I just read a portion of my devotional which is a study through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Today’s section focused on verse 10, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” The following portion of the MacArthur’s thoughts I found to be very profound and personally challenging:
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“I heard of a man who was fearful because he was starting a new job with a group of unbelievers whom he thought might give him a bad time if they found out he was a Christian. After his first day at work his wife asked him how he got along with them. “We got along just fine,” he said. “They never found out I’m a Christian.”
Silence is one way to avoid persecution. Some other ways are to approve of the world’s standards, laugh at its jokes, enjoy its entertainment, and smile when it mocks God. If you never confront sin or tell people Jesus is the only way to heaven, or if your behavior is so worldly no one can distinguish you from unbelievers, you will probably be accepted and won’t feel the heat of persecution. But beware!
Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you. . . . Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory” (Luke 6:26; 9:26). The last thing anyone should want is for Christ to pronounce a curse on them or be ashamed of them. That’s an enormous price to pay for popularity!”
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I don’t know that I have ever considered persecution as a blessing. But I know that it is mentioned since the beginning of history, when Abel was murdered by his brother because Cain could not tolerate his righteousness. Sometimes though, don’t we act like we are ashamed of righteousness? I remember in high school talking with someone and mentioning a friend that went to my church and the girl just stared at me in disbelief, “I never would have thought she was a Christian,” she said. It made me sick. Why would we put on such a two-faced act? I know right off that I am guilty of avoiding persecution by silence or false approval of others. I wag my head in shame when I think of the opportunities that I have had to declare the truth, proclaim the Gospel, and share God’s love and didn’t. I am convicting that sometimes I try to just blend in with the world or maybe I don’t deem it that bad, simply that I’m trying not to stand out. Same thing. Either way I am acting ashamed of Christ. I found Luke 6 and 9 above to be very conivicting to think that when I act ashamed of my faith and my Lord, He is ashamed of me. In the pursuit of holiness, I must put aside my hypocrisy and live in the Light.
We should never fear persecution. God grants us grace, daily to be obedient in all things that come our way. Remember His promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13:
“No temptation has overtaken you except which is common to man;
but God, who is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation
will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
This may seem obvious, but Paul is saying that God will always provide an option other than disobedience. In every situation, no matter how hopeless, trapped or troubled I am there is a choice for righteousness that His grace will enable me to make. My devotional ended by saying, “persecution is as much a gift of God as salvation itself. Both identify you as a true believer!” It is a blessing to be tested and found genuine in God’s sight. It is a blessing to be given testing to grow and be sharpened. What a different perspective we can have on persecution. We can ask God to continually grant the grace to follow Christ’s example when difficulties come our way.