What Persecution?

February 9

Today’s study will address II Tim. 3:12 where Paul assures Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Taking my cue from yesterday’s study, I would like to suggest the opposite of Paul’s word to Timothy are also true. I believe it is safe to conclude if one is not being persecuted, it’s because he does not desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. I know such reasoning raises the hairs on most people’s back, but please read on. I think you’ll follow what I mean and discover it’s true. A more literal translation of the text goes like this, “Kai pantes de hoi thelontes eusebos zen en christo iesou diochthesontai.” Meaning, “And all yet the ones willing devoutly to be living in Christ Jesus shall be being persecuted.” Of course the sentence structure is out of the order we westerners would choose, but the literal translation is helpful. The key word here is "thelontes," which literally translated means “to be willing.”


I heard a man once suggest if you aren’t being persecuted, just try going to the pastors in your community and telling them they need to stop tickling the ears of the members of their congregations and start preaching the word . By the way, Paul did that (II Tim. 3:1-7). Then you will learn instantly what it means to be persecuted. I took him at his word and he was right. II Timothy 3:12 tells us we must be willing TO BE LIVING DEVOUTLY (the English order). These verbs are present participles. That means they are describing continuous action in the present. That means they are describing continuous action in the present. Yes, I know I wrote that twice. It isn’t a typo. If you are continually living devoutly (dusk to dawn and in your sleep) in Christ, you will be persecuted.

A dear misguided brother misunderstood that admonition once and told me he lost a job because he told his boss not to cuss in front of him, that he found such language offensive. I’ve lost many jobs for living devoutly, so don’t misunderstand the point here. If my boss curses around me, it upsets me. I immediately begin planning a strategy where I can get an opportunity to preach the gospel to him. But, when one works in the world of unregenerated heathen he will be surrounded by the filth and degrading passions of men. If we get fired from a job for one misspoken sentence, we will never have the opportunity to preach the gospel on that job. I have often worked among unregenerated heathen without personally being marred by their degrading conversations. And one of the reasons I get to preach the gospel to most of them is because I quietly leave a volunteer gathering of such men and return when the conversation is not quite so disgusting. It’s at those times, when the conversation is a little less offensive, that I can pop in and ask something like, “Did anyone see that history channel special about some group of archeologists claiming they found Jesus’ bones in a grave?” Of coure, they usually look at me like I'v lost a screw, but you'd be amazed how many times it changes the direction of a conversation. It makes an important statement without embarassing anyone but maybe me. Or when one of the participants in the conversation tells about something good that happened to him, I can shout, “Praise God. Isn’t He amazing?” I listen carefully in conversations for anyone who is experiencing a difficult challenge in his life and seek to assist him and/or ask him if I can pray for him the first time we're alone.

I’ve discovered in a private situation where no one but me and the person to whom I’m speaking is present, I can be very pointed and still keep him engaged in the conversation. I can look another man straight in the eye and gently say something like, “I noticed you curse God a lot in your conversation. Did you know Jesus died so you don’t have to talk like that? And do you know what Matthew 12:36, 37 says about the importance of the words we speak.” It’s vital the people with whom we converse know it’s their eternal welfare about which we are concerned, not our personal discomfort because of their speech.

I’ll close with this final thought. A major part of living devoutly is making sure we have a plan for personal evangelism we are living and applying daily. It isn't possible to be living devoutly if those who have known us for more than a few minutes don’t know why we choose to be living devoutly. And it isn’t possible to be living devoutly if we have no idea how help someone else choose to do likewise. Finally, God's word promises if you choose to be living devoutly twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, YOU WILL BE PERSECUTED. Now, go find someone to tell what great things God has done for you.