THE UTILITY OF PERSECUTION- BY PASTOR GREG ELKAN

_“In this world you will have troubles,”_ – John 16:33 (ERV).”

Persecution, by its very nature is unpalatable. Beyond the obvious pain and loss that it carries, it also brings disruptions and instability. Persecution will disrupt a church’s calendar and priorities; and affect a pastor’s theology and itinerary. 

No normal person would want persecution. Nevertheless, from a historical perspective, persecution is not only inevitable (2Tim 3:12) but also valuable to the body of Christ and to the propagation to the Gospel. Here’s why:

Persecution weeds out fake Believers: Only someone who’s truly convinced will agree to suffer for Christ. While the media loves to gloat on the low church attendances in Western countries today, it never crosses their minds that those who stopped coming to church were those who had no relationship with Christ in the first place; and as such, stopped coming when churchgoing was no longer ‘cool’ or no longer met their personal needs. 

Persecution strengthens the church: It sounds paradoxical, but it’s true. The heat of persecution brings out the heat in Believers. Persecution will turn lukewarm Believers to prayer warriors, and will make benchwarmers to become preachers. When members go to church in Sunday morning and realise their pastor and all the leaders have been arrested, the fake ones will run, the real ones will step up to fill the vacant roles. 

Persecution expands the church: The book of Acts documents the unmistakable role that persecution played in the expansion of the church, (Act 8:1, 4, 11:19-21, etc.). 

Persecution is an indication you’re doing something the right: Sin and holiness don’t mix too well. When people who were normally comfortable with your faith start attacking you, either their sin level is about to increase, or your holiness level _has_ increased. This is true both for individual Believers and the Church as a whole, (Gen 19:9; Mat 23:35; Act 13:50; Gal 5:11;1Jo 3:12; etc).

Persecution serves as a witness: Believe it or not, the people persecuting you are also noting your reaction to their persecution. And the way you react, is in itself a witness to the gospel. A notable ISIS terrorist who gave his life to Christ did so after witnessing the calm demeanour of a Christian being _literally_ crucified by his group. And perhaps the most famous example of this point was when a certain pharisee named “Saul” witnessed the stoning to death of Stephen, the Church’s first martyr (Act 8:1); and went on to become the singular most influential Believer in Christian history! 

Beloved, while persecution is unpleasant for the moment, it actually is beneficial in the long run. Like our Lord said in Mat 5:11-12, _“Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you… Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven.”_

AMEN

PASTOR GREG ELKAN

- Nigeria