Rejoicing in Persecution: When Our Comfort and Power Conflicts with Our Witness

Scripture — Matthew 5:10-12 (NRSV)

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people 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 in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Devotion

In my devotion yesterday, I looked at the difference between the disciples who went up the mountain after Jesus to hear his intimate teaching known as the Sermon on the Mount, and the crowds who seemed content to stay behind. The crowds may have been delighted at the healing and feeding they received, and even astounded at times at Jesus’ teaching, but we see no evidence that they were spiritually changed and willing to commit to Jesus. The disciples, by contrast, had committed their lives to Jesus. They listened to him and sought to obey even when the teaching was difficult.

Now, as I write that, my first thought is: I want to be like the disciples, and not just like somebody in the crowds. Except the part about Jesus’ teaching getting difficult hits us hard from the very start of the Sermon on the Mount, in the poetic section known as the Beatitudes. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,” Jesus tells his followers, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people 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 in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” If I’m completely honest, I might say I’m not so sure I want to experience that sort of blessedness.

When we approach church or the Christian life as consumers, it is easy to want to bypass challenging passages like this, or explain them away, or look for other teachers who will tell us what we want to hear  – perhaps explaining why the Beatitudes don’t really apply to us anymore, and why we don’t have to be poor in spirit, or meek, or merciful. That consumer mentality is something Paul warned Timothy about: “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

As I was reading again Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,” my thoughts turned to another passage in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:8-10). There is a strong resonance between Paul’s words and those of Jesus. I see it, for example, in the frequent connection between the Biblical notion of blessedness and that of fruitfulness or flourishing. Paul acknowledges his own suffering that comes from preaching the Gospel and being persecuted for it, but then he speaks of the fruit that is born from that suffering: the salvation of those who have heard him speak and seen his witness.

Behind both Jesus’ words and those of Paul, I think there is an underlying question that those who seek to be disciples of Christ (and not just one of the crowds) need to ask: What is more important, our witness as Christians or our comfort? Is it more important to see the gospel advance, or to have the sort of power that will allow us to avoid suffering and hardship?

Paul’s concern here is for the gospel, and he explicitly states that even if he is in chains, the gospel is not in chains and it still advances. That’s an important reminder. What is important to Paul is advancing the gospel and helping lead others to salvation, rather than avoiding persecution. His being in chains (rather than seeking the power to avoid those chains) doesn’t hinder the gospel. Indeed, the chains seem even to advance the gospel. Thus, Paul is willing to be put in chains. His witness of living out the Christian faith is more important to him than avoiding suffering.

Jesus would say that Paul is blessed, being persecuted for his faith: blessed because people reviled him and uttered all kinds of evil against him. Rather than fighting back and grasping for power over those who opposed him, Paul rejoiced that the gospel was advancing and people were coming to know Jesus. Paul chose to be a disciple rather than another person in the crowd.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: “Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake” (Matt 5:10).