Christian, When Persecution Comes: Embrace It
The Christian faith is counterintuitive in any number of ways, but perhaps none so much as in its perspective on suffering and, particularly, its perspective on suffering persecution. We may see this most clearly in the actions of the apostles who, after being imprisoned and beaten, “left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41).
Of course they must not have been surprised to suffer persecution because, as I’ve pointed out in a couple of recent articles, Jesus had told them to expect it and evaluate it. But he did more than that, and he does more than that to us. Jesus tells us to embrace persecution.
I thought of softening “embrace” to “endure.” It’s certainly true that we need to face persecution with patience and perseverance. But Jesus seems to calls us to even more than this. He says we should go so far as to embrace persecution. That’s not to say we should never pray for it to be lifted, or that we should never flee from it, or that we should never turn to the courts where we can appeal for justice, for these may all be good and honorable actions to take. But it does mean that as long as we face true persecution, we should rejoice in it. Jesus says “blessed (or happy) are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” He says even to “rejoice and be glad” in persecution. (Matthew 5:10-12).
Is this really possible? Is this really reasonable? It is! It is because we know that our God is sovereign and that nothing happens apart from his plan, which means that in some way our suffering is God’s will. It’s not a mistake. It’s not meaningless. It’s not nothing. It’s an opportunity to respond to God’s sovereignty with hope, with trust, and with godly character. It’s an opportunity to shine God’s light in the midst of darkness.
6 Reasons to Rejoice in Persecution
We need to consider: How is it possible to rejoice even during something as painful as persecution? Let me offer six reasons you can rejoice and be glad even when persecuted.
The first is this: persecution proves your citizenship. You are a follower of a Savior who was persecuted. Even though he lived a life that was perfect and unblemished, still the religious authorities, the civil authorities, and the common people all turned against him and put him to death. If that was his story, why wouldn’t it be yours? He told you it would be yours. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” We should expect to suffer like our Savior suffered. In that way persecution is proof of your citizenship in his kingdom, proof of your alignment with Jesus.
And then there’s this: persecution displays your faith. Passing through the test of persecution proves the validity and the strength of your faith. You’ll never know how strong your arms are until you have to lift something heavy, and you’ll never know what your faith is made of until it is put to the test. James says “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life” (James 1:12). Many fall away when their faith is tested; but those who truly love the Lord will persevere and emerge with their faith tested, proven, strengthened. They can rejoice!
Also, persecution shapes your character. In Romans 5 Paul says, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). It takes tremendous heat and pressure to form a diamond deep in the ground and it takes suffering and even persecution to form Christian character deep in your heart. Persecution is a means God uses to conform you to the image of Christ.
There is another reason: persecution equips you for service. Through persecution God is equipping you for deeper service to him. As he writes 2 Corinthians Paul has suffered deeply and this is what he says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction…” Why does God offer this comfort? He goes on, “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” He knows that in his suffering he has been comforted so that he can now extend that comfort to others. He has been made more useful to God’s purposes because of this persecution. And that’s true of you as well.
And then there’s a fifth reason: persecution produces communion. In your suffering you experience a deep fellowship with Christ because you are actually joining in his suffering. In the very next verse Paul says this: “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:5). You are being persecuted because you are united to Christ. You are suffering in him and for him and with him. And God meets you in your sorrows, he draws close, and he ministers his comfort to you.
And then there’s still another reason you can rejoice in persecution: persecution provokes longing. It causes you to look forward, to elevate your gaze beyond this world. There is nothing that more clearly shows that this world is not your home than persecution. There is nothing that makes it more obvious that you don’t belong here. And so there is nothing more likely to shift your gaze from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of heaven. When everything in your life is great, when everyone around you loves and affirms you, it’s easy to say “this world isn’t so bad.” But when you are hated and mocked, you understand: These are not my people. This is not my place.
And if this isn’t, then what is? The kingdom of heaven. Persecution makes you exercise your faith to believe that the kingdom is real and the kingdom is coming and the kingdom is your true and final home. You rejoice that your heart is being uprooted from this kingdom and planted in the kingdom still to come. You rejoice and are glad in all that God has promised and will very soon fulfill.
For these six reasons and many more you can rejoice even when you are being persecuted. God gives you your suffering in trust that you will embrace it and honor him through it—that you will steward it well, that you will pass through it in such a way that you hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We have just come through a time of suffering that extended across almost the entire globe. Through the pandemic some lost their jobs or had to battle troubling matters of conscience; many got ill or lost loved ones; many had friends or family members turn on them for their decision to accept or reject a vaccine; many were forced into isolation for extended periods of time; some went to prison. We all suffered. I have spoken to some Christians from around the world who are convinced there was an element of persecution in this suffering and to others who are convinced there was not. But whatever your conviction, I think this is worth asking: Did you pass through that time of suffering with joy in your heart? Can you say “in my suffering” or even “in my persecution (if that’s your conviction) I rejoiced and was glad, just like Jesus said?” In this suffering or any other you’ve gone through, can you say you imitated Jesus who: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly?” Or did your joy go into a tailspin? Did you suffer with bitterness, with grumbling, with complaining?
It sure seems likely that there will be more suffering and even persecution in the years ahead. How will you meet it? I know how God tells you to meet it—you are to meet any suffering with confident submission and even the fiercest persecution with rejoicing and gladness. God means for you to emerge from it with your faith not only intact, but strengthened, your joy not only present but amplified. He means for you to marvel like the apostles that “I have been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus.” And to rejoice.
Even in your worst suffering, even in your darkest valley, even in the most agonizing persecution, you can rejoice and be glad because God is with you, because God is accomplishing his purposes, because this light and momentary affliction—even if it leads all the way to death—is preparing you for an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond all comparison. And so expect to be persecuted; when it appears to have come, honestly evaluate your persecution; and if you are convinced this is, indeed, suffering for righteousness’ sake, then embrace your persecution as a means through which God is at work for the furthering of his kingdom, the good of his people, and the glory of his name. And rejoice that you have been counted worthy to suffer dishonor, or even death, for his sake.
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The Freedom of Embracing My Weaknesses
I am tip-toeing—or perhaps lurching—toward the age of 50. Whatever it means to be middle-aged, I am indisputably now well within that range. This stage of life has introduced some new trials, new difficulties, and new indignities, many of them related to a body that is no longer what it once was. But this stretch of time has also introduced some blessings.
Among those blessings is a sense of realism about myself that may have been missing in my younger years. I increasingly know who I am and, of equal importance, who I am not. I have a deeper understanding of what I am capable of and what I am incapable of. I have learned what I can expect of myself and what will only ever be beyond my capacity.
When I was young I aimed for the stars and honestly thought I was capable of reaching them. I modeled my life after luminaries and saw no reason why I couldn’t match or even surpass them. My ambitions were as great as my assessment of my own abilities. My energy was very nearly boundless. Such is the charming naiveté of youth.
But through many false starts, through many broken attempts, and through many sore failures, I have been forced to learn that even though I have strengths, I also have weaknesses and even though I have abilities, I also have inabilities. God has gifted me in some ways, but not others. He has provided certain opportunities but denied many more. As important as it has been to learn who God has made me to be has been learning, admitting, and embracing who he has not made me to be.
God has not made me the kind of person who can produce vast quantities of the highest standard of work. To the contrary, he has limited my capacities, my abilities, and my opportunities, not to mention my intellectual capabilities. I am physically weak and easily fatigued, and though my writing plans may be ambitious, my hands are damaged and can type for only a few hours each day before I have to step away from my desk and let them rest. Though my mind may be quick, my formal education is relatively small and limits my ability to think and write in great depth. These weaknesses and so many others mean that I never can and never will produce the quantity and kind of work that some others seem to produce and that I may have expected myself to produce. They serve to limit me.
And while there may have been a time when that would threaten to discourage me, there is actually a sense of relief that comes with this kind of self-knowledge. There is a kind of freedom—freedom from false and unfair expectations. I know now that God won’t assess me according to the gifts, talents, and opportunities he has given to someone else and neither will he assess me according to the ambitions I might have once held for myself. He will assess me according to what he assigned to me and what he made me to be.
I used to see weakness as a trial I needed to challenge and overcome. I used to see weakness as an obstacle that stood between me and my purpose. I used to see weakness as one of life’s great discouragements. But now I see weakness as part of God’s plan for me. Now I see a realistic assessment of my weakness as what guides me to my purpose. Now I am encouraged by weakness, for it helps me understand and even become the man God means for me to be. -
Deep Answers to Real Questions about Attraction, Identity, and Relationships
It can’t be easy to be a young person today. I suppose it never has been, but it seems that today’s teens and young adults are forced to grapple with especially difficult questions. If that’s true of many different areas, it’s most notably true when it comes to matters of attraction, identity, and relationships. What was once crystal clear has become woefully muddy.
More to the Story
Jennifer Kvamme has worked with students for many years and is accustomed to helping them work through some of the big questions—questions related to sexuality, identity, intimacy, orientation, and so on. “I’ve watched middle schoolers grow into adults, listened as they shared their deepest struggles and highest joys, and seen Jesus heal pain and transform lives. I’ve heard their questions about God, life, and yes, sex. And I’ve grieved as I’ve watched students walk away from the church because they sensed judgment and exclusion and didn’t see how Jesus could be good news for them.”
And that is exactly what led her to write More to the Story—a book that is aimed squarely at an audience of teens and young adults. The title hints at where she begins the book—by explaining how God is telling a story in this world and how in that story sexuality is a glimpse of something deeper and more consequential. She traces the familiar storyline of the Bible to show that the God who created the world is now redeeming the world. And she explains how even our sexuality is a part of God’s design and his good plan.
With such groundwork in place, she devotes the rest of the book to ten big questions: Why does God care what I do with my body (if I’m not hurting anyone)? What am I supposed to do with such strong feelings of sexual desire? Why does it matter what pronouns I use? Why is sex “good” in marriage but “bad” before it? Along the way, she covers identity, gender, singleness, pornography, dating, abuse, and more.
Written from the perspective of a mentor to a younger person, Kvamme offers a perspective on sexuality that is firmly grounded in the Bible. She writes with compassion and concern but never wavers in her conviction that God’s way is the best way. She shows how the Bible is the only trustworthy guide for sexuality and that the best life is the one that is deeply submitted to the Lord. This is a book that can guide young people through the many fictions of the modern world to ensure they know there is much more to the story than they have been told. -
Simplify Church Finances with Church Social’s Donation Tracking Feature
This week the blog is sponsored by Church Social and is written by Jonathan Reinink.
In 2 Corinthians 9, we’re taught that “God loves a cheerful giver”. Giving is an important part of church life as it’s a practical way for us to show our thankfulness to God for all he has blessed us with. There are many ways we give, including supporting the work of mercy via the deacons, the annual church budget via our regular voluntary contributions, special fundraisers like church renovation projects, and many different ministries and outreach initiatives.
Giving is an important part of church life as it’s a practical way for us to show our thankfulness to God for all he has blessed us with.Jonathan ReininkShare
While there is absolutely a strong spiritual element to our giving, there is also a practical side to it. Every church has someone tasked with the responsibility of tracking all these donations, accounting for them in their accounting software, generating giving statements, and in some countries (like mine here in Canada) generating annual tax receipts. What might go unnoticed by the regular church attendee is that there is a lot of work to be done that quite often lands in the hands of a (mathematically inclined) volunteer.
I run a software platform for churches called Church Social, and one of our goals is to help church members spend less time doing administrative-type work. One way we do this is by helping church treasurers with the tracking and management of donations via our giving module. This has been a popular feature, as it saves church treasurers a ton of work.
Tracking contributions
With Church Social, treasurers can effortlessly input member contributions to various funds. Contributions can be entered manually or imported from an Excel or CSV file. Contributions are organized into “deposits”, which group a batch of contributions for a particular time period or fund.Since Church Social is also a membership management tool it always has the most up-to-date version of your membership records, meaning treasurers don’t have to maintain a separate membership list. They can simply assign contributions to the members that already exist in the software.
Contributions are not limited to just members. If you have outside donors or businesses who contribute to your church, you can track those as well.
Giving numbers
Church Social lets you assign giving numbers (sometimes called envelope numbers) to members, a technique often used by churches to help keep contributions anonymous to everyone except the church treasurer. Treasurers can even import contributions based on those numbers.
Since giving numbers are often sequential, Church Social makes it easy to identify unused giving numbers so that you can assign them to new members.
Giving statements
Once contributions have been entered into the system, Church Social makes generating giving statements a trivial task. Simply choose a date range, the statement type, and which funds you’d like included, and the software will handle the rest. No more complicated mail merge process required!If your church uses shepherding groups (sometimes called wards or districts), Church Social provides giving statements specifically for the members in those groups. These statements can be shared with the elders and deacons responsible for the care of those members.
As a bonus, member statements in Church Social are designed to work with #10 windowed envelopes, so if your church provides printed statements this is a wonderful time-saver.
Tax receipts
For our Canadian and New Zealand customers in particular, Church Social lets you automatically generate CRA and IRD-compliant donation receipts from your contribution data.
Creating tax receipts each year has historically been a laborious task for church treasurers. Not anymore! Simply set a couple of required pieces of information, like your charitable registration number and an authorized signature, and then generate tax receipts for your entire congregation in just seconds. Treasurers can either print the receipts for distribution or email them to members directly from within the app.
We’ve spent more time than we’d like to admit reviewing government requirements for tax receipts so that you don’t have to! If you issue a tax receipt and there’s incorrect information on it, Church Social properly handles the cancellation and reissuing of those tax receipts. We’ve worked hard to ensure that your church is compliant with government regulations.
Works with your existing accounting software
Church Social isn’t intended to replace your existing accounting software, but rather it’s designed to work with it. The way most of our customers operate is to record the individual member contributions within Church Social, and then to take the totals for the various funds and enter them into their accounting software.
What’s great about this approach is that treasurers aren’t required to manage all their church’s membership data in two platforms. Instead Church Social does the heavy lifting here, tracking all the membership and contribution data plus generating giving statements and tax receipts, leaving the accounting software to simply track the totals.
Not just for treasurers
What’s nice about the giving features in Church Social is that it’s not just for church treasurers. Churches can choose to let members view their own contribution history from within the app, as well as download their past tax receipts. This is all done from the “My Contributions” page and can help further reduce the burden on treasurers since members can securely access this information themselves.
Permissions and security
Only treasurers can access the contribution area within Church Social, and this role can be assigned to one or more members within your church. We’ve taken a lot of care to ensure the safety and security of the data housed within Church Social, and the contribution data is no exception. You can read more about our security practices on our website at https://churchsocial.com/security.
Try it today!
If your church is interested in streamlining the management of your member contributions, or interested in a software platform to help manage your membership records in general, definitely give Church Social a closer look. Your treasurer will thank you! You can start a free trial on our website at https://churchsocial.com.
