PERSECUTION – PLEASE DON’T BUY IT

The Bible talks about a great responsibility placed upon the shoulders of every Christian, in the Great Commission, entrusted to us, by the LORD Jesus Himself. We also see the same theme in the writings of the apostle Paul, to the early Christians at Corinth.
– “18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” – Matthew 28:18-20
– “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
– “2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” – 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Billy Graham, the great evangelist was echoing, what the apostle Paul was writing in the following words…
– “We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.” – Billy Graham

When such great a task is entrusted to us, and such great an honour is placed upon our shoulders, we ought to think, speak and behave with utmost care and responsibility, as Christians.
1- We are commanded to preach the gospel at all times, to all people, with patience, and by enduring afflictions, if any.
– “​1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” – 2 Timothy 4:1-5

2- We are exhorted to be wise, humble, patient and gentle, as we preach the gospel.
– “23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:23-26

Sadly, many times we see, Christians taking hard and harsh stand against people from other religions, and their customs and practices. Why should we be bothered about what their religion says. I think it is none of our business. We are called to witness about the LORD Christ. We are called to proclaim the gospel, and not dish out “wisdom” about what is wrong with them, and their religions. We are called to proclaim the gospel, and how we, who are lost because of sin, can get right with God, through the grace and mercy of the LORD Jesus Christ, who died for the whole world, on the cross of Calvary, as a sacrifice in our place, which was accepted by the Holy and Righteous God.

Many times, good Christians too make this mistake. I have seen it so many times. It has to do with our opinions – many times, prejudices and biases – without bringing them into subjection to Christ-like behaviour, which is required of us. Let me quote the apostle Paul here.
– “15 Rather, SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” – Ephesians 4:15
We are called, by the written Word of God, to speak the truth uncompromisingly, at all times, however, it must be always, out of love for the other person, seasoned with gentleness, humility and long-suffering.

Remember the great missionary evangelist of all time, the apostle Paul, at the Mars Hill, in Athens? During his second missionary journey, Paul preaches a clear and uncompromising gospel message on “Mars Hill” (the Areopagus) in Athens – Acts 17:16-34 – using the Athenians’ altar to an “unknown god” as a starting point, to proclaim about the LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the one and only Redeemer, who meets our dire need for repentance and redemption.
– “22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:” – Acts 17:22-23

This is my opinion and my conclusion – many times we buy persecution, because, we are more interested in pointing out the mistakes of others. We use such insulting and denigrating language that, even if someone wants to become a Christian, he would not only run away, because of our proud, arrogant and insulting words, and our behaviour, but would most certainly become, angry and resentful towards Christ, His gospel, the Church, and the Christians in general. Let us read what Mahatma Gandhi had once said about Christians…
– “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” – Mahatma Gandhi

To preach the gospel, we need not accept all that is there on the other side. However, we ought to speak with the people of other religions, with basic human respect and dignity, which is the least. We are to speak with love and compassion. We are to disagree if and when required, but respectfully and in a dignified and civilised manner, worthy of our LORD, for this simple reason, that we are representing our LORD, and not ourselves. We are not here to win an argument. We are not here to defeat a thought and an idea. We are called to PROCLAIM the Good News about the LORD Jesus Christ. Even so the LORD help us.