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Why they Persecute you?Persecution, you know? I don’t really like this word. Not that I deny that there is persecution in this world. No, more because many of us use this word in the most inappropriate situations. Let’s be honest here. Many of us who can afford to watch this video or reading this article experience no real heavy persecution. I mean, in many countries you are not being killed, burned, or chopped up for being a Christian, right? It’s not like you live in Roman times or in modern day North-Korea.
However! There are other ways to be persecuted. Less dramatic than being killed or tortured, but still unpleasant. I am talking about name-calling, being ridiculed, not being able to get that promotion you wanted etc. And you know what? If that happens it might just be you own fault! And here is why.
Not Because you Love Jesus
Firstly, most persecutors will not say that they are picking on you because you follow Jesus. So, being persecuted often sounds less noble to the people around you than you think. For the average people you are just a pain in the neck, and you had it coming.
I’ll give you a recent example. Let’s go back to 2020. This period is a school model concerning mass-ridiculing other people. Those who opposed the unscientific measures, as mandated by the government, weren’t ridiculed because they were seen as freedom-fighters. Obviously many who resisted the restrictions looked at themselves as watch-dogs of democracy and constitutions. But in society, mostly infused by politicians and mainstream media outlets, they were depicted as conspiracy thinkers, asocial, and the biggest reason of why the country was still in a lockdown. And yes, even among Christians we could find this attitude. Being fined, beaten up by police, expelled by family and friends, it didn’t really matter what, but I have heard Christians saying that it was just all their own fault.
So, don’t think people will persecute you under the pretext of you being a follower of Christ. No way, they will make it sound much less romantic than that.
It Should be Because you Love Jesus
Still, if you are a Christian who sincerely follows the Lord Jesus, you are in for a treat. You see, following Jesus means that there are certain things in life we can not accept. Following Jesus means we have to resist and fight morally deprived attitudes for example. But also, we have to protect and care that which is sacred and good.
We only have to go back in church history to see what that means. Let me give an example again. In 2020, many elderly people died alone. In church history we see Christians who did not allow this to happen. Several times we see outbreaks of the plague. While everybody fled the cities, it were the Christians who stepped in and took care of the sick and dying! Don’t you wonder were these brave souls where during the lockdowns? I know there were Christians who struggled to get to the sick and dying. These Christians knew full well that the rest of the world looked down on them. Still, they, like their Lord and their faithful ancestors, wanted to protect, and care for, that what is good and vulnerable.
Self-righteousness
So, let’s see what things can cause persecution. The one that I get quite often is the accusation of being judgemental. How dare I say that certain behaviour is immoral. How dare I, speaking out against the LGBT+ ideology. How dare I, saying that sex ought to be enjoyed only in the safety of marriage. By the way, by saying this, I also mean that this marriage ought to be a unity between one man and one woman, not between two men, two women or whatever else the world thinks is alright.
Again, nothing new under the sun. Our Christian forebears preached the moral lessons as taught by Jesus. And you know what? They were not accused of being Christian, nope, they were accused of being self-righteous. Think about the way Christians treated slaves or women. The apostle Paul even wrote in his letters that we have to treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Unheard of! Later, we see that famous people like William Wilberforce worked tireless to see slavery abolished. Many, especially those who earned a nice sum of money in this business, resisted him. Not saying that he was a dumb Christian. No, that would be a mistake. They rather pointed at him as being a hypocritical self-righteous man.
Only Dumb People Believe in God
Another thing people like to point out is education. “Really!? You still believe this nonsense of Adam and Eve, six day creation, miracles, and a worldwide flood??” Sounds familiar right?
This too, has been an argument throughout the ages. You might think this is mostly a phenomenon of modern times. But no, Christians have always been ridiculed for their belief in, for example, one God, who’s Son came to die for sinners. Laughable! Preposterous! Hilarious!
And you really want to stick to the Biblical narrative? Wow, you must be brave! But you are surely not getting that promotion if you keep on telling people that the Earth is still young. However, I think there might be some truth in the argument that religious people might be less educated. I am not saying that there are no intelligent people who belief in God. No, but overall, it seems to me that religion appeals more to lower educated people.
I guess this is because of the enormous baggage a high educated person is carrying. The higher the education system, the more atheism is being promoted. People tend to think that there must be a scientific answer for everything. But when we look at those who have more vocational education, we see more people who have no difficulty accepting that there are many things in life we just can’t explain through a scientific method.
In a sense, those who pride themselves in being too smart to belief in God are just arrogant. But still, they seem to be able to shout the loudest when it comes to accusing people of being dumb. You might be a brilliant geologist, but as soon as you admit believing in the flood, you’re done for. You will have a very hard time to get your papers peer-reviewed, or to get a grant for some study you want to do.
Abortion
Okay, I am going to say something some Christian might not like. A follower of Jesus is against abortion! If you claim to be a Christian, but you’re fine with abortion, I suggest reading the Bible, because apparently you haven’t done that!
Never in the history of the church we find Christians who accepted the murdering of children. Sure, there have been sects, and weird teachers within the church who condoned it, but the majority has always hated this practise!
So, now you are not being ridiculed for being a believer. No, you are being ridiculed and hated because you are a bigot, a women-hater, a suppressor of freedom.
The Need to Blame Others
However, this actually ties in with another phenomenon, people are always looking for scapegoats, you know, an easy pushover to hide their own immoral and unethical behaviour.
Yet another example. In the United States we have seen that the case of Roe v. Wade in 1973 restricted the states in the way they could regulate abortion. Abortion became something that was covered under constitutional rights of privacy. In 2022, the justices voted 6-3 to overturn Roe v. Wade. Since then, several states have tightened abortion restrictions to the point that women cannot access abortion services. While other states basically outlawed abortion altogether.
As a Christian I absolutely celebrated this outcome! And with me, millions of other pro-lifers as well. Many pro-lifers aren’t religious—many are even atheistic—still, the world would like to see a scapegoat. And how convenient to point at those nasty Christians, right? They don’t even bother thinking about the possibility of this being a case of good morals. Nope, according to them, this is just another way Christians want to suppress women.
Intolerant
So, you believe Jesus is the only way to heaven? You have not much good to say about Islam, Hinduism, or whatever other religion? Wow! How intolerant of you! It is because of people like you that we still have fights over religion. If you were tolerant like the rest of the world, all these religions could have existed alongside each other!
Like the early Christians, you too are ridiculed over this idea that salvation can only come through the Lord Jesus Christ. Initially the first Christians were free to worship God alone. All other people groups had to worship the emperor. It was okay for them to keep their own deity, as long as they would bring tribute to the emperor as well. Except the Jews, They had always refused to worship anything else than the God of the Bible. Slaughtering them didn’t seem to work. So, what to do? They didn’t want to kill all of them, so instead, they were given and exemption. Since early Christians were perceived as a group within the Jewish faith, they too were excused from this idol worshipping rule.
The early Christians didn’t get off the hook for long. The bigger the group became, the more people realised they were quite different from the Jews. Not long after they were seen as nasty, intolerant people. Who didn’t contribute enough to the empire.
If you stick to the ‘Jesus only’ doctrine, you’re in for some, let’s say it nicely, discourteous behaviour from the world around you.
It is What the Bible Teaches us
Obviously the world will find many reasons to oppress you as a Christian. But don’t think they will admit they are doing it because you are Christian. Mostly they will make the cause of your affliction sound like something you are doing wrong. Yes, I know there are countries in which they will not make it into a secret. North-Korea, Saudi Arabia, and countries like that. But in Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world, it will be a matter of your repulsive behaviour, that is ‘repulsive’ in the eyes of the world (not in your own eyes).
Don’t be surprised about having to suffer for your faith in Christ.
Philippians 1:29-30
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; having the same conflict which ye saw in me [Paul], and now hear to be in me.
2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
What to do Now?
Get used to it
If you are a sincere Christian, you better get used to being ridiculed. It’s just the way it is. Find a good strong church and hang out with strong Christians. Suffering is something we do together.
Galatians 6:2
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Expect it to happen
Don’t be surprised when governments come with laws that go against your convictions. Don’t be surprised when you cannot say aloud that what you believe to be true: Marriage is between one man and one woman; the ideology of LGBTI+ is damaging our societies and children; abortion is murder; Christ is the only way to salvation.
Teach your children
Raise your children to be ready for heaven. No, don’t teach them suicide. What I mean is that they need to know the Gospel. They need to know the Scriptures. Don’t leave their upbringing to a third party. Don’t leave their spiritual education to the Sunday-school teacher or youth leader. Be active in discussing what it means to live your life as a follower of Jesus. Foremost, be an example!
Don’t look for it, it will come to you
You do not have to look it up, but when persecution comes, you need to realise the cause is much deeper than your persecutors want you, and others to believe. We are not being called to become a martyr on purpose. We should not pray to be persecuted, that’s just lame. But when we are being ridiculed for Christ’s sake, we suffer a noble cause. But pay attention here: Don’t think that all suffering is noble. Why? Because we can suffer for the wrong reasons.
1 Peter 4:14-16
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
Know the past to be ready for the future
Go, and study the past. You’ll find many amazing stories of Christians suffering for their faith in Jesus. When you read past the accusations, you’ll see that they were ridiculed and persecuted because the acted out their faith in Christ.
It was because of their persecution that the Gospel spread rapidly.
Acts 8:1; 4
And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles.
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
Just be ready always
We do not pray to be persecuted, but we do pray to be strong in the Spirit. When it comes, we need to look up and ask the Lord to help us to be a light in the darkness. We cannot, and should not allow darkness to prevail. We are called to be the salt and light of this world.
Anyway
There is so much more to say about this topic. I would like to read your thoughts about this as well. Let me know in the comments of the video or aticle below. Remember! I am mostly active on my Odysee channel. You’ll find a link to that channel in the description of this video or on my website.
I very much appreciate your prayers and support! Please take a look in the description of this video to find out how you can help me. Also, I’ll place a link there to both the Dutch and English transcripts of this video.
God bless you, thank you for watching and we see each other in the next video!
