Persecution…? Not ME… ! (The discipline of a Disciple–part 13)

I read a story about this Christian pastor who witnessed to a lumberjack that had come to town for a few days, from way out in the virgin forests of northern Canada, and he received Jesus. “Now that you’ve made Jesus your Lord, Jake, your life is going to change,” the pastor said.

“How’s that?” asked Jake. “Well, look, it says right here in God’s Word, `If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away, all things have become NEW!’–2Cor 5:17. So I want to warn you, Jake, that when you go back to that lumber camp, it’s going to be very difficult for you!”

“Why’s that, pastor?” replied Jake. “Because, as you know, most of those lumberjacks are tough, hard, wicked men, and they don’t like Christians! You’ll no longer be the same as you were before, cursing God, speaking foul language and doing evil things!–

You’re going to be so different they’re going to PERSECUTE you!”

So Jake went back to the camp and a few months passed before he came back to the town for his next leave. He wondered if he’d run into the pastor again, and sure enough, there he was, standing on a street corner passing out tracts.

“Hey, pastor! Nice to see you!”. “Hi, Jake!” exclaimed the pastor, very glad to see the converted lumberjack again. “Tell me, how did it go at the lumber camp?” “Oh, fine, just fine!”

The pastor said, “I told you it was going to be difficult to live a Christian life there, didn’t I?” –“No, no,” replied Jake, “it wasn’t hard!–Not at all!”

“You mean they didn’t persecute you or make it tough for you?” the pastor asked, surprised. “Oh, no! You see…they never EVEN FOUND OUT that I WAS a Christian!”

THAT kind of a sample is NOT being a real CHRISTIAN! Something you BELIEVE in, you TALK about! If you believe in your football team, you talk about them! If you believe in your political party, you talk about it! If you like your work, you talk about it!–And if you really believe in and love JESUS, you’re going to talk about HIM and share His Love with OTHERS!

Like the old washer-woman who was made fun of one day by someone who said they had seen her talking about Jesus to a wooden Indian in front of a cigar store! She perked up and replied, “Maybe I did; my eyesight isn’t so good any more! But talking to a wooden Indian about Jesus is not as bad as being a WOODEN CHRISTIAN and never talking about Jesus to ANYONE!”

Many professing Christians are Christians in name only. When culture strongly challenges Christianity, we discover that they are not willing to face persecution.

Those of us who genuinely love the Lord will be challenged about our faith. It would be a lie to say that taking a stand is easy. It’s not. But we believed the Lord when He said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mat 16:24).

If we really did get born again, we counted the cost. “Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you” (Luke 14:25-33).

We ALSO understood that those who refuse to take up their cross and follow Christ are “not worthy” of Him and cannot be His disciple (Mat 10:38; Lk 14:27). We ALSO believed the warning that  says “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12). And we understood that “if [we] falter in a time of trouble, how small is [our] strength” (Pro 24:10).

At the same time, we also grasped this very important truth: We are too weak to do it in our own strength. But we don’t have to do it in our strength. But Jesus assures us: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

Jesus said, “If men have a candlestick, they don’t hide it under a bowl or a jar.”–They don’t sit alone in some corner and hope nobody will find out that they’ve become a Christian.

–But “they put the candlestick on a STAND so that it will give light to the WHOLE HOUSE!”–Mat 5:15; Lk8:16.

They stand up and TELL others why they’ve had such a miraculous change in their life! Once you’re saved it should be IMPOSSIBLE to hide the Love of God and the Truth of Jesus! If you have Him in your heart and you have His Love, He wants you to SHOW it and to try to SHARE it with OTHERS! It’s the LEAST you can do for Him Who gave His LIFE for YOU!

Amen? Let’s shine His light.