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The Command and a Call
“Winners do not do different things, they do things differently”…wrote the wise management
guru Shiv Khera in his book “You can win”. I want to rephrase this sentence oozing wisdom
slightly and put it this way “Christians may not do not do different things but they are
commanded do things differently”. Take the matter of dealing with those who persecute us.
We have been commanded (nothing less) to LOVE THEM
(Matt 5:43-48)!
Christians, who have been at the receiving end of communal persecution for no fault of theirs
in the state of Orissa in India and many others going through similar kind of persecutions
across the globe, would doubtless find obeying this commandment very, very difficult. But when
we consider the fact that that this commandment has been given for our good, perhaps it would
become easier for us to obey it. What do I mean, by for our good? Examine the following verse
carefully and the answer would emerge
“Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” –
Heb 12:15b (NLV)
Who suffers the most, when there is bitterness in your heart? Is it not YOU who is
harbouring bitterness? No second thoughts on this score, please! For it is said that bitterness
of spirit, is like an acid in a vessel. It corrodes and destroys, the very vessel in which it is stored.
We are the ones’ who would suffer from increasing hypertension or mounting glucose levels, whenever we
nurse a strong desire to get even, with someone who has wronged us. Our health deteriorates, even as the
impelling desire to get even consumes us. Would it not serve us well then to hand over (I admit it is easier said
than done), all our grievances to the ONE, who has said, “Vengeance is mine”
(Deu 32:35/
Romans 12:19).
The claim “vengeance is mine” is no empty boast of the ONE, who has “settled scores” countless times
historically. Jesus handed over Himself to His Father, even as His enemies (Jewish religious leaders and
many other Jews) subjected Him to inhuman treatment. Add to His physical and spiritual anguish, the
torment of people mocking Him, at the foot of the cross
(Matt 27:39-43/
I Peter 2:21-23), and the picture
of extreme provocation with a capital P would emerge. But did the Son of God threaten to get even? NO!
But would the Father keep quiet? The chilling fact that in 70 AD Jerusalem was devastated by the Roman
army with the massacre of over 1 million Jews (who scowled at Christ in the cross) should remind us that
God keeps His word for good…ALWAYS…be it in the matter of blessing or even “settling scores” on behalf of
His wronged ones’!
It is indeed surprising that Scriptures bear witness to the fact that godly souls, who would not as much as harm
a fly had more enemies, than one can remember. In this essay, for better understanding of the
a) Measured response of devout souls to persecution and
b) God’s ways’ of dealing with enemies of His dear ones’
I have categorized the adversaries into 3 groups…
I. Enemies stronger than us
II. Enemies as strong as us and strange, as it may seem
III. Enemies weaker than us
Let us go step by step
I. Enemies stronger than us
Now the Early Church had a crisis.
Acts chapter 12:1-4 somberly records the fact that apostle James,
the brother of Simon Peter was put to the sword and Peter himself was imprisoned by the envious King Herod.
Now this Monarch who kept adding to his list of sins (killing of John the Baptist and the mocking of Jesus to
a host of others) could not simply digest the soaring popularity of these early Christian leaders amongst the
masses, hence the cruel reaction. While King Herod’s reaction was one of brutality borne out of his jealousy,
what was the response of the Spirit filled First century Church? Did it reeling under the weight of unjust
persecution invoke God’s curses upon the cruel tyrant? NO FAR FROM IT, IT SIMPLY PRAYED FOR THE RELEASE OF
PETER FROM THE JAIL.
Even as we seen Peter being miraculously delivered from the prison
(Acts 12:6-11), we need not even go beyond the
12th chapter of Acts, to see Divine comeuppance catching up with the heartless potentate Herod in a most
melodramatic way. Scriptures point soberly that this Herod, who dared to poke his finger into the apple of
God’s eye (Zech 2:8)
by persecuting His dear ones' was eaten up alive by maggots
(Acts 12:23). Eaten up by worms, after dying is normal
but whilst still being alive! Herod got his just desserts alright!
Now did the Early Church in the aftermath of cruel persecution at the hands of this brutal despot,
lift as much as it’s little finger to exact vengeance? NO! God who thunders “Vengeance is mine” took
care of that little unfinished business of settling scores! Enemies beware…and more importantly repent…
II. Enemies as strong as us
In organizations (be it even army) people keep a watchful eye on the career path of their peers.
If their seniors get promoted, no problem but if their peers get promoted, even if meritoriously…Boy
all hell breaks loose…inside them… that is. Envy and peer pressure (they are bedfellows, you see)
are an explosive mix. As someone remarked wisely “If you turn green with envy, it means you are
ripe for trouble” Envy and peer pressure can get to anybody. Well, it got to colleagues
(having equal administrative powers) of a faithful Jew diligently working his way up the
career ladder (Daniel 6).
So welcome once again to this oft-repeated remarkable story of
Daniel in Lion’s den, which throws up wonderful insights, each and every time it is studied!
Now it is one thing to play political tricks to hinder your competitor’s progress and it
is quite another thing to hatch a diabolical plot aimed at snuffing out his life itself!
Well Daniel’s enemies, chose the latter option…sad for them!
Being well aware of their conspiracy (even Daniels juniors joined hands in the plot,
ostensibly at the prompting of Daniel’s peers, who were the main villains), do we see Daniel
praying for God’s curses to come upon his enemies! NO! Neither in his private chambers before
his arrest nor in the Lions den, do we see Daniel nursing an iota of bitterness in his heart.
He leaves it all to omniscient and an omnipotent God and the result? The fellows, who expected
Daniel to make up the dinner of the famished lions the previous evening, end up being the ready
breakfast for the hungry predators, the very next morning
(Dan 6:24)! Enemies of God’s chosen ones’
(I Peter 2:9) beware…His special lot, would seem innocuous for all practical purposes but behind them
stands a God who can be more dangerous than a roaring lion
(Hosea 11:10)… at breakfast time, if I may add!
III. Enemies weaker than us
Yes, strange as it seems, we see sometimes, even enemies who are actually weaker than us
provoking us badly. Here it would be all the more tempting to settle scores because there would be
no great fear of retaliation! Ask David who was severely pricked by an uncouth, surly but not-so-strong
Nabal (I Samuel 25)!
Now the temptation to get even at being insulted was too great even for a man of
God’s own heart (I Sam 25:21-22), especially as the provoker was not as strong as him! But for the timely
intervention of wise Abigail (Nabal’s wife) and her wonderful intercession, David would have had a seared
conscience of a man, who took law into his own hands, all his life
(I Sam 25:31)! But what about Nabal,
who heaped insults upon the anointed servant of God? He was not going to get away, was he? Though David forgave him,
verses 37 and 38 of the same chapter record somberly the fact that Divine comeuppance by way of a premature
death caught up with that churlish character, shortly.
Forget physical persecution, as this David versus Nabal account testifies even insulting God’s
chosen ones’ can prove costly for the careless lot. Even with respect to the Nation of Israel,
let us be careful with our words. I shuddered coming across a tirade against Israel by a Christian pastor,
recently. Even if all of Jewish actions in the simmering West Asia do not seem overboard, would it not serve
us well to remember the Biblical mandate “Do not give him (Israel) your blessing and DON’T CURSE HIM”
(Genesis 31:24-TLB)? Whenever, they have gone astray, have they not received their just desserts from Him?
The other side of the coin…
Now coming back to the main track (I had used “a loop line”!), no essay on any topic is complete, till we look at both sides of the coin, as it were.
What about those ruthless persecutors, who at some time, realized the folly of their
ways and repented? Did God forgive them? There is an emphatic YES to this answer in the Scriptures.
What about Saul the persecutor, who became a mighty apostle Paul, following his personal
encounter with Christ, on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-16)?
Or for that matter the jailer who
cruelly clamped the limbs of Paul and Silas in the Philippians’ jail in the rusting stocks
(Acts 16:24-24) but accepted Christ later? God keeps the doors of forgiveness open to all who
sincerely seek Him…yes to even to the likes of Dara Singh and his ilk, who are perpetuating the
communal violence in Orissa!
So even as there is a command to persecuted Christians to forgive their persecutors,
there is a call to the persecuting lot to repent of their cruel ways and seek the true and
ever living GOD, when there is still time (II Cor 6:1-2)!
`
(Suresh Manoharan)
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