Suffering
for Christ
Stephen
Terry
Commentary
for the May 6, 2017 Sabbath School Lesson
“In
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted” 2 Timothy 3:12, NIV
This statement that Paul wrote to Timothy almost two
thousand years ago has caused far too many Christians to get the cart before
the horse ever since. Rather than being seen as it was likely originally
intended to be, as a simple warning that being a Christian could get a person
into a lot of trouble during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero, it is too
often sought as the proof that one is a bonafide, card-carrying Christian. In
other words, some may feel that if others do not like them for some reason then
it is proof that they must be Christian because they are suffering “persecution.”
They overlook that they might not be disliked and even insulted because they
are being offensive. A stark example might be someone picketing an abortion
clinic and carrying an enlarged, gory picture of an aborted fetus. Someone may
be deeply offended and insult them for this. In response they cry out that they
are being persecuted because they are Christian and they are doing God’s will
in fighting for the unborn. The only thing that may have been hurt was their
feelings. But that may be the only serious persecution they can conjure up, as
Christians in the United States are no longer sentenced to die in the arena or
nailed up on crosses on a hill outside of town. Christians are so un-persecuted
that they have to find bizarre ways to manufacture the claim in order to verify
their claim to be Christians.
In July of 2012, Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece
Cake Shop in Denver, Colorado refused to make a cake for a gay couple’s
wedding, citing his Christian religious beliefs as justification.[i] The courts disagreed, and
perhaps rightly so. If government is responsible for maintaining a well-ordered
society, it cannot encourage different factions, even religious ones, to refuse
to provide services to one another lest the social contract devolve into chaos.
Should a Calvinist deny service to an Arminian? What about Muslims and Jews?
Should they be allowed to refuse to do business with one another based on
religious scruples? In order to function equally well for all, the marketplace
must be neutral about such things. While the customer is free to patronize whom
they choose, the business owner is bound by the social contract to treat all
equally. So-called persecution that arises from a refusal to do so is not persecution
in any real sense for it is self-manufactured. Worse, for the Christian it is a
denial of the very principle of service to others and blessing one’s enemies
that Jesus taught.[ii]
Perhaps it is because even non-Christians know that this is the teaching of
Christ that they are so offended when Christians act in this manner. As a
result, far from furthering the cause of Jesus, such behavior drives people
away from even considering a relationship with a God that would act so harshly.
In contrast to such views of persecution in the United
States is the example found elsewhere in the world. For instance, 21 Coptic
Christians from villages in Egypt who were working in Libya were rounded up by
Islamic extremists and beheaded en masse
on the shores of the Mediterranean in February, 2015.[iii] Comparing what the
Christian cake baker called persecution to the experience of these martyrs is
as comparing an injured finger needing a Band-Aid to the experience of Christ
on the cross. There is no way that these experiences are somehow equal. In the
end, such claims are seen for what they truly are, unseemly Christian whining
over scraped knees. They may be painful, but they are not persecution. Now if
the Christian baker had baked the gay couple a cake and they in turn burned
down his store or even defamed him because he was a Christian, in spite of his
good service to them, that would be persecution. Trouble that arises because we
have stony hearts is perhaps well deserved. But to be Christ-like in our
suffering where we can truly claim we are being persecuted, we must be willing
to go to the extent of providing faithful service even for our enemies, even at
cost to ourselves, perhaps even going as far as Christ did. The normal bumps
and bruises of life are not sufficient to sanctify our service as they are
common to everyone.
Strangely, some, who would not allow themselves to suffer
inconvenience otherwise, still will feel that any inconvenience they cannot
avoid is suffering for Christ. The student in school may feel they are
suffering for Christ on test day. The mother giving normal birth to a healthy
child may feel they are suffering for Christ. The person who forgets to pay a
bill and then has to pay a late fee may feel they are suffering for Christ. But
this is life. There is no martyr’s reward in such things. On the other hand,
when that student is tested to see whether or not they are willing to compromise
their faith in order to pass that test, and they do not and must suffer the
consequences of that decision, they may genuinely claim persecution. This is
because it was not their intent that brought about the problem, but rather that
of the proctor.
The mother who gives her life to bring a baby into the
world is experiencing Christ-like suffering, for in giving her life for her
child, she models Jesus who gave His life for us. Perhaps the very severe pain
of childbirth is a reminder to every woman of the possibility of such a hard decision.
For so very many through the centuries that choice of life or death became all
too real. Thanks to the blessings of modern medicine, such deaths, although not
eliminated, are now rare. That pain that was a part of childbirth since the
beginning may have been intended to prefigure the suffering of the Messiah who
would one day redeem Eve’s folly.[iv] Perhaps it is not simply
coincidence that both Eve’s curse of pain in childbirth and God’s gift of Jesus
are both found in chapter 3 and verse 16 of the respective books of Genesis and
John.
When we are the instruments of our own suffering as in
the person who failed to pay the bill timely, we cannot claim persecution
either. Any suffering through late fees or loss of service has nothing to do with
our faith. On the other hand, they may have a lot to do with our faithlessness.
Rather than being Christ-like, this would be in sharp contrast to the One who
went to the greatest lengths to fulfill His commitment to humanity on time.[v] As He was punctual then,
He will be again. Because of the time span involved, we may feel that He is
delayed, but He has set aside a lengthy period for grace and compassion before
final judgment that all might have opportunity to find their way home.[vi] As part of that process,
we have been privileged to be reflectors of the Light helping to show the way.
When we refuse others the opportunity to see that Light by refusing to have anything
to do with them because of our perceptions of their lifestyles, we not only hinder
their progress, but we set at naught the great honor extended to us to help
those seeking the path of healing and hope.
Some have been willing to be light reflectors at great cost to themselves. They
have traveled to foreign lands with their families and their graves or those of
family members were left behind in those lands to water the soil and create the
fertile ground for future Christians. Some saw little fruit for their labor,
but died in the hope of rising one day and finding that their service had not
been in vain. These know the nature of true suffering and persecution. They also
know how free we are to practice Christianity at home, and how few are willing
to make the sacrifices to bring that to others who may not be so free. They sharply
contrast with the inanity of those whose greatest desire is to condemn others
because they do not measure up to some imagined standard of obedience, and then
when their condemnation backfires into a violent response are quick to shout “Persecution!”
They know that every precious soul that has been mined from the mountain of unbelief
has been gently cradled into faith. The answer is not to become hardened in
judgment like the hardness of a rocky mountain, but soft like the lap of a
loving shepherd where the little lambs love to cozy.
Let us not glory in imaginary persecutions where we have deliberately stirred
up trouble. That is too much like a small child that torments a sibling until
they get a reaction then points out the infraction to their mother while acting
innocent of any involvement. They do this in order to make themselves appear to
be the good but persecuted child in the eyes of Mother. A wise mother sees
through such subterfuge, and certainly God is wiser than any mother. Therefore,
let us do what service we can honestly and without acting out before real persecution
prevents the opportunities we now have.
