Worthy to Suffer

Are you worthy to suffer? 

That sounds weird, huh? I mean, my knee-jerk reaction to suffering is, “Lord, why me? What wrong did I do to deserve this?” But (apparently) the opposite is true. When suffering, we should rather ask, “What good thing have I done to be so fortunate?”

You’re not convinced, I can tell.

In our study of Acts, we’ve witnessed an exciting start to this new Jesus movement called the church. Even after the first scandal—the deaths of hypocrites Ananias and Sapphira—the purified and passionate church is growing wildly. Luke tells us, “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (Acts 5:14). Because of the love they showed to one another, the care for others’ physical needs, and the good news of God’s grace, “the people held them in high esteem” (v. 13). Times were good. But the devil was not going to stand by and let this growing movement go unopposed. Satan knows his end is coming, and the sooner the church accomplishes her mission to take the Good News to all nations, the sooner his time is over. 

Having failed to establish hypocrisy in the church, Satan went to his favorite friends, the hypocritical leaders of Judaism at that time, the Sanhedrin. 

But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and [they were] filled with jealousy (v. 17).

We know from the Gospels that these leaders, most of whom were Sadducees, were liberal (they didn’t believe much of the Bible was inspired, and didn’t believe in miracles, or resurrection, or heaven), and they were corrupt, having twisted the religious system to enrich themselves. Jesus had called them out—and they killed him for it. Now Jesus’ followers are the biggest thing in Jerusalem! If someone wants to be vehemently hated, just take the spotlight away from the who’s who. What’s worse? They accused these establishment elitists of killing Jesus! How dare they! So the leaders “arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison” (Acts 5:18). 

The devil is behind all this. He is turning up the heat on these apostles who just a couple of months earlier had fled in fear when Jesus was arrested. “This will scare them and stop their enthusiasm,” he must have thought.

Where God is at work, Satan gets to work. But God is greater. As Luther said, “The devil is still God’s devil.”

The Apostles Delivered from Prison by an Angel. 

An engraving by Philip Galle and Maerten van Heemskerck 

in the 1560s. National Gallery of Art.

What happens next is great. “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out” (v. 19) There’s nothing God can’t do. He sets captives free. Literally and figuratively. Bars and chains can’t stop him. Neither can drugs and sex (or whatever holds you captive). The angel said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life” (v. 20). "What?!" I can sense them thinking, "you want us to go right back into the lion’s den?" I think it is so awesome. I think God wants us to do the same. Persecution shouldn’t stop us. It should steel our resolve. And that’s what they did: Verse 21, “And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.” I love this! Meanwhile, the pompous Sanhedrin convenes that very morning and called to have the apostles brought before them, expecting them to be humbled. Imagine the shock when they were told the disciples weren’t there! Right after getting that news, someone else yelled, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people” (v. 25). They were brought in and grilled: “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us” (v.28). The apostles were unwavering. “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32)

This enraged the elitists and they wanted to kill them. But a respected member of the Sanhedrin warned that they should let them alone. He told them that if this movement “is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:38-39)

As you may know, it WAS of God. 

After agreeing to let them go, the Sanhedrin called them in and blessed them and bid them a kind farewell. Umm...not quite. "When they had called in the apostles, they beat them” (v. 40). Think about this for a second! What did that entail? Did they let the temple guards stand around them with sticks and cane them? Did they chain them to a post and whip them? Did they ask some Roman soldiers to punch them and slap them around? All of those scenarios are real possibilities. It's hard for us to picture because not many American Christians have experienced literal blows because of their faith.

After beating them Luke says the Sanhedrin “charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go” (v.40).

I've had the privilege to meet people who face violent
persecution every day for Jesus. This is a group of
Christians forced to flee China. When I took this picture,
they were singing, "This is the day that the Lord has made
let us rejoice and be glad in it." Not a sad face among them.

The apostles' reaction? “They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (v. 41). Wow, it’s true. Suffering dishonor is honor. 

Jesus said it like this (in Matthew 5:10-12), “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” That's relatable even to us American Christians. We do know insults and all kinds of evil being said falsely about us. 

Is it relatable to you?

As crazy as it seems, it’s true. When you suffer persecution for Jesus’ sake, you’re doing something right. You can count it all joy. So rejoice! You were counted worthy to suffer.

Persecution is Confirmation

I remember the first time I experienced persecution. It was nothing like what people in other parts of the world face. It was really nothing much at all. I was 17. I didn’t do anything like take a stand for Jesus publicly (that happened later). I just stopped doing the things my friends were doing. God had convicted me of sin and I was tired of compromise. You know, going to the parties, using the language, making fun of others, laughing at the jokes, and basically going along with all the things I knew weren’t right. It didn’t take long for my "friends" to notice. I remember a girl telling me I wasn’t fun any more. I realized I was no longer in on the jokes, I was the brunt of them. One morning I opened my locker to get my books when I noticed everyone laughing. Then I saw that someone had taped a porn magazine centerfold inside my locker door. Yeah, that hurt. It got worse. My “friends” would sometimes dedicate songs on WOKI (Knoxville's popular top-40 radio station back then) to me like, “Goody two-shoes” and “Only the good die young.” I was hurt and mad. I remember telling my father about it wanting him to share my anger. He smiled and congratulated me! "I'm so proud of you, son! Persecution is Confirmation!" he said.

When was the first time you experienced persecution? What was it like? Let's remember what persecution is. Persecution is not just anything negative that happens to you. It's not (on the other extreme) only getting your head cut off by Isis, either. Persecution is taking a personal hit because of Jesus. And that's normative for the Christian experience. Paul wrote (2 Tim. 3:12), “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus said (John 15:20), “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

Acts 4 begins with the pandemonium that ensued after Peter and John healed a man that everyone knew had been born with a severe disability. This miracle resulted in 5000 men believing and confessing Christ. As you might imagine, this got the attention of the elite Jewish establishment.
“The priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:1-2). John and Peter were arrested and spent the night in jail. It was the first example of persecution in the church era. And it wasn't over. The next day the Sanhedrin—the same establishment power players that schemed to put Jesus to death a little over a month earlier—came together in court to determine what to do with these upstart interlopers. Think of how intimidating this must have been! “And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, 'By what power or by what name did you do this?'” (Acts 4:7) They're wanting to know who gave them the right to do what they were doing. This was a bit of a trick question, because the only ones (they thought) who could give them the right were in that room! These guys were the establishment! Generations had worked to secure their power! Listen to the answer in Acts 4:8-11: "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone" (quoting Psalm 118:2). Now listen to his big ending in verse 12: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Did you read what he said? There is no other name. No other way. He got what Jesus had taught. Like in John 14:6 "Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There is no other way to get to God than through Jesus.

Well, the elitists were impressed (at least with their courage):

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). Wow. I want that to be said of me. Having been with Jesus overcomes any lack of intelligence, eloquence, or education. That's pretty great.

The Jewish leaders were stuck. They couldn't deny the great miracle that had taken place, but they had to somehow stem the growth of this movement. After deliberating, Acts 4:18-21 says they “charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them,

“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.' And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.”

So, after a night in jail, a chance to proclaim Jesus to the most powerful Jews in the world, and having been threatened to stop talking about Jesus. How do you think they responded? How would you have responded?

Well, they went back to their friends—the other believers—the church, and told them what had happened. Then they all prayed together. They realized that this persecution is exactly what the Bible predicted would happen to the Messiah...and thus, to his followers. But they professed their trust in God who is in control of all things, and they asked God to "grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness" (Acts 4:29). What a prayer! There was no hint of growing faint. No possibility of retreat. “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (4:30). Wow!

So what?
• Show you’ve been with Jesus. By your boldness & courage, or because of your faith that all will turn out ok. Or perhaps because of your integrity when everyone else is doing what’s wrong...or your uncommon love for people who are hard to like, or your kindness, or peace, or other fruits of the Spirit. Maybe you show Jesus in the way you work & give your all with honesty & excellence. Can people tell you’ve been with Jesus? They can if you’re filled with the Spirit. Ask him to fill you each day! Of course it helps if you actually spend time with him.

• Rejoice when you are persecuted! Jesus said (Mt.5:10-12) “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Rejoice with others. Persecution is confirmation...confirmation you really are a follower of Jesus.

• Pray for those who persecute you. They’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting the Cornerstone. Less than two months earlier Jesus quoted the following to the same leaders who persecuted Peter and John: (Matthew 21:44) “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” There are consequences to rejecting Jesus. So pray for them!

• Be bold. Don't be a jerk or offensive. Don’t bait people. Those are different—and sinful. In 1 Peter 3:15, the same Peter wrote, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness & respect."  God will give you opportunities. Be prepared. He'll give you the words to say, and the courage to say it.

Jesus I My Cross Have Taken

By Bryan McKaig
Guest Blogger

The first time I heard the hymn “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” was at a Reformed University Fellowship service on the campus the University of Tennessee. I had been attending these week night meetings for several months, coming back every week for the unvarnished and practical Bible teaching and stripped-down, simple worship music. In a large college auditorium class room, I stood in front of a squeaky, wooden, fold-down seat and sang as I read these lyrics from an overhead transparency projector:

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee. Destitute, despised, forsaken, thou from hence my all shalt be.

As the song went on, led by a young woman with an acoustic guitar and a fuzzy headed college guy with an upright bass, I began to be overwhelmed by the unyielding joy found in the lyrics. The song absolutely slayed me. It still does.

What moved me to tears about the hymn that night in college was the absolutely thorough way in which it expresses it’s central theme: that to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Without directly quoting Paul’s famous line from Philippians 1:21, this song spends six glorious verses joyfully embracing Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow him. 

Fast forward from sometime in 2002 to March, 2018. At Providence, we’re in the middle of a four-week deep dive into Jesus’ final day before his crucifixion. It’s Sunday, March 11, and Anthony Burton is preaching on Luke 23:26-31. Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry Jesus’ cross for him, presumably because Jesus was too badly injured from his previous beatings to haul a large wooden beam very far. And as a crowd follows them down a Jerusalem road, weeping for him, Jesus tells them that they really should be weeping for themselves, because there’s a worse day coming to the Jews of Jerusalem in a few decades.

All of this brought to mind one of Jesus' most shocking teachings: that if you want to be Jesus’ disciple, you have to deny yourself, take up your own cross daily, and follow him. 

Every week, as we plan our services at Providence, we consider what songs would best prepare people to receive what God has for us in the scripture we’ll be studying. We choose songs that we think will help tie together the themes from God’s word with the realities of our lives, and help us take his word into ourselves with the help of his Spirit. And in light of this part of Jesus’ story, this incredible hymn was one of the first things that entered my mind. We sang it Sunday, and revisited a couple of verses at the end of the service. I heard people singing loudly, which is always the sound I hope to hear in a worship service. A few folks asked me about the song afterward, and I heard through others that it really got some folks thinking. Still others said they wanted to understand the song better, becuase some parts had been a little tough to follow.

So I want to take a minute and walk you through these lyrics. There are a few things to keep in mind:

1. These words are old. Henry F. Lyte published them in 1824, and they sound like it. There are words like “thee” and “thou,” which people didn’t normally use, even back then. The rest of the language is pretty standard poetic stuff for the 19th century. Just for reference: thee/thou = you,  thy = your. And did you know that “thou," “thee," and “thy” were actually the more personal, intimate words to use. You would call a superior “you,” but your family member would be “thou.” Point is, old words can be confusing.

2. Old words are worth the work, in this case. You might ask why we should bother preserving old songs like this in worship. Aren’t there plenty of great worship songs being written today that you don’t need a degree to understand? Well, yes, there are. And no, that doesn’t mean we don’t need to dig into the old stuff. There’s a connection to the past in older music that can remind us that we are one with all the followers of Christ throughout history. They sang this song in church two hundred years ago! There are also sometimes old songs that just express something that nobody has quite managed to match since. I think this is one of those songs.

3. There’s a strong stream in early 21st century American culture that doesn’t like thinking, that encourages us to only process short sound bytes of information, in quick bursts. That influence can make it hard to focus on complex thoughts, like the ones in some old hymns, or even the ones in the Bible. It’s more valuable than ever to practice using the minds God gave us as a means of loving and worshiping him, when binge watching yet another season of some nostalgic 90’s show or soaking up sensational news headlines can be so appealing to our information-saturated brains.

That being said, here are a few key verses of this song, broken down and elaborated.

The first verse is a simple statement of commitment: 

Jesus, I my cross have taken

All to leave and follow thee

Destitute, despised, forsaken

Thou from hence my all shalt be.
 
Even through the syntax sounds like something Yoda might say to Luke, it’s really quite simple: 

• Jesus, I’ve taken my cross, I’m leaving everything, I’m following you. Even if I end up poor, friendless, and alone, from now on, you will be everything to me.

Verse 3 has one of my favorite lines in the hymn:

Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me

while thy love is left to me

Oh, ‘twere not in joy to charm me

were that joy unmixed with thee.

Did you get that? No? Here’s what it means:  

• Sadness cannot hurt me while I have your love. Happiness cannot attract me if you’re not involved. 

Verse 4 contains maybe the hardest line in the song to say:
Go then, earthy fame and treasure

come, disaster, scorn, and pain.

In thy service pain is pleasure

with thy favor, loss is gain.

How difficult is that to say? It’s so difficult:

• As far as the good life goes: it can leave me. As far as terrible experiences go: bring ‘em on. When I am serving you, Jesus, whatever hurts reminds me of your pleasure with me, and if you are pleased with me, I’m better off without the good things in life. 

Verse 5 does something that we see a lot in the Psalms; it addresses our own soul. This is a powerful poetic device for prayerful worship link this - you are speaking to your own soul within yourself, reminding yourself to remember what is true: 

Soul, then know thy full salvation

rise o’er sin or fear or care

Joy to find in every station

something still to do or bear

Think what Spirit dwells within thee! 

Think what Father’s smiles are thine!

Think that Jesus died to win thee!

Child of heaven, cans’t thou repine?

Ok, so: “station” means “stage or situation in life.” “Repine” means “mourn or be sad.”  So the verse says: 

• Hey! Self! Get a grip on what your salvation really means! Rise above sin, fear, and worry, as you find joy in whatever situation you find yourself! There’s something in it for you to do, or some burden for you to bear. JUST THINK!!! God’s Spirit is in you! God is your Father, and his smiles are yours! Jesus died for you! Child of heaven, can you really mourn hopelessly?

The last verse takes us into eternity, when all of the suffering will give way to unmitigated joy and unpolluted fulfillment.

Haste thee on from grace to glory

armed by faith and winged by prayer!

Heaven’s eternal days before thee,

God’s own hand shall guide us there!

Soon shall close thy earthly mission,

Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days!

Hope shall change to glad fruition, 

faith to sight, and prayer to praise!

This is the good stuff! We finish the song with our eyes on the true motivation for enduring suffering in this life: There will be fruition. There will be fruit. There will be a brilliant, perfect, worth-it-all result. Here’s a paraphrase of this final verse: 

• Go! Speed on through a life sustained by God’s grace to the presence of his glory! Your weapon is faith, and your wings are prayer, and God has his hand on you, guiding you into his presence. Your mission here will be over soon, and your days as a weary traveler will end. What you hoped for, you will have. What you prayed for, you will see. What you trusted God for, you will praise him for.

What’s the point then? Gain. Being a disciple is all about what you get: and what you get is not your best life now. What you get is God. And that will either seem like the greatest gift in the world to you, or it will seem like nothing. If you see God as the greatest thing you can ever have, then your suffering, what you give up to follow him, the pleasures you don’t take part in - those will seem like nothing, and he will be everything.

Blessed are the Hated

What if I told you that great joy is found through being poor, hungry, and sad? Not only would you not believe it, you’d probably laugh! We’ve been so conditioned to think that we are blessed if we are rich, full, and happy. Unfortunately, there are preachers who believe and preach this (and are, by the way, the vast majority (12 of 14) of the wealthiest ministers in America). 

#5: Creflo Dollar. Perfect name!

These prosperity gospel proponents are profoundly wrong. Let’s believe what Jesus said. 

Luke 6:

¹⁷And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon… ²⁰And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed [happy, fulfilled, completely satisfied regardless of circumstances] are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ^24“But woe (miserable, pity) to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ^21a“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. …^25a“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. ^21b“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. …^25b“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 

Jesus turned the world’s thinking on its ear. Truth is, as the Creator God who became flesh and shared the human experience, he knows. And we would be wise to hear him if we want to find true and lasting blessedness. He invites us to shift our thinking from what the world insists is the way to happiness to what he promises. (get previous weeks' MP3s)

But there is one more. 

²²“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! ²³Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. ²⁶“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

There’s no mystery here. No metaphors. No Greek words that need to be explained. You really don’t need me to help you understand this passage (truth is you don’t need me to understand most passages!) It’s completely straightforward. Right off it's obvious that Jesus expects this to happen to all his disciples. He does not say, “blessed are some of you who happen to be poor, hungry, weep..” as the others seem to say, but “blessed are you when people react to you negatively because of me.” Jesus uses the word “when” not “if” as if it is not a matter of “whether” you will face persecution for his sake. It will happen, it’s just a matter of “when.” 

Persecution is a vital part of the Christian experience. Period. Let me show you.

2 Timothy 3:12, Paul writes, Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” To take up one's cross is to suffer greatly before dying. Jesus says this is not optional. In Matthew 10:38, he says, "whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

There are at least 4 ways persecution is vital to Christianity:

• It proves that you really are a Christian and you’re going to heaven. 

Romans 8: ¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. ^...18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

• It makes you better because it makes you more like Christ.

 1Peter 2: ^20…But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 

There is nothing that grows us like persecution. It’s when follow him most and are closest to him.

• It gives you a huge platform for influence. 

Philippians 1: ¹²I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 

Did you notice that Paul is excited that his mistreatment is giving him more influence?

John 15:

¹⁸“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me they will also persecute you. Did they persecute Jesus? Of course they did, but don’t miss what comes next: If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. Did they? Many who once persecuted became believers, like Paul, absolutely did! The point is, like Jesus, his followers will be persecuted. And as many people listened to Jesus, people will listen to those who are persecuted for their faith! 

• It increases your joy! Yes! Jesus was right! Persecution brings lasting happiness both here and eternally! 

In 2 Corinthians 1:5, Paul wrote, For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort (paraklēsis—consolation) too. We've seen that word! It's the word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit (Comforter), and is used above for the very limited comfort the rich will find by making wealth their god.

1 Peter 4: ¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice [here] and be glad when his glory is revealed [in heaven]. ¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. ^…16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

The suffering most of us experience does not compare to that which our brothers and sisters experience in other parts of the world, but it is still very real. And it is vital to the Christian experience. In fact, I think there is a moment in everyone’s spiritual growth when they realize persecution is an indispensable, inherent part of being a Christian. It's a mile-marker. It is big. It is when you find out your faith is for real. It is when Christ becomes your identity. It changes everything.

I remember when it first happened to me. I was in high school. Although I received Christ at 7, as middle school came, I started looking more like the world. I was a class clown, who loved the girls, sports, and being popular and cool. I knew in my heart that I was a huge hypocrite. Occasionally, I’d try to clean up, but these efforts were short-lived. This pattern continued until my parents divorced. After the initial emotional turmoil settled, I had a clear choice to make: continue in hypocrisy and sin, play both parents to benefit my own interests, or run to God. By God's grace, I ran to God. I determined to stop being a faker. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t suddenly become bold with my faith. I simply started genuinely seeking God, reading his Word, and just tried to do what was right. That was a huge challenge for me. I stopped cussing and telling dirty jokes. I changed friend groups. I was messing around with a girl who I liked for all the wrong reasons, and I stopped. I quit going to the parties. That girl and my old friends began to make fun of me. It hurt. I was used to being the one making fun of others. It seriously hurt. I often wanted to take matters back into my own hands and fight someone. Thankfully my father reminded me what Jesus said about persecution. He was proud of me, smiled, and said my persecution was a badge of honor. Another particularly memorable thing was when my English teacher—who had seen a change in my life and knew I was being jeered by my old friends—slipped me an encouraging note in class. That was a huge tipping point in my life. 

Have you had a moment like that? Have your eyes been opened to the fact that persecution is the norm for the Christian life? The converse is also true: if you’re NOT experiencing it, something’s probably wrong. 

The great John Wesley was quite familiar with persecution. While riding between frontier towns on his horse, John Wesley reportedly became concerned when it occurred to him that he had not experienced persecution for three whole...days (did you expect to read years? Or weeks?). This caused him to question whether he was outside of God's will. He got off his horse and began to pray when a man saw the preacher praying outside his town and threw a rock at him (some versions of the story say it was a brick) which barely missed. Wesley looked up and thanked God!

Point is, persecution is the norm, it is the hard, narrow path that follows in the steps of Jesus and leads to heaven. 

There are ditches on either side of this path... 

On one side is the ditch of compromise- This occurs most when you are living to please people, or to not make waves, or to acquiesce and conform to the world. People will love you! These self-proclaimed "Christians" never make people uncomfortable with their lifestyle. In this case, the ditch is easier than the path!

If you're in this ditch, please remember Romans 12:1-2 

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ²Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

When you don’t conform…you will inevitably cause people to become aware of their own sin, and they will often not like it. This is why some people hate Christians. They make them aware that there is a God and that their lifestyle is not OK. 

But there’s a ditch on the other side of the path of persecution that leads to heaven. It is victimization. This ditch contains a category of people who range from those who are easily-offended to those have an axe to grind. Some Christians are looking for ways to be offended, like those who get so miffed about the so-called “War on Christmas” or those who post political “culture war”-type-posts on Facebook. This attitude comes from a “we-Christians-have-majority-status-and-deserve-to-be-treated-with-respect” attitude. Some Christians even seem to go so far as to be purposely offensive, they have a martyr complex “chip on their shoulder" and are looking for chances to cry “foul!” To unbelievers they can seem whiny, prideful, hateful, and intolerant. This is NOT what Jesus desires. They make all Christians look bad. 

I was thinking about this while driving to get pizza Saturday. I was asking God how I can illustrate this for today, when I saw this truck which had three flags flying in the bed: an American flag, a Confederate flag, and a Christian flag. Here's a guy making a statement. I'm sure he's a good guy. But what is seen by many is this: Christians are proud racists.

A guy in our church snapped this picture of the same truck I
saw within 24 hours of my mention of it on Sunday morning!
See?! Proof that I don't make this stuff up!

Unfortunately he deserves the dirty looks he probably gets—and no, they are not evidence of persecution. They are understandable expressions of disdain for his ignorance and/or stupidity (I say with all love). As a southern, redneck, American Christian myself, let me beg those of you still fighting the Civil War: Stop it. Quit reminding everyone of a lost war that was fought in part to keep other human beings enslaved! It's dumb. God is not pleased. If you are truly a Christian, let your identity be found in Christ, not some sentimental notion of southern heritage (that's not even accurate, by the way; especially if your heritage is East Tennessee, whose population was 70% for the Union!). 

My point is, you don’t have to go looking for persecution! And you definitely don't need to provoke it. It will come when you simply live in the Spirit. Satan knows you and has a bullseye painted on your back—but "greater is he who is in [you] than he who is in the world"!

So DON’T be a Compromiser. and DON’T have a chip on your shoulder (by being an easily offended, hypersensitive, baiter—provocateur, or kooky Christian). 

Simply be a disciple…a sincere follower of Jesus. Really take what he says to heart and do it. Really live for him. Live LIKE him. And when you meet someone who is caught in a lifestyle of sin, do not judge! LOVE! Remember that you too are a sinner! Remember that God forgives. 

If you simply focus on Christ and live the truly blessed life (as we’ve discussed) You’re going to take shots from two primary sources:

1. People in the world who don’t want to see or hear anything that might make them the least bit uncomfortable about their lifestyle. Their God is themselves, and they are living for THIS world. If your God is the Lord and you’re living for the other world, you delegitimize them without even trying. There is a peace you have that they don’t understand. There is a joy you have that doesn’t depend on stuff, or money, or physical beauty or fame. You don’t have to be offensive! 

2. Others who might claim to be Christians. People who believe they’re believers. “Chad, that’s not what Jesus meant. He meant people in the world.” Au contraire. Did you catch the “Woe?” Jesus said, ²⁶Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. 

The Old Testament false prophets were popular and well-paid, usually by kings who wanted religious “yes men” to justify their actions. They hated the true prophets who usually had to stand alone on God’s Word. The mainstream “false” religious leaders led their persecution! This is how it was in Jesus’ day! The religious types were his primary enemies! Like then, some now are legalists who are more concerned with do’s and don’ts and outward appearance, than they are with love, grace, and spiritual growth. Don't forget, some who claim to be Christians just aren’t. And others are just extremely immature believers who never grew spiritually. Persecution from these can be some of the hardest persecution to understand—and some of the most hurtful! Christian history is full of Christians persecuting Christians! It even happened in America, which (ironically) was founded by Christians who came to flee religious persecution of other Christians. For example, the puritans demanded that everyone conform to their way of worship and persecuted those who did not. Read about Obadiah Holmes. Or what about the Civil War where Christians on both sides believed God was with them and killed Christians on the other side! Or how about the “Christian” KKK members (or so they claimed) who lynched and terrorized (mostly) Christian blacks in Jim Crow south. Insane! Those are extreme examples but today it's more subtle. Some "Christians" around us may judge our clothes, music, Bible translation, or political opinions. Some may say we’re not hard/loud/hateful enough on the LGBTQ community and others insist we should legitimize/celebrate homosexuality as a morally equivalent alternative lifestyle (No!—Christ showed we must love sinners and hate sin—avoiding compromise in either direction). Or persecution may come from "Christian" friends and family members who think you’re over-the-top radical for depriving your kids of R-rated movies, and unrestricted internet on phones and computers (believe me, Darla and I have received it!). Many times it comes from compromising Christians who want to justify their own actions. Don’t over-react. Don’t get the last word. Love (much more on this later). 

It’s more important to win a heart than to win the argument. 

You don’t want them to think, “That may be true but I don’t like you. And I definitely don’t want to be like you.”

What does this look like? Romans 12: 

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

This is what Jesus is saying in the beatitudes. 

There is at least one more week of our “Blessed” series. And it's big. Next we'll see the motivating principle to consistently live this way and find blessedness. We will put the period on the end by examining Jesus’ words that follow in this sermon on the plain. They contain the foundation—the core—of the Christian philosophy that sets it apart from all other systems and religions. And it is the key to living out the Christian life. Yes, it’s that big. If you want to be blessed, YOU DON’T want to miss it.