Persecution

During a road trip last year, I finally gave in and started listening to the Serial podcast which a lot of my friends had been recommending.  Serial is a podcast that tells one (true) story over the course of the season. Each week you get to hear a different piece of the story. So far, the stories have been somewhat controversial and the listener hears all these different sides and pieces and gets to make their own judgement/decision. This season is about Bowe Bergdahl and his capture and release by the Taliban.

While listening to this season's first podcast awhile back, something that Bowe said during an interview has stuck with me for weeks. Here is the transcript of what I heard from the Serial site:

Bowe Bergdahl

I was trying to prove to myself—I was trying to prove to the world, to anybody who used to know me—that I was capable of being that person.

Mark Boal

Like a super-soldier, you mean.

Bowe Bergdahl

Yeah. I was capable of being what I appeared to be. Like, doing what I did was me saying, I am—

Mark Boal

Right.

Bowe Bergdahl

—like I don't know, Jason Bourne.

Mark Boal

Right. A character in a book or whatever. A character.

Bowe Bergdahl

Yeah. So I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world that, you know, I was the real thing. You know, I could be, you know, what ... I could be what it is that every ... you know, all those guys out there who go to the movies and watch those movies, they all want to be that. But I wanted to prove that I was that.

This exchange struck me so much so that I ended up having to pause and rewind the podcast because I had missed out on what was said the next few moments after that. I couldn't quite understand why this exchange captured my attention the way it did, so I put it to the side in my mind and finished that episode.  It wasn't until a few days later when I caught a glimpse of a news story about Christians being persecuted in Middle East that my mind went back to this conversation.

In a way, what Bowe was describing was, for lack of better phrasing, a leap of faith. He believed what he was doing was right, and he felt he needed to stand firm and take action for his convictions, to be the person he said he was, even in the face of persecution, which for him would be getting in trouble with the Army. We see and hear about Christians abroad doing this - taking action and standing firm, and being persecuted for their faith. They believe and trust in the Lord so much that they literally die for him.

As a white believer, living in the bible belt of the South, persecution is not something I'm often faced with. That's not to say, people might make fun of me, or make harsh judgements of me, but that isn't life-threatening, radical persecution like others are facing. Persecution at its essence is an attempt to eradicate, drive away, or subjugate people based on their beliefs, race, or social standing. As I sit here in my comfy Christian community, I realized i've become lazy in a comfortable situation. God is brought up in conversations daily, and those around me send encouragement and bible verses. Heck, I can even find a bible verse on the bag of a drive-through meal. In a way, I've become content not to seek out God, because it feels like he is seeking me out in the form of constant exposure in this Christian life I live.

All of these surroundings cause me to question, if and when I'm put into a position of real persecution, will I as Bowe said try "to prove to the world, to anyone who used to know me - that I was capable of being that person."  John calls us to be believers in Christ and confirms we will be persecuted. In John 15:18 - 20, 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 persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours."

Will I stand firm in what I believe when the time comes? Will I as Bowe continued on to say, "prove that I was that?" Will I prove that my love and belief in Christ is true and not just due to my surroundings? My prayer for myself and others who find themselves in the same situation in me is that we stay rooted in our faith and find joy in suffering and persecution when the time comes. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10 "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

When I think of Christians who have shown love, compassion, forgiveness and grace in the aftermath of tragedy, my prayer is that when in that situation, I could continue to glorify God. My challenge to myself and other believers is this - don't grow content in our American/Southern Gospel lifestyle. We need to continually seek God out through his word and prayer. We need to be willing to be persecuted for our faith so that we can bring glory to God so that those around us can see Him in us.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice, insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Sprit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.                                                     - 1 Peter 4:12 - 16