Matthew 5:10-12
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
As we continue our examination of the "Beatitudes" from the Sermon on the Mount, we are wrapping them up by looking at the importance of being in good company. Jesus is teaching on what I call "kingdom concepts." He is relaying what it is to be truly blessed and His expectations of the conduct of His kingdom's citizens. In the passage quoted above, He is talking about the type of treatment we can expect from the "world" as we actively pursue the character traits and conduct of one of His citizens. The thing is, people in general don't like it. It seems weird to say but there are times when doing the right thing in the right way is met with the greatest of opposition. Why?
Please allow me to quote a lengthy passage of scripture so we can see what Jesus said about it in the Gospel of John. John 15:18-25 says, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ "
So the world hates Jesus, and if they see Jesus in us they will hate us also. Now hold on dude...whoa...we are taught as Christians to be more like Jesus. You write about it and encourage it yourself so others can come to know Jesus in faith, and now you are saying that if I do that people will hate me? How does anyone get saved? That is an excellent question. Glad you asked.
When we live the way Jesus expects us to live we are being obedient. In our obedience we live righteously. Simply put, we are right in God's sight, and as such we are people of light (we will be looking at this in the future more in depth).
Light expels darkness and exposes dark deeds. People know they have "dark deeds" and don't like it being pointed out. They hated the prophets for exposing them to the truth and will hate us also. But, if they are so hateful towards us, why does anyone ever respond to the Gospel?
Well, God intervenes to help people see the truth and to help them positively respond to His message despite their nature to not do so. Jesus said in John 16:7-8, while He was teaching about the Holy Spirt, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"
So the Holy Spirit "convicts" or points out in a special way that an individual understands that they need Jesus and must deal with their own rebellion against Him. I believe that scripture clearly teaches that it is in this act of conviction that we are drawn to Jesus as the one to deliver us from our state of rebellion against Him. Without God's intervention on our behalf, our natural state is to be angry with Him and anyone who reminds us of Him. Why? Because we are attempting to deal with God-sized issues within our own human capabilities and it is just impossible...we need Jesus!!!
Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." Peter also mentions this in 1 Peter 4:12-16, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter."
Peter reiterates Jesus' teaching that we should have joy when we are counted among good company for being like Jesus, to the point that people notice enough to treat us badly in reaction to righteousness. He also mentions something I call "self inflicted wounds."
He mentions how positive it is to be reproached for the name of Christ but warns against facing persecution or trials as a result of terrible conduct. He mentions murder, robbery, doing evil and being a "know-it-all buttinsky." If you do stupid stuff bad things happen. If you treat people badly, they don't like it and will retaliate...duh! How many times have we heard of people claiming to be facing religious persecution or being oppressed, just to find out that the person was acting in a scandalous fashion and that what was happening was a response to their actions.
Another thing that I've seen happen (that I've done) is when people get angry with God and cry out "the world is against me, everybody hates me, it's because I'm a Christian." In reality it was because the person (again, I'm also talking about me) wasn't doing what God expected and in their disobedience was facing opposition to their own stupidity. This is as should be expected. Hence why I refer to them as "self inflicted wounds."
There is a real and distinct difference between facing opposition to our message of hope, delivered in love, versus people being angry with us for bad conduct or facing failure as a result of poor decisions. Jesus is always truthful to His followers. He has instructed us in what is required to be blessed, but He is honest in letting us know that being a Christian isn't easy and we face the greatest opposition from the "world" when we are doing the best and right things, but it's ok, He's got us. It makes facing persecution easier (not easy) when we know we are in good company and it is to be expected.
So, that leads me to the question, is it possible to do things rightly and be accused wrongly?