So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.' -Acts 5:41
Once in a blue moon I get hit right between the eyes…metaphorically…spiritually. What I mean by that is that I believe the Lord providentially grabs my attention in one way or another, and His Spirit works in my heart through Biblical truth. Recently I received such another 'sanctified blow' to the forehead.
I was enjoying a conversation at breakfast with an older man who is also a church elder, for whom I have great respect. We were talking about our nation and the possible future of Christians in a cancel culture, when he shared a passage from a book he recently read. That book tells the story of how Christians survived in a country that took a turn towards Totalitarianism. My friend related two of the author's observations. First, the point was made that today in the West, Christians are perhaps in more danger because the evil influences are not as noticeable-they are are more subtle. (Makes me think of the Garden of Eden.) Second, and this is what hit me hard, is that the Christians who survived the shift to Totalitarianism said that they were most happy not when things were going well, not when they had everything they wanted, but while they were in prison suffering for their faith. Immediately I thought, 'That puts many of us Christians today to shame.' Really what I should have said or thought, is, 'That puts me to shame.'
You see, I do believe that in the United States we still have the opportunity as Christians lawfully to defend our freedoms, and that we should. However, especially during an election year, and a significant one at that, we ought not to allow the pursuit of political and religious freedom to crowd out our relationship with the Lord, nor should we allow a 'trust in the system' to replace our faith in Jesus, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Nor should we ignore the Lord’s warning in Deut. 8:11-14 which says, “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.‘ I mean, just look at the Apostles in Acts chapter 5. It doesn’t seem that they had much. They were warned by the authorities not to preach in the name of Jesus. Then they were beaten because they did. Before they were released, they were again commanded not to preach in Jesus' name. Even though it would cost them, they chose to obey God rather than man. The cost was physical pain and public huiliation. And yet, we are told they left 'rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.' My purpose is not to make the wealthy feel guilty, although the Bible gives many warnings to the rich (I Tim. 6:10; Mt. 6:24;Mt. 13:22)
My purpose is to ask the question, ‘Whether we are beaten like the Apostles for preaching the gospel, or are locked in prison under a modern day Totalitarian government, or are ‘cancelled’ by unbelieving institutions for our faithfulness to Christ, could we rejoice in such a time? I would like to think that I would, that God would give me the grace in such a situation. I also think that the answer to such a question will be determined by our present walk with the Lord. After all, the Apostles' practice was to devote themselves to prayer and the word (Acts 6:4)
So then, how does it go with our communion with Jesus right now? Are we making use of the Word of God? Of prayer? Of the Fellowship of the Saints? Are there any idols in our lives crowding out time alone with our heavenly Father? What should we say 'No' to today, so that we might spend time with Him in prayer, and listening to His word, so that when the tough times do come, we might 'rejoice' and even 'consider it all joy?' May we consider the name of Christ, that is, His cause, His very being, our all! -Pastor Kevin