City Life Starter

Written by Nate Warren

The Word

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:10-12

Reflection

As we examine this passage in the light of the gospel narrative, I think of the Jewish religious & political leaders’ attitude toward Jesus, and later His followers. Consumed by their own ego, desire for power, and the comforts of being “on top,” they reviled, persecuted, and spoke false witness against Him. Despite all of the so-called blessing that they could muster being drummed up for them, these rulers of God’s chosen people were cursed, remembered for killing the Messiah, the Son of God. 

Jesus exposed the lie that blessing was tied to health, wealth, and the seats of power. The truly blessed are healthy, wealthy, and powerful in the eternal Kingdom of God. Since they are focused on Jesus, not kowtowing to the various worldly systems of power, they become enemies of those systems, and targets of persecution.

Application

I have, what seems to me, a strange relationship with the idea of persecution. As a child and maturing adult, the term seemed distant to me, because persecution was discussed in my circles as something that happened in one of two places: to those long ago or to those in faraway lands. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” so the saying goes. The idea that persecution happened to me or to people I know was dishonoring to those who were tortured or killed.

Looking back, however, the place I most often personally witness persecution of faithful Christians is within ‘Christian’ churches and movements. 

• Close friends of mine, who are working to equip Christians to love and witness to LGBT communities, are constantly harassed by a small but vocal group, labeling them “false teachers,” quoting them out of context, and campaigning against them in ways that are hurtful to them and disruptive toward their witness in the Church.
• Pastors and leaders are constantly barraged by accusations, such as, “You’re not conservative/ liberal enough!”, Or “Just be our pastor, stop trying to change us.”
• Abuse of congregants by their leaders
• Castigation of others that have doctrinal or practical disagreements. Almost every ‘protest-ant’ movement began with this, and before/since there have been bloody inquisitions as well

I’m sure you know of others. It is ours, as the people of God, to discern the higher realities taking place. When these kinds of attacks come, even from within Christendom, we continue to stand for righteousness in the manner Jesus did, enduring in the grace given by the power of the Holy Spirit, and loving our new and old enemies as Jesus surely does. 

Prayer

Jesus, 
You endured every form of persecution. 
You were hated.
You were lied about.
You were betrayed by a friend.
You were abandoned by the rest; all of us.
Yet you haven’t persecuted us.
You have chosen us and prepared a life of abundance.
Because you share your most-deserved blessing with us, we are blessed.
Thank you,
Amen