It's the good life - "Your Best Life Now." Somehow we have come to believe that a really great Christian is a nice, popular person who never offends, who is universally applauded, and blessed by God with affluence, comfort, and safety.
Yet Jesus had an entirely different view. According to Jesus, "Your Best Life Now" includes not safety and security, but persecution. In fact, His 12 closest followers suffered greatly.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10).
Sobering words.
Sobering words.
The blessings that come with the other 7 Beatitudes seem so much more desirable. Blessed are the poor in spirit, and those who mourn, and the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and the merciful, and the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. To those blessings, our hearts can say, "Yes!" But blessed are those who are persecuted? Not so much! That's a blessing we naturally want to by-pass.
What if we turned this passage inside out and upside down? What if we "flipped" it? It's even more provocative. It might sound like this:
Cursed are those who are not persecuted for righteousness’ sake –
who play it safe,
who won’t go public with their faith,
who won’t speak up and be verbal witnesses for Christ,
who are ashamed of being Christ-followers,
who want to simply blend in,
who want to be liked by everyone,
who won’t stand up against injustice and oppression,
who make affluence and personal peace most important,
who are lukewarm, complacent, and worldly,
who are “stay-inside-the-closet” Christians
(cursed are these who are not persecuted) for the kingdom of heaven is not theirs.
That's eye-opening. That's challenging. That makes us swallow hard.
What if we turned this passage inside out and upside down? What if we "flipped" it? It's even more provocative. It might sound like this:
Cursed are those who are not persecuted for righteousness’ sake –
who play it safe,
who won’t go public with their faith,
who won’t speak up and be verbal witnesses for Christ,
who are ashamed of being Christ-followers,
who want to simply blend in,
who want to be liked by everyone,
who won’t stand up against injustice and oppression,
who make affluence and personal peace most important,
who are lukewarm, complacent, and worldly,
who are “stay-inside-the-closet” Christians
(cursed are these who are not persecuted) for the kingdom of heaven is not theirs.
That's eye-opening. That's challenging. That makes us swallow hard.
Jesus is saying that unless we face some form of persecution as followers of Jesus, we will not inherit the kingdom of God.
If we are going to follow Jesus, then we will suffer. We are not called to go out of our way to seek to be un-liked. We aren't to irresponsibly pursue pain. But the scriptures are clear. Experiencing some level of persecution is normal for every follower of Jesus. It might be a milder form of persecution. But you can’t be a genuine Jesus-follower and escape suffering.
Consider a few more verses. The Apostle Paul wrote...
"It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29).
Paul says it's a privilege - a gift - to suffer for Christ. In another place, Paul tells us what all godly Christ followers can expect.
"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (II Timothy 3:12).
Who lived the most godly life ever? Jesus! Yet, the world hated Jesus. Why? The world loves darkness rather than light. When given an option, the world chose a murderer to live instead of Jesus. They put Him to death on a cross. And Jesus Himself said…
"Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20a).
Just a few verses later, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-15). Salt stings a wound. And light reveals darkness. Followers of Jesus are like that. We irritate the wounds of this world and shine a light on its darkness. So, a world that’s not ready for healing says, “Remove that salt and put out that light.”
Followers of Jesus have been called to carry a cross. We weren’t saved so we could avoid hard things. We were not called by Jesus to play it safe.
Would you, just for a moment, stop and evaluate your life?
Have you been mistakenly thinking that Jesus is honor-bound to protect you and yours? Or has sacrificially serving Him to advance been your focus and your aim?
Maybe it's time for us to repent of this sin of seeking to use Jesus to achieve your goals of safety and security. Maybe it's time to ask Him to use you to build His kingdom, not yours. Maybe it's time to say, "Lord, I am going to stop playing it safe. Instead, I will risk losing comfort, security, and safety because Your and Your kingdom matter most to me."
Let's live by FAITH: Forsaking All I Trust Him.
If we are going to follow Jesus, then we will suffer. We are not called to go out of our way to seek to be un-liked. We aren't to irresponsibly pursue pain. But the scriptures are clear. Experiencing some level of persecution is normal for every follower of Jesus. It might be a milder form of persecution. But you can’t be a genuine Jesus-follower and escape suffering.
Consider a few more verses. The Apostle Paul wrote...
"It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29).
Paul says it's a privilege - a gift - to suffer for Christ. In another place, Paul tells us what all godly Christ followers can expect.
"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (II Timothy 3:12).
Who lived the most godly life ever? Jesus! Yet, the world hated Jesus. Why? The world loves darkness rather than light. When given an option, the world chose a murderer to live instead of Jesus. They put Him to death on a cross. And Jesus Himself said…
"Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20a).
Just a few verses later, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-15). Salt stings a wound. And light reveals darkness. Followers of Jesus are like that. We irritate the wounds of this world and shine a light on its darkness. So, a world that’s not ready for healing says, “Remove that salt and put out that light.”
Followers of Jesus have been called to carry a cross. We weren’t saved so we could avoid hard things. We were not called by Jesus to play it safe.
Would you, just for a moment, stop and evaluate your life?
Have you been mistakenly thinking that Jesus is honor-bound to protect you and yours? Or has sacrificially serving Him to advance been your focus and your aim?
Maybe it's time for us to repent of this sin of seeking to use Jesus to achieve your goals of safety and security. Maybe it's time to ask Him to use you to build His kingdom, not yours. Maybe it's time to say, "Lord, I am going to stop playing it safe. Instead, I will risk losing comfort, security, and safety because Your and Your kingdom matter most to me."
Let's live by FAITH: Forsaking All I Trust Him.
PR,
ReplyDeleteToday I had the opportunity to listen to your sermon from Sunday. My sister and I were catching up about our weekends and she said, "You have to take the time and listen to the sermon" Of course I quickly said to her, "Yea like I will have time for that." Shortly after our phone call I found myself feeling guilty and later I was asking God to show me where my free time is going. Silly me, I check my email, FB more times a day than I would like to admit. So instead of pulling out my phone, I sat down and turned your sermon on.
Jesus Never Called Me To Play It Safe! I love how God speaks to us when we listen. My pastor here preached on the persecution of Job. My point in this comment is God always knows what you need to hear and when you need to hear it. For far too long, playing it safe has been my way of life. When He comes for me I want to be able to say, "He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear." That is a beautiful bold statement that I want to say with confidence one day.
Thank you so much for preaching this sermon PR. It hit home with me more than you could know.
-Katelyn
Kate, I LOVE your transparency and your heart. You are a true encourager. I am grateful you are sensitive to the voice of our Lord. May God make both of us more bold!
ReplyDelete