Ever More Alien
The snow softly and silently clothes the ground. The sight is mesmerizing and peaceful. A steady hum of cars passing my large living room windows is the only sound coming from outside. Inside, my laptop keys click lightly as I crunch on ice. My toddler is sleeping in her crib and my husband is away at school. All is serene. At this moment, it seems there is nothing evil or fearful in the world. Yet, when night shrouds these sights, it seems there is only the evil and fearful.
No more can we, as Christians, imagine that we belong to this world. We live in a land of sin. We are aliens and sojourners here. How can it be otherwise? How can we belong to this culture of death? This is the land that rips open pregnant women. In this place, the old and feeble are often eliminated.1 Here marriage is made into a mirage because sexual fulfillment is the highest aim. Many children are taught to forget history and despise our forefathers.2 As Christ’s new creation, we are called to protect and preserve life. Yet our culture more and more calls us to the opposite. We are ever more alien to the world.
Jesus’ Promise
Jesus promised that—as those living in yet apart from the world—the world would hate us. He says, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but 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 also keep yours” (John 15:18–20, English Standard Version).
Jesus doesn’t hold back. He is clear that the world will not simply deride us on television or unfriend us on Facebook. The world will hate us. The fruit of its hate is persecution (John 15:20). You may laugh and say, “Not here, not in America.” Your laughter is not entirely groundless. For many years, America was marked by a desire to adhere to biblical principles. Nor does the perennial presence of sinners and skeptics change our Christian heritage. However, we have all but abandoned that heritage. In its place is every form of worldliness. For comfort we compromise principle. We celebrate sin and scoff at holiness. Increasingly, those who denounce sin and strive for holiness risk losing their jobs or reputations. How long before our worldly culture decides this is not enough?
Perhaps the Lord will turn the hearts of the influencers as he does the tides. Perhaps our society will see the end to which it is running—death. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it will keep running headlong into sin and paganism and hatred of God. If so, the inevitable result is persecution of those who do not run beside them. History testifies to this. From Pharaoh’s harsh lordship to Hitler’s targeting of Christians to the ongoing attacks on Christians in other countries,3 the world persecutes us. Whether persecution is a certainty here we cannot know. Nevertheless, we must be ready if it does come.
There are two ways we can prepare for persecution. The two have significantly different outcomes. First, we can look to ourselves. Second, we can look to Christ. If we look to ourselves, we are quickly filled with fear and uncertainty. We consider our pluck, resolve, and courage. We wonder if we’ve memorized enough Scripture to see us through dark days. We scrutinize our personal history: have we stood unflinchingly for truth in the past? When we find ourselves wanting in any one point, our peace vanishes. Can we really believe that we— drawing from our own feeble store of strength—will be more bold than Peter (Matt. 26:69–75)? No, if we want to prepare for persecution, we must look to Christ. We must look to him as our Savior, High Priest, and example.
Christ Our Savior
In John 15:19, Jesus tells his disciples that he has chosen them out of the world. As John Calvin says, the implication is “that they were a part of the world, and that it is only by the mercy of God that they are distinguished from the rest who perish.”4 Through his atoning work, Christ has rescued us from slavery to sin, death, and the devil (Col. 2:1–5). When once we were able only to follow our worldly lusts, now we are able to serve God (1 Peter 2:24). This is because, at salvation, Christ gave us the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13). The Holy Spirit is our helper, giving us the grace we need to endure persecution (Matt. 10:19–20; John 14:26). So, we must look first to Christ as Savior because without his saving work in us, we are helpless either to prepare for or to endure persecution. This means placing our hope firmly in the gospel, not anything we have done or will do (Gal. 3:1–3; 1 Peter 1:1–5).
When we consider this great gift of salvation, it changes our view of persecution. First, we realize that it is not really us the world hates but Christ in us (see, for example, Acts 9:4). This is a source of comfort. For it assures us of our unity with Christ—our hope of salvation. Second, persecution becomes a privileged opportunity to share the good news of that salvation to those who are persecuting us. For, if Christ was willing and able to save us—who hated him—out of the world, what should stop him from doing the same for those who hate his followers? He did it for Paul (Acts 9).
Christ Our High Priest
Jesus is not only our Savior. He is also our High Priest. Hebrews 4:15– 16 reads, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Jesus became like us in every way. He was tempted as we were. This included the temptation to fear persecution or to buckle under its weight. Yet, he never gave in. What better Priest to call upon in our times of need? And what greater time of need will we have than during times of persecution? That said, we prepare for persecution not by waiting to call upon our High Priest in the darkest hour. Rather, we call upon him when we have any need. If we are accustomed to reaching out to him when we face small trials, it will be natural for us to do so when greater trials come. Indeed, that is what Christ himself did.
Christ Our Example
Christ knew from eternity that he would face persecution, torture, death. He knew that the world would hate him (John 15:20). As he is our primary example, we must consider how Jesus prepared for persecution. Nowhere do we see Jesus stockpiling emergency supplies or hiding in fear. Rather, his life on earth was marked by close communion with the Father. From his childhood, he wanted to be in the temple—his Father’s house (Luke 2:49). Many times we find him in solitary prayer with his Father (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; Heb. 5:7, etc.). Indeed, he spent the hours before his greatest trial of persecution and suffering in fervent prayer (Matt. 26:39–44). Not only did he talk with his Father, but also he spoke the words of his Father (John 8:28; 12:49).
At first, Jesus’ example may feel like a source of discouragement. How can we ever hope to live in such close communion with God? We can’t— not on this earth. However, because of the Holy Spirit’s work in us, we can live in increasing communion with God. The Holy Spirit will help us pray, even interceding for us when we don’t know what to say (Rom. 8:26). And if the angels ministered to Jesus in his hour of need, we can be sure the Holy Spirit will do no less for us (Matt. 4:11; Luke 22:43). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say in the face of persecution (Matt. 10:19–20). Our job is to live in communion with God—and even this, he enables us to do.
So, if your soul is troubled at the possibility of coming persecution, let these words comfort you. Persecution may come. We must prepare. But we have a God who has given us all we need to prepare. He has saved us from our slavery to sin. He sympathizes with and intercedes for us both before and during persecution. He offers the perfect example. No matter what may come, he will never leave us or forsake us. In the words of Paul, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).
1. This is not to imply that we are killing off our elderly and sickly. Rather, there is an increasing trend toward euthanasia; see Megan Brenan, “America’s Strong Support for Euthanasia Persists,” May 31, 2018, Gallup, https://news.gallup.com/poll/235145/ americans-strong-support-euthanasiapersists.aspx. 2. For example, the 1619 Project; see Lucas Morel, “A Review of the 1619 Project Curriculum,” December 15, 2020, The Heritage Foundation, https://www.heritage. org/progressivism/report/review-the-1619project-curriculum. 3. Persecution of Christians is the focus of this article, but under Hitler’s regime, six million Jews were killed. 4. Calvin’s Commentaries, John 15, Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/john/15.htm.Elisabeth Bloechl a member of Orthodox Presbyterian Church Hammond, is a house cleaner and aspiring writer in Griffith, IN.