“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (II Timothy 3:10-15 NIV)
The plight of Pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-American, has been in the news lately. Arrested in August while on a visit with his family in Iran, he was sentenced last week to eight years in prison for threatening national security. Abedini was involved in the Iranian house church movement in the early 2000’s before the government began a crackdown on Christian activity. (You can read the latest news here.)
A lot of people have been shocked that such a thing could happen. One Facebook post I read in response to the verdict, expressed surprise that “such things even happen anymore.” Yet, Paul is very clear that persecution of followers of Jesus is a given. And Jesus said that anyone who desired to follow Him must take up his cross (an instrument of execution) and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Peter also said that by enduring suffering, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus. (I Peter 2:20-21)
Persecution of those who are following Jesus should not come as a shock to us; it should be expected. While we may have yet to experience it ourselves, perhaps because we live in a country that historically has been quite tolerant of believers, persecution has been taking place since the beginning of the Church, and is widespread throughout the world, particularly in North Korea, China, India, and many Islamic countries.
I have just completed reading through Acts and it is amazing to me how much persecution the early church endured. And even more surprising, how they embraced it as part of what it meant to follow Jesus. On occasion they fled, but the majority of the time, they endured for the sake of the Gospel. I wonder would I do the same?
Today, while we pray for Pastor Abedini’s release, let us ponder this question: Would I, like him, be willing to risk persecution for the sake of the Gospel?
© Jim Musser 2013
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