Prose

Part III: Final Thoughts - When In Trouble

It has been said that if being a Christian doesn't cost you anything, then you are probably not being a Christian at all. So true is this saying, for truly following Christ will surely involve facing toils, hardships, persecutions, and troubles.

After all, the Lord Jesus Christ never promised us a smooth sailing journey with Him. Instead, He told us that following Him can cost us everything, even our own lives. He preached to His so-called followers that to truly come after Him is to deny oneself, steadfastly carrying his cross daily (Luke 9:23). The Lord taught them a paradox that anyone who is trying to save his life will eventually lose it, but anyone who is willing to lose his life on the account of the Lord's name will eventually save it (Luke 9:24). And besides, no servant can ever be greater than his lord. If the Lord faced many toils and troubles during His ministry on earth, we His followers should be willing to face them.

This became true with the early church. As they were fulfilling the commandments of Christ, great troubles came along the way. First, the religious leaders had the apostles beaten with rods. Second, Saul (who later was converted and became the Apostle Paul) had Stephen stoned to death who then became the first Christian to die as a martyr. Then, King Herod, in trying to please the Jewish people, had the Apostle James the brother of John killed with a sword and had the Apostle Peter imprisoned. And finally, Christians were facing trouble on every side as both the religious and political authorities were breathing out murderous threats against them. Still, the word of the Lord prevailed in the midst of those hardships the disciples were facing.

One thing that can be learned from the passage is to never respond violently to the things around you whatever happens. I have this tendency of planning rebellion against my superiors for the troubles they are causing me. (Of course, you should understand that I'm still a youth and we young people all have that tendency to rebel :D) But this wasn't the attitude of the early Christian disciples. Instead of uniting for a coup d'etat against the authorities, they just earnestly prayed. For they remembered what Christ said that those who take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52). They knew that the battle that they are waging wasn't against flesh and blood by against the dark spiritual authorities in the high places (Ephesians 6:12). While it is true that the church is an army, we are nt called for violence but for peace. For it is God Himself Who is fighting for us (Hebrews 10:30, Acts 12:23).

Another thing that can be learned from the passage is that the church members are meant to get closer to each other in the midst of the troubles. When the Apostle Peter was awaiting for his execution in the prison, can read that the church gathered in the house of Mary the mother of John Mark for a prayer meeting. Their prayers were then answered by the Lord by sending His angel to rescue Peter. They remembered the Lord's promise that when two or three are gathered together in His name, He is surely there. As the Holy Spirit spoke through King David, it is where the brothers dwell together in loving unity that the Lord commands His blessing (Psalm 133). The brothers in Christ need each other as a family need each others' fellowship in the midst of trials. The members of the Body need each other as a body need the members to abide with each other to function well. The Spirit-blazed Christians need each other as charcoals need each other to be keep each other ignited with heat.

We can also learn that it is also through persecutions that the church grows. How does a fruit-bearing tree multiply? Its fruits need to be picked and eaten so that their seeds will be scattered to other places. How does a banana stalk multiply? The mature stalk needs to be cut down so that the little stalks around it will grow. How does a fern multiply? Its spores need the wind to blow them away to other places so they could germinate from those. Like these plants, the church 'needs' persecution to disperse its members through out the whole world so that their numbers can multiply. We can read both in the Bible and in the whole church history that persecution is one of the greatest agent of multiplication for Christianity (Acts 11;19-21). One Christian martyr even taunted the Roman emperor to rage more threats to disperse the Christians. For in this way, every believer will flee to another place to proclaim the Gospel there. Remember that to go and take the good news to the furthest places of the world is to fulfill the mandate of Christ for His disciples (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15).

Now, there things that we can't fully understand about the troubles God is permitting (and sometimes, even causing) to take place in our lives. We can't fully understand why He let James be killed while He sent His angel to save peter from the execution which Herod prepared for him. We can't fully understand why He let the early Christians to be eaten by the lions while some thousand years ago, He shut the mouth of the lions which were with the Prophet Daniel in the den. What we can only understand is that through the storms of life, He is with us (Matthew 28:20). For He has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)

- Shim'onai

8/15/13