The reality of persecution

One of the ways in which Paul sought to encourage and strengthen the persecuted believers of Thessalonica was to remind them that God’s faithful servants had, through the ages, suffered persecution from those who reject God and his way of salvation. By writing of Jesus and the prophets who were killed by unbelieving Jews, Paul drew the Thessalonians’ attention to the suffering of God’s people through the ages.

This is a reality that we find running through the Old Testament. Joseph, for his faithfulness to God and his refusal to commit adultery, was thrown into prison by Potiphar (Gen 39). Elijah had to flee for his life while the evil Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 17:1 – 22:53). Jeremiah’s whole life was so overshadowed by persecution that he is known as the weeping prophet.

In the New Testament we have the example of the Lord Jesus himself as one who suffered and died at the hands of people who rejected God’s salvation. The apostle Paul, who wrote this letter to the Thessalonians, had already suffered an almost fatal stoning at the town of Lystra (Acts 14:19). He was later to write of imprisonments, countless beatings, frequent encounters with death, shipwrecks, hunger, and many more hardships (2 Corinthians 11:23–27). The apostle John wrote the book of Revelation from exile on the island of Patmos to persecuted believers in the Roman province of Asia (western Turkey today).

Such persecution continued after the apostles had died, and people like Ignatius, Justin Martyr, and Polycarp, along with a host of unnamed disciples of Jesus, paid the ultimate price for their faith. So it has continued through the centuries, and while there have, thankfully, been many periods of peace and prosperity for God’s people, persecution has never disappeared; for many in our own day it is a frightful reality.

In North Korea, everyone is required to worship the ruling Kim family as gods.

Owning a Bible is punishable by death, with many copies of God’s Word literally hidden underground. With strict laws and constant surveillance – being a [Christian] is almost impossible. Parents don’t even share the Gospel with their own children, out of fear of them accidentally saying something.

When Christian[s] are discovered, their entire family might disappear, sometimes up to three generations. Many are executed or sent to labour camps where torture and rape are common practices and prisoners die from severe malnutrition, disease, or execution. Open Doors estimates that there are between 200 000 and 400 000 secret Christians in North Korea, of whom about 60 000 are imprisoned in labour camps.¹

Even in countries where persecution is not so blatant and severe, it can be costly to take a stand for the Lord Jesus. Taking a stand against abortion and homosexuality is frequently regarded as bigotry and hatred. African Christians unwilling to participate in ancestral rituals are often thought to be a danger to the wider family and face severe pressure to conform.

Many who read these words will have faced persecution themselves, or be ministering to suffering believers. In the midst of such experiences it is important to know that one stands alongside tens of thousands of other servants of God through the centuries who have been subjected to similar experiences.

There are at least two ways in which this knowledge provides encouragement to suffering followers of Jesus. In the first place, we are reminded that we should not be surprised when we face suffering and opposition (1 Peter 4:12). This has been the lot of God’s faithful servants from the beginning and will be to the end (e.g., 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 3:12; Revelation 6:9–11). Secondly, we can be encouraged in the knowledge that we are not alone. Our experience has been and continues to be shared by many thousands of fellow believers, who, by their example, bear witness to the faithfulness of God. In this way, they strengthen us and motivate us not to abandon our confidence in the Lord Jesus (cf. Hebrews 11:1–40 and especially Hebrews 12:1–3).