Preparing For Persecution XXVI

 When winning is the only thing that matters, man can justify any action undertaken in the pursuit of victory, both to himself and to others. The object of the exercise was not to play fair, play nice, play by the rules, make sure everyone’s having fun, or that everyone gets to participate, but that you win. Last man standing, all foes vanquished, bring me my medal, my giant trophy, and the heads of my enemies on a platter! To the victor go the spoils; as an added bonus, more often than not, the victor gets to write the story of how it all went down.

If the agents of darkness see it as war and you see it as a game, who do you think will win?

Come on now. We all know Jesus wins in the end, don’t we? Yes, He does win in the end, but if you treat the entire exercise as nothing more than fire insurance and consider this faith of ours as nothing more than a game we play to ensure our perpetual comfort, are you still on team Jesus?

When ensuring my comfort supersedes His glory, I will find a way to skirt, bypass, or otherwise circumvent enduring or suffering for His name’s sake. If I’m more concerned about me than I am about His glory, I will find a way to beg off the difficult season, justifying it as prudence rather than cowardice, self-preservation rather than betrayal.

When we are committed to Christ, we will not look for ways to bend the truth, massage it, or otherwise omit it for fear of what others might think, say, or do in retaliation. Stephen knew full well that he could have lived to see another day if he was willing to compromise the truth. He knew he could have worded his response in such a fashion wherein the crowd's anger would have been tampered down, and the situation de-escalated. He likewise knew that doing so would betray his conviction of who Jesus was and the message of a risen Christ who was the only way, truth, and life.

While Stephen did not set out to get martyred, he didn’t shy away from the possibility of it or betray Jesus for the sake of his own continued existence on this earth. He was not needlessly antagonistic, nor did he insult those to whom he spoke on purpose. He spoke the truth of Christ fearlessly and committed His ways to the Lord wherever they might lead.

We are already experiencing a soft tyranny when it comes to speaking the truth, unadulterated and undiluted. Whether it’s social media platforms that strike you when you get out of line or entire denominations who demonize you when you point out that the Bible says things contrary to what they are preaching, the silencing of truth is already well on its way. For fear of being de-platformed or no longer allowed on certain mediums, many have taken to self-censoring and holding back the things they know they ought to be trumpeting.

As yet, there is no threat of physical persecution, but that will come in time, and if someone is willing to compromise the truth today, they will surely do so when the threat of violence and death come to the fore, and those who wield power begin to condone it.

You don’t show up to a weightlifting competition, having never lifted weights in your life, and expect to place or win. Some things in life require preparation, dedication, focus, and commitment. People train for years on end just to be able to deadlift three times their body weight or run a marathon without their hearts quitting on them, but they have a goal firmly affixed in their minds and will let nothing stand in the way of achieving it.

When our minds and hearts are prepared for the advent of persecution, and we purpose therein to speak the truth no matter the threats and consequences, when the time comes that we are called upon to make a choice, we will not hesitate or retreat.

At some point along the way, Stephen likely saw where this was going. If you read through his discourse, you realize this was a wise man, if not a learned one, whose dedication to the word was proven out in the handful of truths he reminded those he stood before. This was no monosyllabic troglodyte who could barely put two words together, so when he saw false witnesses accusing him of things he’d never done, he likely put two and two together.

He knew where this was going and could have put it in neutral. Stephen could have backpedaled and obfuscated as we’ve seen so many self-professing spiritual leaders do time and again when asked about whether abortion, adultery, homosexuality, and all manner of hot-button issues being a sin, but he knew that by omitting the truth, he would be betraying it, thereby making himself unworthy of the name Jesus.

The Christian message has been so sterilized and neutered in our day and age that when someone stands boldly on the truth of God’s word and declares it unashamedly, we view them as brave, bold, courageous to a fault, and a rarity among men. It should not be so. Boldness should be the standard, not the exception. Courage and speaking the truth should be the baseline, not the unattainable ideal.

If you can get the same thing from Tony Robbins as you would from your pastor, then your pastor is not teaching the gospel of Christ. Your spiritual man is not being fed, and though you may not notice it momentarily, it is being starved and weakened due to a lack of spiritual succor. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If we eliminate the Word of God from what we are hearing, are we not faithless, powerless, rudderless souls who are as vulnerable to the storms of life as the godless among us?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.