Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 4, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Things are way different in the 21st century U.S. than they were in first century Palestine. Being reviled for the name of Christ back then was truly dire—following in “the Way” of Jesus could get you arrested and/or killed. You could be outcast from family and community. You could be slandered and abused. Knowing that the Holy Spirit was standing in solidarity with you, sharing your place and providing strength, was of great comfort and reassurance.
In my context, there are plenty of people who complain vociferously that they are being “persecuted” because they profess Christ. But they’re absolutely wrong. On the one hand, laws that protect the rights of people who disagree with you are not persecutions of them. In general, they still have all the power and privilege in the situation. And on the other hand, any negative repercussions they might actually experience are not about their professed belief in Jesus, but about their actual behavior. There’s a great quote I’ve heard bandied about in the rooms of recovery: “I judged myself by my intentions, while the world judged me by my actions.”
What’s most unfortunate is that the extreme behavior of a small group of professed Christians has so sullied the public’s perception of what it actually means to be a Christian that the rest of those trying to follow in “the Way” do experience a modicum of negative opinion from the general public. But it’s nothing like what those first century Christians had to endure so let’s not lose perspective. And anyway, the Holy Spirit is right there with us now. So take heart!
Have I ever been in a position where I felt I had to hide my beliefs due to negative public opinions of Christianity?