Theme
“Do
not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put
some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten
days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you
life as your victor’s crown.” – Rev 2:10 ßMessage to one of the Christian
Churches whose report from Christ was positive: “ I have known thy works,
and tribulation, and poverty -- yet thou art rich -- and the evil-speaking
of those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but [are] a synagogue of
the Adversary.” Rev 2:9
This
blog is created and published in the United States of America. In July 2019 the
persecution of Christians is not violent, is not deadly, is forbidden by the
current federal government. Having said that, whatever real persecution a
Christian suffers regardless of the residence of the Christian is nonetheless
persecution. It may be proffered someone’s presence from a global social justice
platform being denied, cancelled or censured is not equivalent to rape, torture
[rape is torture too] of any kind or murder. However, if one follows the horizontal
line of thinking, a person’s freedom of speech, expression and religion curtails
the person’s right to engage in communication with anyone to corporately
upbuild one another is greatly and negatively impacted. In a culture where ‘feelings’
are given quintessential importance, being refused the freedom of speech others
– not Christian – freely enjoy is not necessarily a punishment for the
individual condemned but to the potential many who would be encouraged
elsewhere. This is persecution, albeit incomparable to those of Christians
being tormented, tortured/raped and murdered elsewhere. Additionally, this
curtailment, leads to more serious infringements/persecutions because a ‘class’
of people are diminished in the minds of those who see them banished from
social justice platforms, one right after another.
The
author has acknowledged the differences in levels or kinds of persecution. The
point is, whatever the kinds of persecution, reading Paul’s words above, some
of us too see the kinds of persecutions he personally endured as an Apostle of
Paul:
Ø
Great
Endurance
Ø
Troubles
Ø
Hardships/Distresses
Ø
Beatings
Ø
Imprisonments
Ø
Riots
Ø
Truthful
Speech
Ø
Through
glory and dishonor
Ø
Bad
Report
Ø
Beaten
Please
carefully and prayerfully consider each of these bullet points above. You can
surmise each has a different level of intensity but nonetheless is generally considered
a decent list of ways Christians have been persecuted [to be accurate, at this
point in Paul’s writings he did not identify these factors as persecution/s] over
the millennia and to this date, continue being persecuted and in most cases. Jesus said, because of HIS name. “If the world
hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If
you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not
belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why
the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you:
‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they
will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours
also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my
name, for they do not know the one who sent me.” – John 15:18-21
Is
censorship from any or all social media platforms considered persecution akin
to Christians being slaughtered elsewhere in the world. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Nor
would we ever compare our being denied the same freedom of expression, speech
and religion others enjoy via social platforms here as anywhere close to that
sort of heinous persecution. Is it akin to Christian women and children being
raped and sex trafficked as prisoners of war? NO! Is it akin to being daily tortured
in every conceivable way? AGAIN, NO WAY! However, consider these points:
Ø “ For we
were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one
body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one
Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up
of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say,
“Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that
reason stop being part of the body.16 And if the ear
should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would
not for that reason stop being part of the body.17 If
the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole
body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But
in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as
he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part,
where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are
many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the
hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need
you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body
that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and
the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the
parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,24 while
our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body
together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,25 so
that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have
equal concern for each other. 26 If one
part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part
rejoices with it. 1
Cor 12:12-26
Ø
“may we draw near with a true
heart, in full assurance of faith, having the hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and having the body bathed with pure water; 23 may
we hold fast the unwavering profession of the hope, (for faithful [is] He who
did promise), 24 and may we consider one another to provoke to love and to
good works,”
Heb10:22-24
Contemplate
the idea Christians are one big earthly family of GOD in Christ. According to
Paul, when one part suffers – we all suffer. Suffering can be quantified in
many ways; for instance, the ones being tortured suffer immeasurable mental, emotional,
psychological and spiritual trauma. Those of us apart from the physical torture
--but who hear about it are immediately hurt in our hearts, minds, and soul. We
do not suffer like them but we empathically connect to their suffering and
immediately wish to communicate with them and to pray for them. We may pray
privately, corporately in our family, or corporately with other believers. When
we hear of these heinous assaults on our family in other places, we must come
to offer solace, compassion, words of encouragement/hope and definitely support
in other ways. BUT, if one of the ways we can access our family worldwide, the
social media platforms, is denied the Christian then one viable means of
communications to provoke love and good works inhibits our immediate response
to their horrid situation. What does ‘provoke’ mean in Hebrews 10:24 above? One
word is to ‘incite’ or instigate, stir, cultivate, nourish, stimulate.
While
it is true those who are being raped, assaulted, tortured and murdered may not have
access to social media but their captors do, their local family may, and of
course their church could leading to our being able to encourage GODly and LOVING
behaviors, minds and hearts. NOT if our words are denied through censorship, or
banishment from any one or all the social media platforms. In short, they willfully
negate a family communication system.
Lastly,
such provocation enforced through unmitigated purging of a class of people from
freedom of speech and religion, historically leads to unintended consequences such
as community protest. While the true Christian would not participate in violent
protest, they may feel conscientiously free to join an informational protest
designed to bring a positive resolution to the issue. Nevertheless, Christians would
have no control over non-Christians -- who see the larger picture: freedom of
speech/religions constitutional rights being infringed – and who understand how
chaos total banishment of these rights to all could lead to anarchy under such
tyrannical authority. Essentially, though it compares in now way to torture,
rape and murder, the denial of any one group [in this case Christians] from the
varied social media platforms will lead to no good and stifles perhaps the only
means of assuaging the suffering of others because they have been isolated --
even in their sufferings -- from one of the many ‘human’ resources available to
them.
Currently,
Christians may want to be creative in how they present themselves, without
being devious or counterintuitive to their LORD and Master, our KING. Back
during the Roman persecution, Christians were hunted and tortured, raped,
imprisoned and murdered by the powers at be. They found creative means to live
out their Christian lives including communications with their Christian family.
We can do the same.
Bibles Designations
KJV
– King James Version
NIV
– New International Version
NWT
– New World Translation
ASV
-- American Standard Version
DISCLAIMER:
The thoughts published on this blog, in total, are the opinions, thoughts and
considerations of the writer/author of every post published. It is assumed that
research by the reader will lead the reader to their own conclusions. It is not
the writer’s intent to make a judgment of anyone but to allow GOD’s Word to do
what it does. “For the word of GOD is alive and active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from GOD’s
sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to
whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:12 [NIV]
>>>All artwork contained on this blog entry as well as archived/historical entries belongs to ©Lightwritingmatters 2015<<< permission must be requested and approved by the author to reproduce in any format and for any reason. √
©Lightwritingmatters
2015
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