if God determines that he will use this time of imprisonment for some special purpose? What if we spring this person too soon—before it is understood that Joseph can interpret Pharaoh’s dream or that Paul’s jailer has heard the gospel? What if we rescue him, only to discover that we have been working against the purposes of God?
Of course, we dare not be careless here: no believer has the right to be silent when another believer is suffering! The Church in the West has no right to ignore the suffering of brothers and sisters around the globe. But even so, there is a God-given wisdom that will lead God’s people to understand that there are times to allow Christians to remain imprisoned for the sake of God and his kingdom. God can and will reveal exactly when those times come.
For eighty percent of the Christian family in our world today, persecution remains as common as the sun coming up in the east. Surely, persecution is never to be sought nor fearfully avoided. But when it comes, each follower of Christ is invited to embrace it, to see it as normal and expected, and to pray that God might somehow use it for his purposes and ultimate glory.
If you have not read The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken, I would encourage you to do so. We have copies in our church library.
We trust the Lord as we continue to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world,
Glenn Prescott