Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven… Matthew 5:11-12

If you’ve been listening to Guidelines in this current series, you’ve heard my conversation with David Curry, president of Open Doors, USA, an organization founded by my friend Brother Andrew who loaded his little Volkswagen with Bibles and went into Communist countries as others were fleeing in the opposite direction.  His story is told in the book God’s Smuggler.  But today’s commentary is not about Andrew or even the good work that his organization is doing.

It’s this: How do you respond to the suffering and persecution of others when you, yourself, may not be affected at all?  I see five clear responses.

First, there is the pushback of indifference.  That’s the attitude, “This isn’t my problem and I’m not concerned with it.”  Edmund Burke, the American patriot, once said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Martin Niemoller, a prominent pastor in Germany and foe of Adolph Hitler is quoted as saying, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was a Trade Unionist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.  Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

No Christian should be so secure, so sure that persecution will not someday knock on your door, if it has not already, that he can ignore those who suffer persecution today.

The second thing you should do, which you read about in the book of Acts, is to pray.  Remember when Peter was imprisoned, they convened a prayer meeting.  Honestly, I wonder how much overt persecution it would take for the church today to rediscover the power of prayer, especially for those around the world as well as where you live who are suffering, their lives being torn apart by persecution.

Response number three is become informed.  OK, perhaps you have learned that reading about those who are persecuted makes you uncomfortable and you don’t like to think it could happen here.  Whoa!  When your child suffers, you suffer, right?  When your nieces and nephews suffer, you suffer, right?  Remember that Christians around the world are your brothers and sisters.  Find out what is happening and wake up to the reality that it is gradually happening around the world.  Radical Islam has no tolerance for Christians and its growth in the world cannot be ignored.

Response number four: stand in solidarity with the suffering church.  Writing to the Corinthians Paul made a strong case for the fact that when one part of the body suffers, the whole is affected.  You fall down and badly bruise your shoulder and your entire body hurts, right!  So is it with the body of Christ.

Finally, resist the encroachment of evil.  Yes, your voice makes the difference.  Write letters.  Send email.  Go to the school board.  Stand with believers who are facing discrimination.  You can make a difference.  Don’t be intimidated.  I have a conviction that the silent majority will eventually lose their freedoms unless the moral laryngitis that has gripped so many is overcome.  Affirm the attitude that says, “I am only one, yet I am one.  I cannot do everything but I can do something, and what I can do, by the grace of God I will do.”  And when you do what you can do, that will be enough.  While Jesus told us we would face persecution, He also said, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  And through His power, you can do the same thing—no matter how you are persecuted.

Resource reading: John 17:20-26.