A Different Kind of Persecution

“How would your faith stand up under persecution?”

This was the subject line for an email that appeared in my inbox recently. A single word out of that subject line grabbed my attention, and it wasn’t ‘persecution’ or even ‘faith’.  It was the word “would."  It grabbed my attention because the use of would revealed an underlying assumption that got me thinking about how we understand our faith.

Let’s begin with the word ‘persecution.’ It is a church word if there ever was one. I looked it up on Google (does anyone really use Bing?) and found this definition: “noun, hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of religious beliefs." Example: "Her family fled religious persecution." Typically, persecution is inflicted by those with power against those who lack it. It is not random and isolated, but prevalent and systematic.

Christianity has a storied history of people suffering persecution for their faith. (We also have a history of inflicting persecution on each other, but that’s a different topic for a different blog entry.) We call people who endure in the face of persecution ‘martyrs.’ Stories of martyrs have always been important to our faith.  We are inspired by their fortitude and courage in the face of real pain and certain death.  

Persecution also has unintended consequence to those who inflict it. As 3^rd century church father Tertullian once wrote: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Stories of it serve as a rallying call for the faithful, as the email that sparked this whole blog post proves. We are stirred and motivated to higher heights of trust and perseverance. Our faith grows stronger, not weaker.

Stephen (described in Acts ch. 7 )
was the first Christian martyr.

But here is where the word “would” stuck in my craw.  In the American context, we think persecution happens somewhere else.  To be clear, persecution continues to happen elsewhere in the world, and we grieve for those who are subjected to it, and pray for it to stop. But does it happen here in the U.S.? Most of us would say “no.” I disagree. I believe it is only the tactics of persecution that have changed.

Let me explain.

Let’s go back to the traditional definition of the word.  It centers on the infliction of pain and suffering. We define it by what it looks like rather than what is it trying to accomplish. So let’s ask a more important question: What is the goal of persecution? Most would agree that it is to get someone to give up or walk away from their God. It is nothing short of what politicos call “a wedge issue.” The end game of persecution is trying to create a divide between us and God.

I think we can all agree that religious persecution isn’t happening here in America if we define it by what it looks like. But what if we tried to detect it by defining it by what it is trying to accomplish? What if we sought evidence of things that create ‘wedge issues’ between us and God?

The truth about our faith is that we reach out to God most, and feel His presence closest, when we are experiencing some degree of anxiety, uncertainty, or physical/emotional pain. So often our most desperate search for God is when we feel we have nowhere else to turn. The worst experiences in our life are usually what draw us to Him in authentic and transparent ways. This is exactly why it is the source of courage for the martyrs. But what if we turn the equation around and ask: When do we feel the most distant and disconnected? I would venture that it usually occurs when we are feeling the least amount of threat to our well being. Sure, we’re quick to give thanks to God for the good times, but our attention span in those moments is far shorter than when we’re struggling in utter dependence on Him. After all, who needs God when things are going well? Who needs God when we are surrounded by things that make life safer, easier, and better?

In my opinion, our pursuit of physical comfort is where a different (but very real) persecution begins. Here in America so much of our energy is spent on striving for things that make life safer, easier and better. It is when we start pursuing those things instead of God, and depending on them instead of God,

Enough said.

is where the goal of persecution is achieved.  It is when we make those things, whatever they are (better car, house, career, etc.) the object of our attention. We trust on them to deliver us from what we think is the threat of physical persecution like pain, suffering and death. And before we know it, we are essentially worshiping them. This is why 1 John 2:15-16 warns us: Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

Am I advocating that we give up on cars, houses and careers? No. Rather, I am suggesting we keep them in their proper perspective. Let’s see them for what they are – resources to survive in our modern world. They facilitate physical life, but they don’t give life…at least not the full life that is found in Jesus Christ.

In the end, I don’t think the email got it right by asking “How would your faith stand up under persecution?” I think the better question is “How does your faith stand up under persecution?” Because the reality is that we are suffering it every single day and we just don’t recognize it. 

Keep the faith,