“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12–13, NIV)
Peter’s words are becoming increasingly relevant for Christians in America. Taking a courageous stand inspires others, brings peace, and, as Peter repeatedly saw in his life, opens doors for evangelizing even the enemies of the gospel.
Roy is an Indian minister friend of mine who works in a massive city in the country. (I can’t share the location for his safety.) On his arms, he bears the scars of his persecution from deflecting blows of a hundred beatings through the years by those who oppose his preaching—mostly Hindu extremists. Speaking to Roy, I’m reminded of the numerous Christians I’ve interviewed who have endured intense persecution like he has. They are all the most joyful and peaceful Christians I know. The glory of the Lord truly shines around them.
Roy told me of the great joy he has had in preaching the gospel, planting churches, and making disciples. At the time of our conversation, he had planted seventy-nine churches in and around his city. He has been arrested, beaten, threatened, and had family members kidnapped.
“He has been arrested, beaten, threatened, and had family members kidnapped.”
He has even been poisoned by a Hindu priest. Locals had warned Roy not to accept the priest’s offer for dinner when Roy visited the village, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to preach the gospel to this village leader. After the two had a cordial supper, Roy went home. The very next day, the priest’s wife suffered a massive hemorrhage. The desperate priest had heard that the prayers of Christians often saved lives, so he tracked down Roy and asked him to pray over his wife. Roy did. The hemorrhage healed. In a matter of days, the priest and his entire family professed faith in Christ and were baptized.
But there is more to the story. Only later did the priest reveal to Roy that he had poisoned Roy’s food. When he found Roy the next day, he was shocked to discover that Roy was still alive. When he saw that Roy had no poisoning symptoms, the priest came to believe in Jesus—even before Roy’s prayer healed his wife. That former Hindu priest became a Christian minister, planting numerous churches. Roy’s faithfulness in the face of persecution convicted him.
And the incident steeled Roy’s resolve. For those who stand on the reality of the gospel, there is great strength and joy. With each stand for the gospel, it gets easier. As James says,
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2–4, NIV)
Rejoice in Suffering: “The testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
The more you stand for Jesus, the more you’ll know who you are, and the more you’ll find the joy of Christian maturity. Opposition, resistance, and persecution are tools that God uses to refine us and make us whole. Peter puts it this way:
“These [trials] have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:7, NIV)
It may help to internalize some basic Christian resolutions that will serve as a compass each time you are faced with a new challenge. Commit these to memory, and then stand firmly on them when you are tested:
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- I will stand firm in Jesus and never deny him (1 Corinthians 16:13).
- I will obey the scriptures and never compromise them (Psalm 119:44).
- I will be holy and never conform to the world (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
- I will make disciples and never betray the gospel (Romans 1:16).
- I will rescue sinners but never approve of sin (Galatians 6:1).
- I will bless my enemies and never curse them (Matthew 5:44).
- I will rejoice in my sufferings and never become bitter (1 Peter 4:16).
- I will hope in Jesus and never hope in this world (Hebrews 10:23).
Rejoice in Suffering: “It may help to internalize some basic Christian resolutions that will serve as a compass each time you are faced with a new challenge.”
Live Dead
Just before admonishing the Colossian Christians to avoid the cultural pressures of sexual sin, the apostle Paul reminds us of a critical truth.
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:2–4, NIV)
In 1838, missionary James Calvert was sent to preach the gospel among the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, where he spent eighteen years preaching. On his way to the islands, reportedly the captain of his ship tried to dissuade him from the mission. “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages,” the captain said. Calvert gave a firm and confident reply: “We died before we came here.”
Early in his life, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. faced a crisis of courage. It was 1956, and he had just moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to lead the budding Civil Rights Movement. One night he received a phone call warning him that if he did not leave, his house would be blown up and his brains blown out. That night he wrestled with God in prayer, confessing his doubts, his fears, and his weaknesses. He was concerned for his family’s life, and he also didn’t want others to see his personal fears and become demoralized in the fight.
Rejoice in Suffering: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
“And it seemed at that moment,” he later remarked, “I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness, stand up for justice, stand up for truth and lo I will be with you even until the end of the world.’ I heard the voice of Jesus saying to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.” Even after his house was blown up, this Christian evangelist went on to lead one of the greatest movements of righteousness the world has ever seen.[1]
Jesus promises us that following him will bring a cost. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23–24, NIV). But he also promises he will be with us always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).
That’s what we did when we were baptized; we died with him. Get that clear. Like James Calvert and many of the apostles before him said, you already died for Jesus. So whatever comes your way can be faced with confidence and joy. “For Christ’s sake,” the apostle Paul says, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV).
Compromise won’t work, so refuse to do it. It is a form of unfaithfulness. Everybody loses when Christians compromise our witness. Deciding, once and for all, to stand with Jesus is the only hope you have. It is the only hope the world has, and it is the only hope your family has. Stand up for King Jesus. Refuse to back down.
“That’s what we did when we were baptized; we died with him. Get that clear.”
When you feel you are not up to the task facing us, remind yourself that you already died in your baptism, having been raised with Christ to a new life (Romans 6:3–4). But you do not stand alone or by your own strength, for “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
[1] Martin Luther King Jr., “Draft of Chapter XIII, ‘Our God is Able,’” Stanford: The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/draft-chapter-xiii-our-god-able (accessed May 31, 2021). Such stories of resolve attract even the attention of the unbelieving world. Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to eleven years in prison for standing up for human rights in China. He received the Nobel Prize for his stand. His statement before entering prison is a masterpiece of resistance. See “I Have No Enemies,” The Nobel Prize, nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2010/xiaobo/lecture.
Excerpted from David Young’s Resilient: Standing Firm in a Hostile World (RENEW.org, 2023).
