The kind of stuff Jesus describes in Matthew 10 doesn't really sound very appealing, does it? Do I really want to pick up a cross and follow Jesus to my death? Do I really look forward to being persecuted for my faith? I love my kids... what is the real implication of loving Jesus more than them?
In our day, and in our culture, we do find persecution, but it's different. Well, the persecution is the same, just not the reasons. The first immediate persecutors of our faith were the Jewish religious establishment. Jesus' teachings at times seemed like blasphemy to them, and ultimately, they were the ones who had him crucified. From there, a good amount of persecution came from the Romans, because the Christians were a threat to the peace and stability of the empire. I think nowadays, the most prominent persecutors are the increasingly vocal atheist 2.0 types. There's that thing down in Texas where a group of atheists are offering to give you porn if you turn in your bible or other religious text (link). Or the new study that says atheists are smarter than religious people (link). I would say that study is a little dubious, in that the difference probably isn't statistically important, and if you look at the history of the IQ test, it's sort of skewed towards certain demographics. Someone like Richard Dawkins might annoy me with his pompous, dogmatic statements about my apparent stupidity, but he's not going to boil my children or anything like that.
Maybe this chapter doesn't feel so important because there is no immediate danger to me. At most, persecution makes me uncomfortable, but in general I can avoid it if I choose. Others are not so lucky. The early church, for example. The apostles all ran into trouble, and the church in Jerusalem was scattered. In some parts of the world today, people still face personal danger, or worse, for following Jesus. I knew a formerly Muslim girl from Tajikistan whose father was going to kill her for becoming a Christian. For her, there might be something comforting in these passages. Jesus knows what His people will face, He tells them right up front. It's good that He does. Part of His trustworthiness is that He's up front about the difficult things. And ultimately, He went through much worse than any of us will have to face, so He doesn't expect anything from any of us that He wasn't willing to endure Himself.
1 comment:
You made some great points! I've often thought that western Christians toss the word persecution around a little to freely given what people elsewhere in the world face. We've been reading about church history at home and sometimes I'm shamed by how much the early Christians were willing to bear. I'm inspired too, though, and you're right: they are following the example of Jesus who bore the ultimate sacrifice.
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