Biblical Living In Troubled Days
This past week a group of eleven people were raided and arrested early in the morning by armed FBI agents for allegedly blocking access to an abortion clinic in Tennessee back in March of 2021. They are being accused of being conspiratorial because they used social media to coordinate travel and logistics. These eleven fathers, mothers, grandmothers and young people face up to eleven years in prison and fines up to $350,000 if convicted for what would almost always have been classified in the past as, at worst, civil disobedience or even freedom of protest. Barring more facts, at the time of this writing this appears to me to be just another in a string of abuses of federal law enforcement by Biden’s Department of Justice to harass, intimidate, and persecute those who disagree with them.
It appears this way because we have yet to see the Biden administration act in such a heavy-handed way with the very real damage that occurred in 2020 in cities across the nation as businesses were destroyed and looted. It would seem that those who committed such violent acts and intimidation of the public as a whole would be at least as dangerous, if not more dangerous, as those who were protesting at an abortion clinic. The main difference is that the rioters and looters of 2020 were not antithetical to the policies of the Biden administration. This is only one example, more could easily be cited.
It appears that we have now reached the day in the United States where law enforcement can be weaponized against political enemies, and make no mistake, on the leading edge of the political enemies of the left will be Biblical Christians. Just look at where the hardest push is among the left currently and you will find that it is on issues of morality, issues the Bible speaks of plainly and clearly. Biblical Christians oppose gay marriage, oppose the LGBTQ+ agenda being pushed on our children in schools, oppose the mutilation of the bodies of young people who are sinfully confused about their gender, and on and on it goes. The church and pastor who speaks out on these issues should be preparing for the idea that persecution is coming.
Out of this, I am seeing many who do speak out on these issues demanding that more churches and pastors get involved politically on these issues. They want pastors to speak out against the Democrat Party specifically in their churches, discipline anyone in their church who votes for candidates on the left, and use the pulpit to push political change in the country. They warn us that if we do not act soon, we are going to face difficult times and we will be responsible for handing down even more difficult times to our children and grandchildren. My concern is that this is not the correct response.
They warn us that if we do not act soon, we are going to face difficult times and we will be responsible for handing down even more difficult times to our children and grandchildren.
As always, the Christian must turn, not to the warnings and exhortations of men, but to the warnings and exhortations of God found in His Word. God’s Word is not silent about Christians facing persecution. In fact, Jesus Himself warned us clearly that we would have tribulation in this world in John 16:33, and He said just one chapter earlier, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (John 15:18, 19, Legacy Standard Bible). It would seem to me the church should be expecting the world to hate us, so this should not come as any surprise.
In fact, Peter told us explicitly not to be surprised at persecution in this life. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:12, 13). It would seem those sounding alarm bells are surprised that there is, what might currently be deemed, as a soft uprising of hatred from the world toward professing Christians. Paul, however, warned Timothy that this would absolutely be the case. “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you, continue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them” (2 Timothy 3:12-14). I am always amazed when men who proclaim to stand on God’s truth invoke panic when God’s truth comes to light in our times.
It would seem to me the church should be expecting the world to hate us, so this should not come as any surprise.
Perhaps some of this comes from the fact that Christianity in America has had many years of what seems like relative peace with the world. Maybe Christians have been lulled into complacency and believed that these persecutions were reserved only for the early church, but not for the church today, especially in the United States. God’s Word stands. It not only stands to tell us what to expect, but it also stands in telling us how to act and react to the trial. James said it well, “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). I see little joy from those running around with their hair on fire warning everyone of the difficulty to come, rather I am seeing men angry feeling like they must be the only ones who see what is happening and believing that we must participate in stopping it from happening.
Yet, Scripture nowhere commands the church to set any goals of stopping this type of persecution, rather we are called to rejoice and stand firm. Now, standing firm is not doing nothing, rather it is continuing in the work we were always supposed to be about. As Paul said, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). We are not to stand still but stand firm, abounding in the work of the Lord. We are not to be tossed around by trial, but rather find the joy in the trial knowing it will do one of two things for those of us who stand firm. It will either makes us more like Jesus in this life or take us to glory and make us like Him even more in the next. Either way, we win, so why not have joy?
We are not to stand still but stand firm, abounding in the work of the Lord
What is the work of the Lord during times such as these? Living holy and blamelessly, sharing the gospel with the world around us, putting on the whole armor of God, loving one another, continuing to worship, and continuing to proclaim the truth of God’s Word. Last week I saw a great example of proclaiming the truth in times such as these. Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church wrote a letter that was published publicly to Governor Gavin Newsom. In that letter, MacArthur gave warning to Newsom about using Scripture on some billboards that promoted abortion, and the judgment of God’s wrath he will be under if he does not repent. MacArthur and his church then committed to be praying for Newsom to turn from his wicked ways and hope in Christ our Savior. This is abounding in the work of the Lord.
The work of the Lord is not politics. It is not pushing our agenda on others. It is not to transform the culture by carnal means. In fact, spiritual means are stronger than any carnal means. It is only the gospel, which is a spiritual weapon, that can make someone in darkness become a new creation in the light. Nothing else can do such a thing. When Christians lay down their spiritual weapons in exchange for carnal weapons they give up the power of God who is with them. They demonstrate their own lack of faith in God and His means to accomplish His work. Let us continue to be strong, continue to be steadfast, continue to be immovable, never distracted by the trouble in the world. Let the world and its corrupt system do what it must, but let the church be found abounding in the work of the Lord until He comes.
