Where persecution stalks you

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:11,12

There is a job opening in your company, and you have both experience and education. It looks like a sure thing, but another person gets the job. You are told that it was a management decision, but a friend of yours who is in management says that colleagues resent the fact you don’t drink with the guys.

It’s the real world! Right, but it is also a form of hostility which believers have endured for a long time. As early as A.D. 65, Peter addressed this issue. But in his day, persecution had gone substantially beyond the verbal state.

Tacitus, the Roman historian, tells us that Nero inaugurated an era of persecution which continued, in varying degrees, until the conversion of Constantine. Nero, a depraved and corrupt Caesar, had Christians sewed into the skins of wild animals who were then attacked by his hunting dogs for sport. Others were burned to death in the imperial gardens, their bodies having been covered with pitch and oil. It was open season on Christians. Why? What had Christians done to the pagans of Rome? There were some reasons, shallow as they may be.

1. The innate goodness of the believers annoyed individuals whose consciences were pricked by their belief system. Christian were monotheistic and worshiped one God. Furthermore, they came home at night to the same husband or wife. Homosexuality, which was common in early Rome along with infidelity, was denounced as wrong. The fact that many of the Caesars were openly homosexual only made the distaste that Rome had for this sect of Judaism, as it was first viewed, more pronounced.

2. Rome further disliked the fact that Christianity primarily appealed to the working class, and the rich have always resented the poor. Compound that with the Anti-Semitic prejudice because of the Judeo background of Christianity, and you have a real case for hostility.

3. The dogmatism of Christianity also rankled the sweeping pantheistic climate of Rome. Christians denounced idols and affirmed that Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and God of gods.

In Rome, there was a structure of groups known as guilds, similar to unions today, and each of these held to a patron god; but Christians would not participate in these rituals or ceremonies invoking the blessing of the pagan gods. Neither would they wear amulets or charms for good luck. They really stood out as being different, and different they were.

4. Rome resented the fact that Christians were militantly evangelistic and took advantage of every opportunity to proselytize people from all faiths. Unwilling to let Christianity be just another religion, they insisted that there is no other way to gain favor with God apart from believing in Jesus Christ.

5. Christians held dogmatically to a belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who spoke of a final judgment when all men would give account for their sins.

Take these five together and you’ve woven a fabric of hostility that still surrounds believers today who are in the world but not of the world. - Resource reading: 1 Peter 5

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