Reflections on Brokenness Post 3 – The Way We Talk and Think About Persecution

One of my favorite parts of my new position here at Grace Chapel is leading our Oasis class. It’s a class designed for small group leaders to help them prepare the studies they’ll be leading this week. Based on the Sunday morning message, it’s our hope to not only reinforce the sermon but to explore its context, interpretation and application collectively.

This week’s sermon was on discipleship (preached by Pastor of Community Care, Jim Ennis) and it chronicled Peter from when Jesus called him, to when he was rebuked to when he boldly preached the gospel in Acts. When we talk about faithful discipleship, hopefully, at some point, we end up talking about sacrifice. And when we talk about sacrifice, eventually we talk about persecution.

One of the questions of my study asked, “…what risks do present day Christians face in being identified as Christ-followers?” This question generated some discussion.

For starters, Christians in the West do not face the same type of persecution as say, Christians in Iran (like Youcef Nadarkhani) or North Korea (even after Kim Jong II’s death). Let’s make that distinction, let’s mourn it, let’s honor it and let us intercede in prayer for it.

I find that it’s vey natural for Christians to say they have been persecuted. Many have been in a sense of ridicule from people they may be close to (family, friends, co-workers) to the media (comedy sketches, the New Atheists, secularists, etc.). I find that over the years, I’ve become a bit unsympathetic to the alleged cries of persecution that I hear about here in the States.

A big example for many this past fall was Tim Tebow. Was Tebow really persecuted? Certainly not like Pastor Youcef but I think it’s fair to say Tebow endured a bit more joking at his expense than he deserved. At the same time, one could make the case that he has certainly benefited from that. Perhaps more on that another time.

Just about every month or so I hear a story about a teacher that either was fired or faces some type of disciplinary action for saying/doing something that is interpreted to be “religious”. There is a part of me that believes some Christians are looking to start something (they might say they are “taking a stand”), and there is another part of me that has heard some really odd stories out there. For example, I recently heard a story about a teacher that was suspended for humming a hymn. I inquired whether it was in class, was it in a hallway, restroom but the details were unconfirmed. Getting suspended for humming a hymn? If that’s true, that’s disturbing.

Thankfully, evaluating the legitimacy of such things is not my responsibility. But I do think we as believers could do a few things better.

One is seriously be in prayer and support our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. There are many organizations, churches, websites and countless people who tell the stories of persecution. May God judge our hearts, if we do it for the sake of justice, then let’s do it louder and more often. If the motive is for political or financial gain, let’s repent of that.

Two, let’s be wise with the way we use the persecution rhetoric. I for one do not believe secularization is the greatest evil. In a secularized culture, the best narrative wins and I’m very confident in the content and promise of the Christian one (We do need to work on the appropriate telling of that message though). For the Church to thrive in a secularized culture, it needs to be strong, let that motivate and inspire us.

Third, let us serve the culture. Today in our culture war in the States, we are not going to advance the Kingdom by advocating for “Christian rights” by treating it as if it were a civil rights issue (please let us stop making that comparison). Let us serve the culture. May our churches not only be known for their great preaching, music and family ministries, but may they also be known as places who unleash people to serve their communities. This is perhaps the most difficult aspect of the ministry, the narrowest of gates if you will. But one that we must start walking through in order to be faithful to the call of the Kingdom.

My suspicion, and I should think about this a little more, is that New York City would not be kicking out churches from renting out their schools if we were better allies of the city. Most of these churches are likely excellent tenants. Many of them have physically and technologically improved the meeting spaces in these schools but have our churches improved our communities? This isn’t just a question for New Yorkers to answer, this is one that all of us need to be asking and answering.

Obviously this list is not meant to be an exhaustive plan and my goal here is not to limit or prevent persecution but as I have been reading the book of Matthew (many in our church are reading/listening to the New Testament throughout Lent), the topic of persecution is coming to mind. We need to be sure to honor our persecuted brothers/sisters, we need to be sure to honor our Lord, the crucified and risen Messiah.