The good news of the gospel and of God’s sacrificial love for men frequently produces hostility – and sometimes violence. Why? What makes the good news so offensive?
To answer this question, it is helpful to consider what makes persecution . . . persecution. A working definition of persecution is:
Hostility and harm to Christians . . . mainly because they are speaking and acting like Christians.
This definition suggests it is ultimately the gospel message – rather than its messengers – which creates offense and generates a strongly hostile reaction.
- Persecution isn’t Concerned with the Messenger; it Resists the Message.
Author Glenn Penner observes:
While by no means the best example of righteousness, Peter sees Lot’s deliverance from Sodom as deliverance from persecution:
If he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials. (2 Peter 2:7–9)
One lesson to be drawn from Lot’s example is that persecution is not restricted to only mature believers or spiritual giants. All who claim to follow God will undoubtedly be, at some point, called upon to make a stand. In Lot’s case, while much of his life was characterized by compromise, to his credit, he did rise to the challenge when called upon.
It is the integrity and strength of the gospel message – and not integrity or strength of the messenger – which creates hostility.
- The Primary Objective of Persecution: Stop the Message (or at Least, Change it).
Hostility to the message results in demands to stop proclaiming it – or at least to compromise its integrity and strength. As Penner points out, this is one of the tensions underlying the apostle Paul’s message to the Galatian church:
It would appear from Galatians 6:12 that, as in Corinth, there were those among the Galatians who were twisting the message of the gospel in order to avoid being persecuted by the Judaizers:
It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
. . . .
[Paul] concludes the letter with a most interesting phrase in Galatians 6:17: “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
Paul considers the scars from his torture and persecution to be Christ’s brand upon him, marking him as a slave. It is not circumcision that marks him as belonging to Christ, Paul says, but the scars of persecution incurred in the cause of the gospel of Jesus.
“Stop trying to change this gospel,” Paul pleads with the Galatians. “Those who want to avoid persecution remove the cross, but Christ’s cross is central to the gospel and bringing you the gospel necessitated carrying the cross.” To share the message of the cross-centred gospel always requires cross-carrying messengers.
- It is the Message – Not the Messenger – that Produces a Negative (or a Positive) Response.
The apostle John likewise reminds believers that the message of the gospel is certain to produce results – and that those results will frequently include violent hostility. Here again, Penner notes:
In [1 John] 3:12, John refers to Cain’s murder of Abel who was killed because his deeds were righteous while his brother’s were evil. Cain saw that Abel’s acts won God’s approval — as evidenced in God’s acceptance of his sacrifice in Genesis 4:5 — while his was not and he was angry that this was so. This incidence of martyrdom is the basis on which John makes his next statement in 3:13, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”
The world’s actions — also evidenced by those causing division in the church through their false teaching — are evil and those who do evil always hate those who do what is right. “John clearly has in mind (in this verse) not simply people outside the church who may persecute Christians but also people within the church whose lack of love demonstrates that they are not truly believers.”
First John 3:12, in its context, is helpful for those who may not live in restricted nations or societies hostile to the Christian message and/or presence. Hatred for the truth and its messengers may even be found within the fellowship of those who call themselves “Christians.” The follower of Jesus who steadfastly holds to the truth should not be surprised when encountering opposition. Indeed, the witness of Scripture is entirely universal in its assertion that this is to be expected. Also, the exclusive claims of Christ (4:15; 5:12) increasingly subject Christians in restricted and “free” societies to accusations of intolerance and hatred. This is not all unlike the accusations of the early church who were often accused by the Romans of being “haters of mankind” because of their rejection of the Roman deities.
Persecution is a direct effect of the strength, integrity, and exclusiveness of the gospel message. Isaiah 55:10 – 11 promises believers that – like the rain and snow which water the earth and produce a harvest – God’s Word never returns empty, but always produces its intended result. For the unrepentant sinner, it produces hatred.
But the gospel message produces more than hateful resistance. Though faithful, humble, obedient messengers of the gospel may experience temporary suffering, that suffering has its own eternal purposes, worked out for the good of those who must bear them. Just as importantly, the gospel message – while violently resisted by some – will, in others, produce repentance and life.
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