I picked up a recent copy of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research. I like to read through the whole issue to keep informed about missions, so I read an article that I thought I would not relate to me or to anything that I do. I was wrong! The article was about East Syrian Monasteries in the Ninth Century! It turned out to be a great article that related to just about everything I do and love. It was about love for God and love for learning. I was struck by one of the author’s statements (Steve Cochrane): “The East Syrian school movement…integrated a passion for learning with a passion for God and making him known. These passions were a key source for the continued renewal of the church across hundreds of years, even in environments often hostile to the Christian faith.”

“How much is this going to cost me?”

I am borrowing a phrase from Glenn Penner to describe the attitude of non-Christians toward Christians in the ancient world. They remembered the lifestyle of Christians before they started following Christ and their previous lives seemed normal, by pagan standards. Now things were different—very different, strange!—and ancient pagans couldn’t figure out what is going on, so they may have asked the question: “What is wrong with you people?”

Most people are non-confrontational; they don’t like to confront people or be confronted if what needs to be said makes them feel uncomfortable. The great devotional writer, Oswald Chambers, says that the church confronts the world with a message the world craves because it is deliverance, but it is deliverance through the cross of Christ (The Best of Oswald Chambers, Vol. I, 48). They may crave it, but they may resist it and those who deliver the message. This makes it hard for those who are non-confrontational by nature.

Luke 7:47 tells the story of Jesus at the home of the Pharisee named Simon. As they were eating, a woman of ill-repute slips in and proceeds to show gratitude and love to Jesus by anointing him with alabaster oil. Simon comments in a rather judgmental manner. If Jesus was really a prophet he would know the kind of woman who was performing these deeds of kindness to Jesus, implying that he would reject her. Simon was most troubled by the fact that Jesus told her that her sins were forgiven without having to perform rituals of the law to get forgiveness. Jesus responds to Simon’s criticism by telling a story about who was forgiven most, the one who had sinned a lot or the one who sinned little. The point Jesus makes is that since she had been forgiven a lot, she shows a lot of gratitude and love. Jesus was also speaking to Simon in an indirect manner. If you would recognize your sinfulness and ask forgiveness you, also, would show much love and gratitude because he who is forgiven much loves much. Conversely, he who loves much also forgives much. Simon lacks both love and forgiveness. He did extend a cordial welcome to Jesus as was custom for guests in one’s home.

In giving instructions to his disciples as they set out on a limited mission to Israel (Matt 10:16), Christ tells them that he is sending them out as sheep among the wolves, so they needed to be shrewd and not be seen as a threat. They were to remain innocent but not be foolish. While the instructions were meant for this limited mission, it makes good sense in our approach to the world. There is no need to rush out, foolishly crashing headlong into the opposition. That would be reckless. Why purposefully provoke those who are hostile when the point of the mission is to win those who are hostile to Christ? The message may invite and incite hostility but our behavior should not provoke them.

People who thrive on competition enjoy opposition; it is what motivates and inspires them. Conventional wisdom says that competition brings out the best in us, and to a degree that is true. When opposition, however, is serious and life-threatening, most people shy away from it, usually because opposition implies something negative and difficult, if not personally devastating. Opposition can be devastating.

There are occasions when we must let go of our God-given personal rights and suffer for the sake of Christ, even though it is the result of injustice. God is a God of justice but may wish to use the occasion to reveal His character and will to a watching world. There are times when the world needs a lesson on sacrifice and selflessness, and we may be required to give up our rights to fulfill God’s will for that particular occasion.

If God is sovereign and we are doing his will, why should we worry about a defense? Doesn’t that appear to be focusing too much on the mundane, too much on our own needs? Does it show a lack of faith? The point is that while it is true that God is sovereign and we are committed to doing his will, we live in a world that makes demands on us, even unreasonable demands. Christians are called before authorities, judges, and courts sometimes for good reasons and sometimes for not-so-good reasons. These persons have the responsibility of keeping peace in society, for upholding society’s laws, and to resolve conflict. Sometimes they are just doing their job; but some use their position to harass and persecute Christians, and this of course is unjust.

God has ordained certain aspects of his will to be accomplished through our prayers. In his sovereignty he does a lot of things without our participation being required, but in certain areas, our participation is vital. Our prayers create the potential for grace to be dispensed to those being persecuted or as light to the persecutors. E. Stanley Jones writes: “In prayer you align yourselves to the purpose and power of God. He is able to do things through you that He couldn’t do otherwise. For this is an open universe, where some things are left open, contingent upon our doing them. If we do not do them, they will never be done. For God has left certain things open to prayer—things which will never be done except as we pray.” (15).