But wait! The Sermon on the Mount was taught primarily to Jesus's disciples. "When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them ..." (Matt 5:1-2) Right there, at the beginning of the sermon, Jesus walks through the famous Beatitudes. The last one goes something like this.
"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt 5:11-12)So, if "The world hates you" was ominous, the promise that we are blessed if we are insulted for the sake of Christ seems the opposite. And, again, Peter was listening.
How do I know?
Peter echoes these very same concepts in his first epistle. "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you, " (1 Peter 4:12) he begins. He goes on to say, "If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." (1 Peter 4:14) See? Right out of the Sermon on the Mount. Right out of the upper room dialog.
Peter really nails it down here. "Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." (1 Peter 4:19) Did you catch that? We like to think that if we're in Christ, everything will be peachy. And we're sometimes a bit miffed when it isn't. I heard someone say to a fellow believer once, "I know God didn't mean any of those bad things to happen to you." Really? Peter didn't. Peter actually believed that we "suffer according to the will of God."
So, it turns out, we should expect suffering if we're believers. It is God's will at times. But not to worry. We are blessed when that happens. Good news. If, when our current culture is berating our beliefs, it looks like you're complaining, check yourself. It is a guarantee from Christ. It is for your blessing. And you should rejoice (1 Peter 4:13). I know; it ruins the "victim card" we might like to play, but, trust me, this is much better.
8 comments:
As you might remember, I struggle with this in the context of the US. Clearly we are seeing Christians persecuted in horrific ways across the globe. Imprisonment, torture, rape, slavery, killing are all happening to Christians in 2020. So I totally have no problem with the scripture on this. But at the same time, what we see in the US is minimal. I think (and I don't believe that you are doing this) that we don't want to equate the ridicule and vitriol we experience (especially online) to the realities of other countries. I certainly don't think that being cancelled on Twitter is comparable to being literally cancelled because of being beheaded. Again, I know that you aren't making those comparisons, and I know that we should expect a whole spectrum of persecution because of our faith. It just doesn't feel like we have anything to complain about at this point.
I do understand that your point is more big picture and aimed at the folx who think that following Christ is all rainbows and unicorns and that it's all going to be good. That they should probably get a more fully formed sense of what's in store. But it's still s struggle for me to hear.
Well, it's interesting. Peter wrote this epistle BEFORE the real persecution began. He was preparing them for what Jesus had promised. "Don't be surprised," he said. No, we certainly are NOT suffering the way others are in other places around the world. That was not my point. My point was "expect it" and not that it's here. But I also include all the suffering, from lost loved ones or sickness or lost jobs or whatever setbacks you want to envision. Any test of faith, according to James, works toward perfecting us, so, as Peter said, we're blessed and can rejoice.
I understand where you are coming from, it just always makes me think twice in relation to others.
"It could be worse" is a good way to keep things in perspective when enduring suffering of any level...though it less true when the level is more toward the severe end of the spectrum. We're not near that yet. But by the same token, persecution is a matter of degrees and I would expect our low level of persecution, being just a taste, is still bringing about blessings and rejoicing is warranted.
No argument. I’d suggest that whatever the blessing is, that it’s likely proportional to the actual suffering.
I have wondered at times if having it as easy as we have here as Christians for so long hasn't been bad for us as Christians.
I very much believe that to be true. It is the exact reason why we can have people claim to be Christian and deny everything that it means to be a Christian. Christianity had become so commonplace as to be meaningless.
“Oh, believe me, Christians are not so much in danger when they are persecuted as when they are admired." — Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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