When the World Hates You

Introduction

The topic of persecution may seem like a strange choice for a sermon here in America because for most of our history Americans have enjoyed religious freedom. But it’s precisely that fact that has led me to this topic today.

In my church history class this semester we’ve covered the history of the church from the time of the first century up until just before the Reformation in the 1500’s. One of the things that has stuck out to me is the prevalence of persecution throughout the history of the Church.

In the first through the third centuries after Christ the church went through some of the most intense persecution that Christians have ever seen. Initially, this persecution was instigated by the Jews who saw Christians as a heretical sect led by a false Messiah. Much of this persecution is recounted in the book of Acts. But it wasn’t long until the state took interest and Christians began to suffer persecution both from their Jewish neighbors, family, and friends as well as the government.

Nero, who became emperor in AD 54, instigated some of this persecution in the capital city of Rome. In June of 64, a massive fire broke out in Rome that engulfed much of the city. Many accused Nero of starting the fire so that he could rebuild Rome to his liking. He tried to clear his name, but when it became clear that no amount of protest would convince the people, Nero found his scapegoat in the Christians. Tactitus, a Roman historian who was no friend of Christianity, writes this:

“In spite of every human effort, of the emperor’s largesse, and of the sacrifices made to the gods, nothing sufficed to allay suspicion nor to destroy the opinion that the fire had been ordered. Therefore, in order to destroy this rumor, Nero blamed the Christians, who are hated for their abominations, and punished them with refined cruelty. Christ, from whom they take their name, was executed by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Stopped for a moment, this evil superstition reappeared, not only in Judea, where was the root of the evil, but also in Rome, where all things sordid and abominable from every corner of the world come together. Thus, first those who confessed [that they were Christians] were arrested, and on the basis of their testimony a great number were condemned, although not so much for the fire itself as for their hatred of humankind.”

Excerpt From: Justo L. Gonzalez. “The Story of Christianity: Volume 1.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-of-christianity-volume-1/id862654331

Later in his writings, Tacitus says:

“Before killing the Christians, Nero used them to amuse the people. Some were dressed in furs, to be killed by dogs. Others were crucified. Still others were set on fire early in the night, so that they might illumine it. Nero opened his own gardens for these shows, and in the circus he himself became a spectacle, for he mingled with the people dressed as a charioteer, or he rode around in his chariot. All of this aroused the mercy of the people, even against these culprits who deserved an exemplary punishment, for it was clear that they were not being destroyed for the common good, but rather to satisfy the cruelty of one person.3”

Excerpt From: Justo L. Gonzalez. “The Story of Christianity: Volume 1.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-of-christianity-volume-1/id862654331

Nero’s cruelty towards Christians was of such a severity that many scholars think that the mark of the beast that John refers to in Revelation may refer to him. Nero demanded to be worshipped as God and even had coins minted in his name with the inscriptions “almighty God” and “savior” etched into them. Furthermore, many scholars have pointed out that the mark of the beast—666—may be a cryptic way of referencing Nero. Since Hebrew and Greek did not have a separate numeral system, they used letters for counting (think of the Roman Numeral system). The Hebrew version of this method of counting is called gematria. Nero’s name, when transliterated into Hebrew, adds up to 666 using this mathematical system.

While Nero’s reign of terror was short-lived, it was hardly the last. Many other emperors followed his example, including Domitian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Decius to name a few.

During Decius’s reign which he began in AD 249, he made efforts to restore paganism in the Roman Empire and restore Rome to its former glory. He, and many Romans, saw Christianity as a probable cause for the steady decline of the Roman Empire so he wished to eradicate it. But, he learned an important lesson from his predecessors. During the first two centuries of the Church, the Roman authorities had largely tried to use fear and execution to quash Christianity. Christians were burned at the stake, fed to wild animals in the gladiatorial games, and killed in all manner of sadistically creative ways. One method was to cook Christians alive in a giant bronze bull. But these sadistic displays only served to garner sympathy for the Christians. This is evident in Tacitus’s description of Nero’s cruelty—even though he thought Christians deserved punishment, the extreme nature of their punishments made him and many others feel sorry for them.

So, Decius adopted a new approach. Instead of killing Christians outright, he simply made emperor worship an empire-wide requirement. All Roman citizens had to obtain a certificate vouching that they had made a sacrifice to the Emperor and burned incense in front of a statue of his likeness. Those who didn’t would be treated as traitors to the throne. They would not be able to buy or sell goods, hold public offices, etc. Many were imprisoned and tortured during this time, including the early church father Origen. Decius’s goal, however, was not to make martyr’s per se, but to force Christians to recant.

Decius’s method was, unfortunately, relatively successful. Justo Gonzalez puts it this way:

“Since Decius’s goal was to promote the worship of the gods, rather than to kill Christians, those who actually died as martyrs were relatively few. What the authorities did was to arrest Christians and then, through a combination of promises, threats, and torture, to try to force them to abandon their faith.”

“The imperial decree found Christians unprepared for the new challenge. The generations that had lived under constant threat of persecution were now past, and the new generations were not ready for martyrdom. Some ran to obey the imperial command. Some bought false certificates declaring that they had sacrificed before the gods, when in fact they had not. Others stood firm for a while, but when brought before the imperial authorities offered the required sacrifice to the gods. And there was a significant number who resolved to stand firm and refuse to obey the edict.”

Excerpt From: Justo L. Gonzalez. “The Story of Christianity: Volume 1.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-of-christianity-volume-1/id862654331

When I first read that, I was pretty surprised. Only about 50 years before the Decian persecution Tertullian had made this statement:

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

—Tertullian, Apologeticus

That statement was made in the context of severe persecution that the church had undergone in Tertullian’s life. So, how did Christians go from faithfully enduring the most extreme, torturous deaths one can imagine to literally running to make sacrifices to the emperor in just 50 years? Simply put, they were caught off-guard. They weren’t prepared for it. They had enjoyed several decades of relative peace and growing numbers in their churches so the emperor’s edict caught them unawares.

And this is what brings me to our passage today. If that could be said of the church in the 250’s, just 50 years removed from severe persecution, how much more could it be said of we who have never in our history as a nation experienced such persecution?

But the culture is shifting. Just 50 years ago, the culture was pervaded with Christianity and Christian influence. Even those who didn’t go to church respected those who did as upstanding moral examples and there was an underlying assumption that going to church and reading your Bible were good things. Now, that is no longer the case nationwide. While here in the Bible belt, the change has not been as severe, in the northeast and the Pacific coast the change has been rapid. Christianity is no longer seen as a force for good, but an enemy of tolerance and progressive thinking. In the early church, Christians were seen as “haters of humankind” because they refused to participate in many of the cultural institutions of their day because so many of them were intermingled with pagan rituals. Membership in the trade guilds was often intertwined with emperor worship, and membership in these guilds was necessary if you wanted to have a successful business. The theater, marketplace, and much of daily Roman life was pervaded by paganism, so Christians felt they could not participate in many of these activities. So, they were seen as enemies of the culture—haters. They were even accused of being atheists since they worshipped an invisible God and refused to worship the pantheon.

In parts of America, Christians are now seen as enemies of women’s rights, enemies of tolerance, haters of homosexuals, and religious zealots. Some of that is because Christians have not always articulated their views gracefully. But some of that is because there is an unseen war that is raging between God and Satan.

Let me be clear—I do not think that the Church in America is undergoing persecution as a whole. There have certainly been Christians in American who have been persecuted, and the culture is shifting away from what has been called “Cultural Christianity,” but that is not the same as saying that Christians are persecuted in America.

However, it is coming. And if we are not prepared for it we may find our church pews empty as our members run to offer sacrifice to the emperor.

John 15:18–16:4 ESV

“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. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

I want us to take note of some important aspects of this passage.

Persecution is the inevitable result of the clash between the world and the people of God.

When Christians act like Christ, it sets us apart from the world, and the darker the context in which we live, the brighter we shine as lights. This is not a new conflict. It’s the same conflict that has been raging since the fall in Genesis. It’s the reason Cain killed Abel. Look at what John says:

1 John 3:11–13 ESV

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

It’s the reason that the world stood in judgement of Noah as he followed God. It’s the reason that Saul couldn’t stand David’s presence. It’s the reason that the religious leaders of his day couldn’t bear the words of Christ. And it’s the reason that believers in China, North Korea, Sudan, and many other nations are hunted down and killed.

And notice the certainty of persecution

John 15:20 ESV

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.

This doesn’t mean that every Christian throughout time has been and will be persecuted, but simply that the conflict is always there and persecution will always be a part of the life of the Church until Christ returns. So it shouldn’t surprise us as something out of the ordinary.

The Church in the West has largely enjoyed the majority influence since Constantine became the first Christian emperor in the early 300’s. For 1700 years, Christianity has been the dominant religion in the West. But let’s not forget that there is more to the world than North America and Europe. Christians in China, North Korea, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and many other countries live under the constant threat of imprisonment, torture, and death. And it’s easy to forget that as we sit here on our cushioned pews in a building that was built with tax-exempt funds. But we must not assume that the blessing of religious freedom that we enjoy is the norm. There are more Christians in the East and in developing nations than there are in the West now. For many Christians in China, imprisonment is just seen as a rite of passage for new believers.

And while all of this might prompt in you a gratefulness that such is not the case here—and rightly so, we should be grateful—you will miss the point if that’s all you take away. We also need to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually for the inevitable loss of those freedoms and don’t hold them so tightly that we are unable to hold onto our Christianity when the freedom to remain Christian is torn from our hands.

Persecution provides opportunity

It’s easy to think of persecution in purely negative terms. And there’s a good reason for that. It’s never a good thing when God’s people suffer. And its not wrong to pray for suffering to cease.

However, it’s easy to loose sight of some positive things that come out of suffering, and some of the negative things that happen when persecution is not present.

Positive aspects of persecution:

Persecution reveals the true children of God

I John 2:18-19

In a time when the word “Evangelical” has come to refer to a political voting block comprised of people who are anything but evangelical, this isn’t a bad thing. Part of the reason the church has gained such as negative reputation is that many who identify as “Christian” really aren’t—nor do they act or live like it. Persecution reveals who is truly Christian, because all others will flee the church in droves.

Enduring persecution earns us a heavely reward

I Peter 4:12-19

Those who endure persecution will also share in Christ’s glory and receive rewards for their faithfulness.

Persecution, and suffering in general, purifies and refines our faith.

Romans 5:3-5

When persecution or suffering arises in our lives, it puts things in the proper eternal perspective. When we have no hope left in this life, we are forced to place our hope in the life to come.

Negative aspects of a lack of persecution:

Because identifying as Christian carries no risk of sacrifice, many who have not fully committed their lives to Christ bear the name.

If persecution can be said to have a purifying and refining effect, the opposite is often true in its absence.

We cannot become more like Christ without suffering.

Many American Christians have lost sight of what being a Christian is all about. In the absence of suffering, we grow apathetic towards our faith and our walk with Christ.

The Holy Spirit helps those who suffer

John 15:26–27 ESV

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

1 Peter 4:14 ESV

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

My own testimony of God’s presence in the midst of Jennifer’s medevac

Points of application

We need to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually for persecution should it arise in our lifetime.

Persecution, if it arises in America, will probably not look like persecution in first century Rome, nor would it look like the persecution endured by Somalian Christians.

It would most likely impact Christians in these areas:

Freedom of speech—classifying the message of the Bible as “hate speech,” resulting in imprisonment or fines

Pressure for business owners to compromise their faith

Marginalization and exclusion from clubs, civic service, businesses, and universities resulting in financial hardships

Exclusion from academia, resulting in the branding of Christianity as a religion of superstitious idiots.

Christians could find themselves the targets of violence from neighbors, family, and others.

We need to be praying for our brothers and sisters around the world who are enduring persecution.

Subscribe to VOM’s newsletter

Use the prayer guide included with your bulletin

Practice “daily dying to self”

Those who are in love with the world will fall away when persecution comes.

Those who have renounced the world and hold loosely to the blessings God has granted them and tightly to God himself will endure.