This month, our meditation has been excerpted from the book entitled Extreme Devotion, compiled by Voice Of the Martyrs. The story has been based upon an account from northern Nigeria. In the following passage, the examples of faith amid persecution of Christians in Nigeria provide us with fodder for reflection and perhaps application:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28)
In the city of Kaduna in northern Nigeria, one church leader claims that Muslim extremists have placed a bounty on the heads of all Christian leaders, offering one hundred thousand naira (about $65.39 -current exchange rate) for each one killed. Likewise, there was also a bounty on Christ's head and he was betrayed for just 30 pieces of silver.
With the continued threat, some believers are contemplating fighting back. But one Christian leader recently challenged believers in Kaduna: "In the midst of this we need to remember our lord's teaching about turning evil to good and patiently suffering in the face of what is happening. And because Nigeria is a proclaimed democracy, there is a responsibility for Christians to make sure everyone is treated justly and fairly."
Christ delivered a similar challenge approximately two thousand years ago: "'Love the Lord your God'... This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matthew 22:37-39)
FURTHER: Following Christ's command to love our neighbors as ourselves is hard enough. It's even harder to follow Christ's command to love our neighbors when they have it out for us. We all know the feeling. You may have a colleague who is bent on sabotaging your work. You may have a teacher who rides your case for no apparent reason. Or you may be blessed with a so-called friend who seems strangely pleased when things are going wrong in your life. Jesus knows the feeling of having others celebrate your sufferings. How can you love those who would pay to see you suffer? Others may treasure seeing you put to shame. However, your obedience to God in this area is priceless.
A moment of consideration: From the experiences of our Christian family in Nigeria, we can glean both insight into the Bible's call upon our lives, and encouragement from within the Scriptures as well. Earlier writings as found on the Christians In Crisis website, have informed us not only that persecution has come to our shores in the west, but also that persecution is normal, within the lives of Believers. Some believers have said that suffering for the sake of Christ is a favor. Others hold that suffering is the mark of true disciples, who find faithfulness within suffering. Nowhere in Christ's teachings did He promote retributory violence (Matthew 26:52-54; Matthew 5:39); it is natural perhaps, but not godly, to contemplate fighting back as the Christians in Nigeria pondered their responses. But there, in Kaduna, a cooler head replied that our lord taught about turning evil to good and patiently suffering in the face of what is happening. In our intercessory work, our prayerful lives, we learn of many who bear the cost of faithfulness within suffering. For them, the cost of faithfulness was as common a burden as each day carrying their crosses and living for Christ.
A recent article ("How Chinese Pastors Developed Their Theology for Suffering", Publ. 4-22-2020, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra) covered a conference of pastors in Malaysia, and their reflections on how faith and suffering mix.
Older generations "didn't have a systematic theology written on paper," said one pastor from northern China. "They could not form a system. But they knew, like me, that God controls everything. They read Romans 8:28, that God works everything together for the good of those who love him. They knew God was in control."
Such suffering [for one’s faith in Christ] had an advantage: it was clear who was a Christian and who was not. There were few nominal believers [at the conference]. And Bible verses on suffering—Romans 5:3-4, Romans 8:18, Philippians 3:10, and more--were real and relevant.
In fact, suffering became such a hallmark of Chinese Christianity that during the relative peace of the late 1990s and 2000s, older believers became concerned. How would the next generation know they were Christians unless they were persecuted? They worried that the untested faith of their children would be weaker, said China Partnership president S. E. Wang. Should we pray for persecution to come? they wondered.
They didn’t have to pray—just to wait. It was on its way.
It is on its way for us as Christians, all around the world. But if we are not yet seeing its ugly face rear up, we would do well to consider the following insights that will be helpful to us as believers in Jesus the Christ.
Sharing in the "fellowship of his sufferings," another participant explained, means that "existence in creation under the curse on sin and in the mortal body is not simply borne--be it stoically or in whatever other sinfully self-centered, rebellious way--but borne for Christ and lived in his service."
In other words, Christian suffering has purpose. It reminds us--again and again and, in case we forgot, again--that we live an "already, not yet" life. Like Jesus, we exist in both a broken world and also a spiritual reality. We carry in us both the pain of this sinful physical existence and also the Holy Spirit. We're caught, as it were, between two worlds.
Sa Zhongzi (meaning "sow seeds", is a pseudonym for an American serving the church in China, assisting with the support and strengthening of the house church), wrote a recent article entitled "Learning About Suffering From the Margins". In this article the author wrote that:
"We in our country need to come to terms with Paul's message to his protege, Timothy: Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted... (2 Timothy 3:12) How do we in the west answer such questions as "Am I suffering? Am I being persecuted? Does being laughed at by my non-Christian colleagues or friends because of my faith really constitute undergoing persecution?"
"When I read this passage and look at my own life, I am immediately confronted with these kinds of questions, as well as the troubling thought that, if I am not really suffering for my faith, why not? Why am I not being persecuted or suffering as a Christian? Is something out of place in my Christian life?"
"A biblical way of responding to these questions should drive us to enter into the lives of those with whom we share 'the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,' that is, the worldwide body of Christ. This is part of what is behind Paul’s exhortation to: 'Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.'" (Romans 12:15-16) I believe the church in the U.S. must engage in precisely this kind of indirect suffering to better appreciate what scripture passages like this mean. The more we invest in learning the stories of the persecuted and oppressed church, keeping their struggles a part of our daily prayers, and connecting with their suffering, albeit indirectly, the better we can make sense of the experience of suffering and persecution."
Through Christians In Crisis' Houses of Prayer gatherings, we intercede for those suffering for their faith in Christ--that draw us in and help us empathize and intercede for our brothers and sisters who know the enemy's attacks. Joining a prayer group, or starting one in your community or church, offers good ways not only to learn about our suffering worldwide family of faith in Christ, but also to pray for them.
Our Christians In Crisis website bears current accounts of our foe's attacks against the family of God. Educating ourselves in the lives and examples of suffering Christians, and praying informed prayers, are two very real ways to engage with the persecuted church family in ways that make a difference. Additional ways to learn about the lives of persecuted Christians is to read books such as The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs (by Voice Of the Martyrs), Martyrs Mirror, Foxe Voices of the Martyrs (by Voice Of the Martyrs), Voices of the Faithful (Books 1 & 2, by Beth Moore), The Last Words of the Martyrs (Books 1 & 2, by Jeff King, International Christian Concern), and others.
Sa Zhongzi added, "As the body of Christ we are all called to enter into one another's struggles, especially the struggles of the weak and marginalized." As we enter into one another's struggles, as the Good Book says (Romans 12:15), we weep with those whose sobs are real, pain-filled, hot and revealing of deep hurt, and rejoice with those whose joys may be fleeting, but reflecting their faith in a good God Who works all things together for their good (Romans 8:28). Thanking God for the connectivity with our family, let us pray with empathetic philia or "brotherly" love for those who likewise pray for us. And may we leave revenge for injustices towards us, to God (Romans 12:19). In doing so, we show our confession and acclamation that our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15) and His are strong hands: …for his steadfast love endures forever; with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 136:11b-12)