her story of persecution

Have you ever been persecuted for your faith in Christ?

For most of us in the Western World and Church, we would probably say, in general terms, “No, not really.” At least not the kind of persecution where someone would threaten our lives because of our profession of faith. However, that kind of intense persecution has happened throughout history and is happening in parts of the world today where people gladly lay down their lives for Christ.

I do believe you could make the case that persecution is on the rise even in the Western world. There is ample growing evidence that the person of Jesus Christ is openly mocked today (just tune into social media) and followers of Jesus are marginalized because of their faith in Christ.

I was watching a talk from Jim Collins recently where he was talking about persecution and courage in our part of the world. He said that for most followers of Jesus today, the kind of courage we need is “interpersonal courage.” That’s the courage that is needed to navigate the relationships of our world where we engage online, in our jobs, in our families, and in our neighborhoods, as followers of Jesus. It takes some interpersonal courage to stand for Jesus in our relationships.

He then shared a few stories of people he personally knew that had stood up for Christ and someone that they are in relationship with said, “No.” For instance, “You need to watch what you say or we will shut down your account. You need to change your tune or you will get a pay cut. You keep that to yourself or you will not get the promotion.” It’s not anecdotal anymore, it’s real. You can lose some part of your livelihood today for your faith in Christ.

However, let me ask you this. Have you ever met someone who was persecuted for their faith in Christ to the point of threatening their life? I haven’t met many like that, but I do remember this man in Guatemala years ago. He told us he was told to recant his faith in Jesus, at gunpoint, and he stayed true to Christ. His story was a miracle!

More recently I had the chance to meet, along with our staff, a woman who has stood for Jesus for years here in Costa Rica! She currently serves in one of the most difficult and dangerous neighborhoods here and she has spent years serving kids. She has provided a safe place for them to play, a place to get a hot meal, and a place to learn about Jesus. We are so excited that we get to partner with her in reaching people far from Jesus in the weeks and months to come.

However, if I were to summarize her story it would go like this. She stands for Christ and someone threatens to kill her.

For instance, she has provided a safe place for kids and someone has said, “If you keep that up, we are going to kill you.” She continues to be the light of Christ in a very dark neighborhood and she is challenged, “If you keep doing this Jesus stuff then I’m going to make your life is miserable and then kill you.”

This has happened over and over and over again!

I’m not exaggerating in the least! In fact, I’m underselling her story significantly!

And every single time she was persecuted and continued to serve regardless of the threats, guess what? The threats disappeared. Every single time, without exception, the people who threatened to beat her, abuse her or kill her either ended up in jail or you guessed it, dead. No, she doesn’t have her own private security forces or ways to avenge those who threaten her. She just serves Christ!

Every single threat of violent persecution, it fades away. Now, I’m going with the ida (and this is my opinion) that God is both a fully loving AND fully just Father and he can do what he chooses to do. Further, God can deal with the injustice and evil in this world in the here and now or in eternity. God is perfect in both and acts perfectly! Regardless, she was persecuted and stood in Christ and God stood with her. Wow!

This brings me to the teachings of Jesus. Look at what he said about persecution:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus (Matthew 5:10-12)

Jesus said that we are blessed when we are persecuted. Blessed when shut down on social media. Blessed for taking a stand for our children. Blessed when mocked or made fun of on campus. Blessed when our livelihood is impacted. Even blessed when we are threatened because of His name!

Jesus said that at minimum, the kingdom of God is our reward for standing for him!

I’m sharing this with you today because her story blew me away. I believe if you were here to hear that story, you’d be blown away a bit as well.

Let’s summarize it this way. Yes, our “persecution” is real and painful, and costly at the time and we are called to be courageous. However, let’s have some perspective that it’s not at the level this woman experienced, or so many other Jesus followers have experienced and remained true for Christ.

And in the long run, when it comes to whose opinion matters the most, it’s Christ’s. It’s not our boss, it’s not our friends at the gym or even who follows us on social. and when we stand for Jesus in the middle of persecution, Jesus said we are what? “Blessed!”

~Steve

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