“I
am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents
and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to
councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before
governors and kings because of Me as a testimony to them and the
Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to
speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at
that time, for it is not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his
child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and
you will be hated by all because of My Name. But the one who endures to
the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:16-22 NRSV
I
want to share with you a thought from my dear friend and mentor, John Farthing,
who had some thoughts about our Americanized version of persecution: “Whenever
we don't get our own way, we start to whine and complain that we're being
persecuted for Christ's sake. That demeans the Cross. It's like
getting a mild headache and saying, "This is the cross I'm called to
bear."
It
also demeans the real sufferings of our brothers and sisters who really are
being persecuted for their faith. American Christians
haven't the slightest inkling of what it means to suffer for Jesus'
sake. Our witness is so anemic, so powerless, that the world doesn't
take us seriously enough to go to the trouble of persecuting us.
Why
should the world persecute Christians who have capitulated so
completely to the values and assumptions of this fallen world? When John
Wesley rode into town, there would often be mobs in the street waiting for
him. How long has it been since a Methodist preacher in America
has had to face down a mob? Maybe that's because Wesley was a
threat to the status quo ... and we're not.
And
then we have the unmitigated gall to claim that we are being persecuted just
because, on some political issue, we don't get to have our own way ... We
need to talk to Christians in China or Iraq or Syria, who know what it's
like to be imprisoned or shot or beheaded for their witness to the grace of our
Lord.
It's
just embarrassing to realize that we've become so numbed by our own comfort
that we don't even realize what persecution really is---and then we have
the gall to claim persecution just because we don't get our way.”
I
really do not think I can improve on that. Pray for our truly persecuted
brothers and sisters around the world who literally face torture and death and
displacement because of their faith in The Lord. And take each American
day as the Gift it truly is – to be used to the glory of our Lord and for the
benefit of those who struggle for worth and love and acknowledgement!
Blessings,
Michael
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