Congratulations! You Will Be Persecuted

Counted Worthy To Suffer For His Name

Jesus said that in our suffering, we are to “rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Luke 6:23) We can leap for joy knowing that if we lose everything on earth—even our lives—we will inherit everything in heaven. We can leap for joy knowing that persecution is our certificate of Christian authenticity, since the persecuted simply belong to a noble succession. (Matthew 5:12) But mostly we can leap for joy knowing that we are suffering on his account. When we can grasp the nobility of suffering for the cause of Christ, we can be like the apostles who, having been worked over by the Sanhedrin, “left rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

The Journey: Matthew 10:24-25

Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

I receive reports regularly from my church planting partners in Africa that include requests for prayer because of the persecution they are enduring. They are mocked, threatened, beaten and marginalized socially and ostracized economically. The spiritually dark and unreached villages that they have invaded usually hate them.

Jesus predicted as much: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (John 15:18-19)

Obviously, we don’t see much persecution in the United States, not of that variety, and not at this time, although we may not be that far away from it. Yet according to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. The International Bulletin of Missionary Research reported in 2009 that approximately 176,000 Christians around the world were martyred during the previous year. And that is a pretty typical year analysis.

Notice Jesus words in Matthew 10:23: “when you are persecuted…” He didn’t say “if” but “when”. Persecution is happening right now, and it will continue with increasing regularity and intensity right up until the time he returns to set things right on Planet Earth. Of course, we should not meet that eventuality with passive acceptance—we need to use every means possible to appeal to our governments to protect us, we should pray for peace (1 Timothy 2:2) and by all means, we should be praying regularly for the persecuted church.

But on another level, we are “to rejoice and be glad” when we are persecuted. (Matthew 5:12) We are not to retaliate like an unbeliever. We are not to sulk like a punished child. We are not to lick our wounds in self-pity and hunker down like a dog. We are not just to grin and bear it like a Stoic. We are not to pretend to enjoy it as a hyper-spiritual masochist. No, we are to “rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Luke 6:23)

We can leap for joy knowing that if we lose everything on earth—even our lives—we will inherit everything in heaven. We can leap for joy knowing persecution is our certificate of Christian authenticity, since the persecuted simply belong to a noble succession, “for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) But mostly we can leap for joy knowing that we are suffering on his account. When we can grasp the nobility of suffering for the cause of Christ, we can be like the Apostles in Acts 5:41, who, having been beaten and threatened by the Sanhedrin,

They left the council, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

They had learned what I hope I can learn—and you, too: wounds in Christ’s cause are our medal of honor. Or as it was so profoundly stated by Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Suffering then, is the badge of true discipleship…In fact, it is a joy and a token of his grace.”

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, while I am not suffering physical persecution like so of your children around the world, I nevertheless want to somehow identify in their hardship by praying for them. So I pray for the persecuted church today. I pray that you would be present with them in such a way that they know they are being held in your arms. I pray that you would extend your hand of grace and mercy upon them. Grant them courage and joy to suffer for your name. And if it be within your divine plan, deliver them from the evil that is pressing down upon them.

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