This month, our meditation has been excerpted from the book entitled Extreme Devotion, compiled by Voice Of the Martyrs. In the following passage, the account of Petrus (an Indonesian Christian) provides us with fodder for reflection and perhaps application:
Because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
In a recent interview, an Indonesian Christian, Petrus, made this startling statement: "Because we have Jesus, it is not difficult to be a Christian, although there are many oppressions." While his statement seems obvious to many of us, following Christ has required a great sacrifice for Petrus.
An angry, radical Muslim mob surrounded the church building, breaking windows and chanting their hatred for Christians. Petrus' father, the church pastor, was inside with Petrus' mother, sister, cousin, and a church worker. His father tried to calm the mob, but they would not leave. He retreated into the church to pray, asking God's protection and help.
The mob, seeking blood, lit the building on fire, screaming chants as they waited to attack anybody who came out. Indonesian police were too afraid to take action. The military were not available. It was another church burning in a nation where more than five hundred churches have been burned in the past ten years.
When Petrus arrived at the scene hours later, the church and parsonage were ashes. The bodies of his loved ones were burned almost beyond recognition.
Later, a government official apologized to Petrus but urged him not to seek revenge. Petrus' desire is not for revenge but love. He wants to see Muslims in his country won to Christ's kingdom.
FURTHER: Persecution is often the final battleground in the fight between natural instinct and spiritual conviction. Instinct is interested in self-preservation. Conviction is above our own interests. Instinct says to take revenge upon our perpetrators. Conviction reminds us of the spiritual needs concerning those who persecute us. Most of us, after seeing our loved ones murdered for their beliefs, would find it instinctively difficult to share Petrus' convictions. However, the alternative to following Christ was more unbearable for Petrus. How could he not follow Christ? His story proves it is possible for our convictions to overrule our instincts. But this is only when our natural inclinations are reversed by the compelling love of Christ--a victory amid the battleground of persecution.
A moment of consideration: So much of our lives is guided by our own inclinations. We say, "Well, I'm kind of inclined to do so;" or "Yes, I'm inclined to volunteer." We look for a school "for children who are inclined toward the arts," and so on. Our inclinations, our natural instincts lead us forward as "natural" beings living in a natural world. But is this the best way to direct our footsteps and orient our lives? Petrus was not so inclined. Having seen the aftermath of the fire that took from him his dearest family, he might well have been motivated by natural instinct, to seek revenge for his loss--to avenge their murder at the hands of an angry mob. But instead, Petrus saw the horrific act through the eyes of faith, and we are told that his desire was not for vengeance, but love for the lost souls who perpetrated the deed. He saw beyond the hurt, and acted on his conviction that God's Word was right in saying that His stance is that vengeance is the purview of God alone. (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19)
As Paul exhorted us, we are not to be conformed to the world, with people acting out their natural instincts all around us. (Romans 12:2) In his message to the church in Rome, Paul urged us to be transformed--with renewal of our mind. He prompted us to test our actions in light of God's Word and discern God's will for us in the moment; for this heated moment, God's will for us is good, acceptable and perfect. So much unrest and pain results when people act out their natural instincts or inclinations. We Christians are called to live instead with Bible-believing convictions. An example that might elucidate this, concerns a catastrophic bombing in the American heartland:
In events following the tragic bombing in Oklahoma City, anger often was met with love, even among Christians grappling with both. Callers swamped Oklahoma City radio talk shows. Those callers who insisted that the perpetrators be shot on sight were followed by others who pleaded for prayers for the bombers’ salvation. The desire to forgive rather than seek revenge, which was expressed by many people in the Bible-Belt city, impressed reporters. An atheist told a local pastor he had never experienced such love.
Anger, a natural response, was countered by love for the lost souls who perpetrated the deed--as was love by Petrus counter to the natural expectation of the government official who talked with him.
Often, in the New Testament, we can read of Christ's and His disciples' counter-instinctual convictions. For us humans, for example, a natural instinct would be self-preservation; but Christ said in the book of Matthew, that "whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Christ was wont to say, at other times, that such is what we may have heard and believed, but "I say to you..." (e.g., Matthew 5:27-28). Christ's Words were often counter-intuitive; the crowds didn't comprehend His message, as they lived their natural, intuitive or instinctual lives. These crowds of people sought Jesus' words, 5000 people at one sitting and 4000 at another; yet these crowds later called for His crucifixion. In Petrus' response, he evinced a feeling that his job, and ours, is to love people we don't have to love. He sought to use his pain to reach the Muslims who took part in the attack on the church, with Christ's love and into Christ's kingdom. His suffering meant something to himself, to the angry villagers and to his Lord.
Perhaps this may be part of the admonition for us Christians to be in the world but not part of it. (John 17:11, 16)
Let us reason by our Christian convictions and not by natural, worldly inclinations or instincts that come to us so easily. We do desire to keep focused on entering through the narrow gate, and not the wide gate. (Matthew 7:13-14) In so doing we might allow our Christian convictions to shape our perception of and interaction with the world, and not let the world shape our Christian convictions and confidences. May we walk by faith, and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) We do not aim to let the world be our guide, but seek the guidance of our God (Psalm 32:8). And God has promised He will provide the counseling we need, with His attention on us. May He indeed keep our renewed minds in perfect peace as we anchor them upon Him and trust Him, even as Petrus did. (Isaiah 26:3)