Persecution in the USA

It's a lot more prevalent than you think

by Matthew Chapman

 

 

And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of.

(2 Timothy 3:12-14)

  In the early-to-mid 1990's, I had the privilege of spending extended time on several occasions with a dear brother from Nepal named Prem Pradham who was an apostle in the truest and most biblical sense. While imprisoned for the Lord's sake a number of different times for more than 12 years altogether, He would proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to his fellow prisoners, disciple the men who responded, and equip many of them to evangelize and raise up New Testament churches when they were released and returned to their villages. When the move of God among the men where he was imprisoned became apparent, they would punish Prem with harsh treatment and then transfer him to another prison in another part of the country.

  Once there, he would begin anew in sharing the gospel of the kingdom with the other prisoners, discipling those who responded in faith, and equipping them to take the good news of Jesus Christ back to their villages and raise up churches for the Lord's good pleasure. In time, when the authorities at that prison became disturbed by Prem's ministry, they would beat him and transfer him on to another prison in another part of the country. This cycle repeated itself many times over the course of a number of years. These prison officials had no idea that God was sovereignly using their preoccupation with how to deal with this one man in order for disciples to be made and workers sent out to spread the gospel throughout the nation and raise up churches all over the country.

  Because the authorities at one prison could not stop what was happening, they once tried putting Prem in solitary confinement by locking him up in a hut where they kept the dead bodies of men who had died while incarcerated there. In Nepal , when a prisoner dies, their body is put in the designated hut where their family can come get them if they want to take them and give them a proper burial. But bodies that are unclaimed just remain in there and rot. Prem was locked up in one of these huts for many months, by himself, with all of those decaying corpses. When he was finally brought out to be returned to the main prison, he was a horrible and foul sight with his hair covered over solid with lice eggs-but every guard who had stood watch at his door had given his life to Jesus.

  When Prem was not in jail, he went around the country, visiting and strengthening the churches that he had raised up as well as the ones established by those faithful men whom he had invested in back in the various prisons. Much of the time he lived on the run as a wanted fugitive, traveling on foot despite a permanently injured leg. He was beaten many times. He was locked in stocks out in a prison yard, underdressed, in the dead of winter in the Himalayas and left to die. He had to sleep in trees many times while in hiding so he literally wouldn't be killed and eaten by tigers. There were times he was betrayed by brothers and sisters he had trusted who had denied the Lord in the heat of persecution.

  This precious brother had been harshly treated in so many ways and had endured so much persecution and suffering, and yet his face glowed with the life and love of Jesus with no trace of bitterness or complaint. This little man who was barely five feet tall had raised the dead and seen many sick people healed by the power of God through the laying on of his hands, as well as many other miracles, and yet remained a very humble, simple, unassuming man who brought no attention to himself. During his spare time here in the US , he would pray much, study the scriptures, write letters of encouragement, by hand, to various saints, and would sit quietly in a corner mending his clothes with a needle and thread he carried with him.

  I paint this picture of Prem to convey that he had the life to back up what he said when he spoke of the things of the Lord, and especially when he would say, as he so often would, that "there is no advancement of the kingdom of God without suffering." In expounding upon this, he repeatedly tried to convey to the saints he visited here in the United States that all experiences of persecution and suffering for the Lord's sake are the same, in their essence, regardless of where and by what means they take place. He would belabor this point because he knew that we here in America look at what Christians like him go through-imprisonment, beatings, torture, living as fugitives without modern conveniences, separation from family, and martyrdom-and we think that these are the only real examples of persecution and suffering for Jesus and that nothing else really counts. And though these certainly are very valid examples, and the kind that Prem himself knew firsthand, he had the wisdom to see that the underlying issues surrounding persecution and suffering for Jesus' sake are inherently the very same, regardless of whether we are merely being shunned socially or literally having a gun put up to our head. Let me explain.

  Persecution, regardless of how it comes, is pain and pressure brought to bear upon a person for being a devoted, obedient follower of Jesus and is designed by Satan to get them to deny Him. Likewise, suffering for the advancement of the kingdom of God, regardless of how it is experienced, is hardship, loss, and pain that is endured by those who are faithful in order to accomplish God's will in the working out of His purposes. Whether or not we persevere and remain faithful to Him, stand with the truth, and endure for His Name's sake-these are the underlying, bottom-line issues that are being proven out in each of us regardless of whether the specific circumstances of the persecution and suffering are what we would consider "mild" or "severe."

  Prem understood this, and he understood even more that truly faithful believers here in the US and other Western countries can be just as persecuted, even though what's done to us is not [presently] carried out as cruelly and violently as persecution in other parts of the world that involves physical harm, torture, and even death. He was very burdened to communicate this to us here, because he knew we would fall short in "doing our share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" if we didn't rightly recognize and embrace persecution and suffering as persecution and suffering (Col. 1:24). Though I think very few of us were able to fully grasp what Prem was saying at the time, the older I get, and the more I see and experience in following Jesus, and the more I reflect upon what he said, the more I recognize the truth in what the Lord was communicating through him.

 

"The one who rejects you rejects Me"

  It is no secret that there is a strong anti-Christian bias in the United States that is rapidly growing in intensity, strength, and prevalence. On a cultural and institutional level, there is a concerted effort to remove any remaining evidence of America 's ties to Christianity. Thus things like prayer and any mention of God or biblical standards are banned from the government schools. Things that are symbolic of the Lord Jesus and Christianity like the Ten Commandments, crosses, and nativity scenes are being forcibly removed from public buildings by judicial and bureaucratic mandates, and what few have remained in the marketplace are quickly disappearing due to the pressures of political correctness and multiculturalism. Lewd and vulgar anti-Christian images are esteemed as art. Heresy and blasphemy designed to further undermine belief in the Person of the Lord Jesus and the word of God are propagated through things like the recent releases of National Geographic's The Gospel of Judas and The DaVinci Code movie. And there exists a blatantly hypocritical double standard at all levels of government, media, and society that allows virtually any harsh verbal attack to be leveled against Christians and their beliefs while even the slightest criticism, confrontation, or warning by Christians against Islam or any other religion or "alternative lifestyle" is considered to be bigotry and intolerance at its worst.

  These are examples of unregenerate men, and even deceived, fleshly, and foundationally-off Christians, working in league with the powers of darkness and the spirit of this age to destroy even the mention of God and the vestiges of Christianity because "they do not see fit to acknowledge God any longer" (Rom. 1:16-32, 1 John 5:19, Rev. 12:9, Eph. 2:1-2). Given this context, the main point I want to focus this exhortation on is the need for truly faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus-those who seek to live day-in and day-out by the life of the Holy Spirit and the word of God-to recognize persecution as persecution when it comes. Why is this important? Because there is a "fellowshipping with Him in His sufferings" that we are to have as part of our "being transformed into His image" and corresponding to Him that we will miss if we discount the suffering we go through simply because we are not being beaten in a dark room, thrown to the lions in a Roman stadium, or burned at the stake (Phil. 3:7-17, 2 Cor. 3:17-18).

  Those with whom "the dragon is enraged.and makes war with" because they "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus," regardless of where they live, will be targeted (Rev. 12:17). Even though you aspire to "lead a quiet life" and walk humbly before God and man in love, all sorts of trouble comes your way and people are cold and even hostile toward you. Why is this?

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me."  (John 15:18-21)

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."

And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12:9-17)

"...the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me."  (Luke 10:16)

 

  We need to understand that when we are following Jesus and obeying His word by the Holy Spirit, people will have a problem with us, malign us, slander us, and reject us (2 Tim. 3:12-14). They may be looking at and focusing on us, but it is really the Lord Jesus whom they have a problem with, and they are in fact maligning, slandering, and rejecting Him because He is the One who is leading us in what we do (Matt. 25:40-46, Acts 9:1-5). Jesus said we are to abide in Him and His words are to abide in us (John 15:7). When we "receive [His] word implanted" into the soil of our hearts, it is going to do a work in our lives. And because we are to "prove ourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves," His word is going to be expressed and manifested in/through our lives and out into the world by our choices, speech, and deeds (James 1:21-22). And as this happens, "affliction or persecution arises because of the word," just as Jesus said it would (Mark 4:14, 17). In other words, our receiving and obeying the words of our Master will set us on a collision course with the spirit of this world and the kingdom of darkness, in whose power the whole world is held (1 John 5:19). Herein is one of the primary contexts in which we are to overcome as our lives are tried by "the fiery ordeal" of tribulation.

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; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

(1 Peter 4:12-19)

  Because we still live in a somewhat religiously Christianized society, people will seldom come at you openly saying, "Stop following the Lord Jesus! Deny Him now or we will reject you and make life miserable for you." But make no mistake about it, that is precisely the intent of their opposition, and their opposition is persecution.

  It is one thing to "suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or troublesome meddler," and we are not to do things that would allow for that. But it is an entirely different matter to "suffer as a Christian," and when we do, we are "not to feel ashamed, but in that Name (the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ) we are to glorify God" (1 Pet. 4:12-19). How can we do this if we do not recognize persecution as persecution when it comes? Once again, like Prem was trying to say, we often discount valid experiences of persecution because it does not come with physical violence as in other parts of the world. Thus we "feel ashamed," wondering if we have somehow done something wrong to cause this hostility to come upon us.

  To make matters worse, Christians have also been hammered with the admonition to not dare take on a "martyr's complex" (meaning a religiously-focused self-righteous victim attitude). In itself, this is a good admonition, but it has been lopsidedly over-declared in a environment that fails to impart and affirm the right way to handle and relate to persecution. Put these factors together, and you have our present situation where most any talk of Christians being persecuted here in the USA is viewed with suspicion, largely trivialized with a "yeah, right" attitude, and written off as something else (i.e., a "misunderstanding" or a "personality conflict" or the manifestation of the need for the innocent faithful one to undergo "sensitivity training"). Thus few Christians today have the courage, or even the consideration, to account persecution as persecution when it is valid to do so. And because of this, very valuable and relevant fellowship with our Lord is missed, as well as treasure that could have been laid up in heaven through those circumstances.

 

Persecution from family

  Faithful followers of Jesus can be persecuted by people from many places in government, the marketplace, and society, but two of the most primary sources here in the United States are family members and cultural Christians. Not surprisingly, these two often come in one package, but I'll look at each of them separately. Every family has a certain way about it, and if that family is not headed by a father and mother who actively "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus," then there will be trouble for the sons or daughters who become Spirit-led followers of the Lord (Rev. 12:17). Knowing this, Jesus declares up front, at the very outset, to whosoever might consider becoming one of His followers:

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26)

   This is not a requirement for advanced discipleship and seasoned maturity, this is the prerequisite Jesus Himself laid down as a necessity before anyone was to even begin a life of following Him. In other words, this is His "square one" that must be embraced and realized with all its [potential] ramifications and severity before a person can even be recognized by Him as His disciple. Is it any wonder? "No man can serve two masters" (Matt. 6:24). Besides "mammon," it must be recognized that few things embed themselves more deeply into a person's heart, emotions, and sense of obligations than the "hooks and strings" that can come from one's own family and relatives. Some are subtle, some are not so subtle. The values, standards, judgments, and expectations flow consciously and subconsciously through our minds in thoughts and awareness of things like: "Our family looks like this. Our family frowns upon looking like that. Our family values these things and disapproves of those things. Our family expects these things but doesn't really care about those things. Our family does birthdays and holidays like this. Our family talks about these subjects when we're together and never talks about those subjects. Our family expects its adult children to have this basic lifestyle and standard of living, and would strongly disapprove of anything else." And on and on and on it can go.

  When any one of us are born of the Spirit of God and become a disciple of the Lord Jesus, we are "delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col. 1:13). Because of this, we now have a new Master, and are to take our cues from Him and Him alone. We are to grow in His grace and sanctification, walk by an ever-increasing faith, and overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit-all of which stems from us living by every word that proceed s from His mouth (Matt. 4:4). And, inevitably, His leadings and commandments will many times direct us in ways that run against family expectations.

And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." And another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:59-62)

  If these men obeyed and followed the Lord's leading, we can only imagine how this went over with their families and what they had to say to them the next time they saw them. "God told you to skip your father's funeral?! Yeah, right. I can't believe you would be so rude, hurtful, and unfeeling!" "You left town to 'follow the Lord,' as you say, and yet you didn't even love and consider your own family enough to at least come say good-bye and let us know what you were doing?! Why what kind of Messiah would command someone to do such a thing?!" Well saints, this is our Messiah, and He requires that His Lordship over us be just that total and complete.

  Yes, we are to honor our [believing or unbelieving] father and mother in every possible way we can. But when our Master leads us in a way that is contrary to their expectations, we follow Him without apology or wavering. The Lord does not spare us from these types of difficult situations and He expects our complete devotion and faithfulness-it is part of our being proven out and manifesting what is truly in our heart (Deut. 8:2-6). We love our family and relatives and want to treat them with respect, dignity, and honor, and yet we obey the Lord first, knowing full well that this can be offensive to them and that they will not understand. How many of us have done our best to share with parents or siblings or other relatives why we do what we do, thinking that if we explain it thoroughly they will understand? And in the case of family members who are also cultural Christians, we even lovingly show them how our choices line up with the scriptures, hoping that they will at least give us some due credit for following the Bible, and yet they simply do not get it.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  (1 Corinthians 2:14)

   And then comes the persecution. For some disciples, the more Christ-like they become the more despised by their families they become. To their earthly family, everything seemed to be going along just fine until they "caught religion" and "became fanatical about God and the Bible." They appeal to and try to coerce them to moderate and "tone it down" and "not go to extremes," and when this doesn't work because they remain faithful to Jesus, they then malign, slander, and reject. Once again, though these relatives may not realize it, their intent is to get them to deny Jesus because they themselves, in reality, even if they are "churchgoing," deny Him and reject His Lordship. They love the darkness and do not like the light their son or daughter or brother or sister or spouse has become. These situations can be heartbreaking for the faithful disciple because he so desires for them to partake of the Life he has found, and his heart toward them is good and loving, even though they do not see it that way at all.

"And brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved."

 

  Notice that Jesus said that He is the One who came "to bring.a sword," and He is the One who "sets" sons, daughters, daughter-in-laws, etc., "against" the members of their households. Obviously, Jesus is not anti-family (Matt. 15:1-9, John 19:25-27, et al.). So much of our life in God has to do with establishing in our own homes the kind of marriages that reflect Him and His bride and the bringing up of our children "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph . 6:4). But as it pertains to His Lordship over us, it must be absolute from the word "go," and this will be tested and proven repeatedly in the life of anyone who proves to be an overcomer. But those who, from whatever motivations, have "found their life" in pleasing their biological family and in-laws in disobedience to the Lord, they will lose their "life" in the end and miss out on inheriting Life indeed (Matt. 10:39, 25:29-30).

 

Persecution from "cultural Christians"

  Another primary source of persecution comes from those whom I will refer to as "cultural Christians." These are folks who are Christians because they are not Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, etc. They may be churchgoing and even know the scriptures to some extent, but Christianity is their religion-they do not know or live by the life of the Spirit of God. They honor, to whatever extent, what God has done historically, but they do not participate in what He is doing currently. They often have basic moral integrity, but they are christianized earthly citizens who are not being "transformed into His image" and thus they exude the leaven of this world rather than express "the fragrance of Christ." Like the Jews of the first century who should have recognized their Messiah when He came but didn't, these likewise should recognize true followers of Christ but they do not. Truly faithful disciples are offensive to them and an affront to the "form of godliness" they hold to that "denies the power" of God (2 Tim. 3:5).

  Persecution from cultural Christians can oftentimes be the fiercest because they feel the most threatened. Why? For some, it is because the light and witness that comes through a faithful disciple upsets their religious world, and they do not want it to change. It also exposes the spiritual irrelevance of whatever position they have in their religious establishment, and they want to protect their rank, status, and sphere of influence at all costs (John 11:47-57). For others, they really want to have a life that is about God, but they have their limits as to how far they will go because they love and want the approval of the world more. So when a faithful disciple comes along, the cultural Christians encounter the light and life of Jesus that is in them, and hear them describe what the Lord is doing in them and what they are seeing in the scriptures, they are forced to have to face the contrast between them and their own life which is devoid of such Life. And because they have their limits and are not willing to cross their own lines and make the necessary choices to come into that type of life in Christ themselves, they have to rise above, push away, write off, and reject the disciple.

  Again, it is ultimately Jesus whom they are rejecting (John 3:19-21, 12:46-48; Luke 10:16). Jesus even prophesied that they would "make us outcasts from the synagogues" (church institutions in our day), and that the day would even come when "everyone who kills us will think that he is offering service to God." Amazing, but not that far-fetched if you have eyes to see. And why do they do these things? "These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me"-they have no revelation of Jesus even though they think they are Christians who are serving Him. And Jesus specifically forewarned us about these things "so that we may be kept from stumbling" when they happen (John 16:1-3).

  Much of the dynamics of persecution from cultural Christians are the same as what I shared in the previous section, so I won't repeat myself, but I would add this one last point. We are to love fervently from the heart-our families, relatives, other Christians, cultural Christians, and our enemies-and yet we are to be unwavering with regard to the truth God has revealed, while also having the humility of embracing that we don't know everything. This is an impossible tightrope to walk except by the Spirit, and thus we must rely on His anointing to teach and guide us (1 John 2:26-27, John 16:13). "Love rejoices with the truth," and is not some greasy feel-good where anything goes for the sake of togetherness. And, as Paul also said, "We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6, 2 Cor. 13:8). The fact is, we do not live in the first century but in the last days when people who call themselves Christians "do not endure sound doctrine. but turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Unless we walk in the Light and truly have our fellowship together with the Father and His Son, it can be quite confusing (1 John 1:1-7).

  There are many, many scriptures, particularly in First John, that are given so that we may know what is of God and what isn't, and so that "the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious" to us (1 John 3:9-20, et al.). As disciples of Jesus we are to be discerning, and we are even commanded by Him to judge "not according to appearance, but with righteous judgment" (John 7:24 , Heb. 5:14 ; 1 Cor. 2:15 , 5:12-6:5, et al.). This kind of judging is where we spiritually discern the intrinsic nature of what we encounter-whether it is good or evil, of God or not of God, Spirit or flesh, natural or demonic, etc.-and is not to be confused with the unrighteous judging referred to in Matthew 7:1-5 and Romans 2:1-8 whereby we self-righteously condemn and write off others for what they do when we ourselves, in some form or fashion, do the very same things. We are not to judge other people's motives, but we are to judge the fruit that is present in their lives (Matt. 7:15-27). It is not wrong to, in all humility and honesty before the Lord, make these kinds of determinations regarding "what is." These things are important to remember because when you are being persecuted, there are almost always lies and accusations made against you, and the pressure can be so intense that you can begin to feel condemned even if you haven't, before the Lord, done anything wrong, and thus you can begin to doubt yourself or how the Lord has led you or what He has said. We must stand in faith and humility, and never move off of the truth that is in God (1 Pet. 3:8-17, 4:12-19, Rev. 12:11).

  Having said that, I think it is good for us to remember that with regard to persecution and sorting out who & what is truly of the Lord, it all boils down to whether or not a person has had a revelation of Christ (Matt. 16:15-18). Those who have are eager to do His will and are willing to suffer and even die for Him. They also join with the Lord in having a "forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing" attitude toward those who persecute them (Luke 23:34, Matt. 7:43-48, Rom. 12:14-21; 1 Pet. 2:19-23, 3:8-17). Regarding those who have not had a revelation of Christ, we are foolish if we expect them to live like those who have, and we should endeavor to be a light and a testimony to them. Eternity will only tell, for example, how much influence Stephen's witness and dying countenance had upon Saul of Tarsus, to prepare him for repentance and faith, in those days leading up to him meeting the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 7:1-8:3, 9:1-22). And lastly, those who have had a revelation of Jesus but have then turned away from Him in order to lay hold of some short-term gratification for their flesh, we should warn them and pray for them so that they might hopefully come to their senses and repent before they suffer the fate of Esau (Heb. 6:4-8, 12:16-17; 2 Pet. 2:18-22).

  In closing, we must remember that we are ultimately called to be the "building material" that composes the bride of Christ, and she is to correspond to Him in all things, thus we will enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. As we live godly in Christ Jesus in this fallen and demonically-controlled world, persecution will come. We are not to fear it or dread it, and yet neither are we to discount it when it comes, even when it happens here in the parts of the world where it is presently much less severe than in other parts of the world. We must rightly relate to persecution as persecution so that when it is aimed at us, we can allow it to be a place for the Lord-to fellowship with Him, to know His heart on a deeper level, and to "do our share. in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" (Phil. 3:7-21, Col. 1:24). May God be glorified in the perseverance of His set-apart people!

  

 

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