The persecuted church of the Last Days

Today, I learnt a staggering truth.  The truth being that when Paul said in 1 Thess 5:9 "Be joyful always", he was saying it to a persecuted Church, a Church whose believers were undergoing tribulation and even martyrdom.

When he said to the Philippian Church in Phil 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord, always. I will say it again, Rejoice!" he was speaking to a persecuted Church too.

That makes the exhortation all the more poignant. It is not some platitude to "Rejoice" in the midst of first world problems. It's an exhortation that encourages the believer not just to hold onto God a la Job's "Though he slay me, yet I will trust in Him", but to rejoice in tribulation.  It is almost other-worldly.

In the last year, I've seen so many more parallels to the persecuted Church in the world we live, as the days get darker. The Mosul Christians in Iraq for one, had to choose to recant their faith or be tortured or thrown out of their town, with nothing but the shirts on their backs.

So I was really convicted by John Piper's blogpiece on persecution. He says the believer's faith will polarise. It will draw a strong reaction - either conversion from those who see our life and are drawn to it, or revulsion by those who see it and hate us for it.

He says if we haven't drawn that reaction, it is that we are keeping our light under a bushel. "You are keeping the stumbling block of the cross well concealed (Gal 5:11, 6:12-13)."

"You don't let your distinctive values show."  But he does go on to say "Neither persecution nor conversion will always happen immediately. In fact, many people are torn inside themselves, partly hating the claims of Christianity in your life, partly attracted by them."

"So we should all examine ourselves to see if we are playing a kind of cowardly Christian incognito. And if so, we should repent and resolve to be more sincere in the expression of who we really are. But we must not assume that, because there is no persecution right now and no conversion right now, the fault must lie with us. The gestation period for new birth may be nearing a happy end. Or the storm may be ready to break against you."

Either way, why can we rejoice?

Because as he reminds us in the Beautitudes, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And then "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

For a long time, in the Western world, and Westernised societies, it may have been popular to be a Christian. As we draw nearer to the End Times, I believe the body of Christ will parallel more and more the Thessalonica or Philippian Church, in that there will be increasingly more persecution. Will we be cowardly incognito Christians, hiding our light under the bushel, to avoid tribulation? Or will we be more sincere in the expression of who we really are, and pay the price as believers?

Praying for grace to be a true child of God, who will walk with the Father and our elder brother Jesus, guided and comforted by our best friend the Holy Spirit, until the end. Amen.