Apologists for the world inside the church love to downplay the power plays of the powerful. They argue that since, so far, no Christians in the west are being fed to the lions we are not persecuted. Persecution, however, is here. At Gracelife Church in Alberta, Canada it looked like the government would eat humble pie after Pastor James Coates politely refused their demand he cease preaching. He served 35 days and they let him go. Humble pie, however, left them an appetite for revenge. The government encircled Gracelife with not one, not two, but three layers of fencing. They sent 200 police officers that Sunday to stand guard to ensure no worship took place.
Apparently no one in Alberta government is aware that Jesus doesn’t demand that we worship on this mount or that, but is looking for those who will worship in Spirit and in truth. The saints of Gracelife met and worshipped beyond the reach of Alberta’s Royal Mounties.
Three Options
Nobody killed, beat, or, this time, imprisoned believers. But persecution is here. What do we do? Peter’s first epistle was written to believers who were facing the early stages of persecution- social ostracism, ecclesiastical rejection, families cutting ties, loss of position and wealth. Christians in such circumstances have three options.
Capitulate
The first is to surrender, to capitulate. Consider the cause of most of the cultural angst against the church. They hate us for our refusal to approve their sexual confusion. Great swaths of the evangelical church have responded by boldly, missionally, grace-filledly approving sexual confusion. What, after all, does who we’re sleeping with, have to do with Jesus? This approach has this advantage- it blunts the wrath of the world. It has this disadvantage- it welcomes the wrath of God, on both the sell-outs and the sexually confused. See CRU’s happily former curriculum and Andy Stanley’s latest surrender.
Conflagrate
The second option is to prepare for war, to meet assaults on our liberties with all the ferocity of the founding fathers. We become culture warriors, marching against social justice warriors. We rattle our swords, wave our American flags and refuse not just the second mile, but the first. We fancy ourselves as heroic as Luther, as immovable as Knox, as bold as John the Baptist. We ask the Lord if He’d like us to call down fire on His enemies, demonstrating we know not what spirit we are of.
Confess
While the second option has much more going for it than the first, it too falls short of the biblical model. Peter’s call to his audience is neither to capitulate nor to conflagrate, but to confess, to believe. Peter calls them, and us, to believe the promises of God. We were dead, but by His grace we have been made alive. We have suffered, but Jesus is glorified because of it. We have been impoverished, but our inheritance is in heaven. We have sorrows, but we are to count it all joy. Joy, remember, is the settled conviction that God is able, and that God is for us.
While last fall’s election has in some ways given us a brief reprieve, the true dynamics have not changed. Had the election gone the other way things likely would have gotten worse. But they wouldn’t have been beyond Jesus’ control. We hold on to the faith once delivered, whatever our circumstance.
We look forward to this- a deeper joy in what He has done for us, a deeper confidence in what He has secured for us, a deeper satisfaction in how He is glorified through us. Give thanks. Do not fear.
This is the fortieth installment of an ongoing series of pieces here on the nature and calling of the church. Stay tuned for more. Remember also that we at Sovereign Grace Fellowship meet this Resurrection Sunday April 20 at 10:30 AM at our new location, our beautiful farm at 11281 Garman Road, Spencerville, IN. Please come join us. Also note that tonight we continue our Bible study on issues dividing the church, tonight considering cessationism and continuationism.