If the first seven Beatitudes are standards for Christian living and we understand that we should find them in the life of a true Believer, then we should also find the eighth Beatitude as well. Persecution is just as much a sign of being a Believer as being merciful or meek. It should not surprise us when we are persecuted but rather it should bother us when we are not. When the culture embraces us and feels at home around us perhaps we should begin to question why. It feels good to have the world “friend” us and embrace us after all everyone wants to be loved and accepted including Christians.
Jesus says here that we should experience rejection, insults, and false accusations. One of Newton’s laws of motion states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We can look at the reaction and determine what brought it about then we can know and define the action. When we are “persecuted” for righteousness sake that is the reaction of the world to the actions laid out by Jesus in this sermon on the mountain side. They don’t understand Christ or His ways. His teachings are contrary to the flesh and ridiculed by the world. How then can we practice Christ’s teachings and be popular in the world. Could it be that there has been a subtle and invasive makeover of Christianity? That we are no longer followers of the Jesus revealed in the Word of God but followers of a Jesus of our own making?
The word translated “persecuted” in our passage carries the idea of being pursued or chased. A good rendering of the word would be harassed. “Blessed are the harassed!” It is not just the horrifically tortured or imprisoned that Christ is talking about here. He makes that clear in the following verse.
“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” Matthew 5:11
When you are passed over for that promotion because of your integrity and refusal to lie, when your “friends” don’t want to be around you because of your standards, when your neighbors don’t want to hang out because you don’t participate in the gossip, these are just a few of the things that follow the Christian life. The student who is laughed at because they stay pure or won’t participate in the licentious dances and parties, the kids who are ridiculed for gathering to pray, or the teen who doesn’t follow the latest pop star fads and dresses modestly will find themselves part of those “harassed” for righteousness.
When we compromise so that we can be part of the world we have headed down a path that leads away from Jesus. We cannot serve two masters. We must hate the things of this world and cling to Jesus or deny Him and be accepted and popular to those that are blind and lost without Christ.
No one will suffer persecution all the time or from everyone but if we are not being persecuted (harassed) for righteousness sake at least some of the time there is something terribly wrong. We aren’t following the map laid out by The Master.
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