Christians in America today are generally aware of the trials and tribulations of a number of Christian cake bakers, flower arrangers, wedding planners, and others caused by their unwillingness to compromise their foundational beliefs. But do Americans who have not been cancelled by the current culture really know what it is like to experience this form of persecution? I think not!
THE BIBLE STUDY:
Jesus told us: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)
But this warning from Jesus doesn’t apply to citizens of the United States, does it? Our founding fathers set up a constitution that dictates that we are to treat all peoples as having been created equal and subject to the same laws. The 1st Amendment guarantees that we have the freedom and right to express our religion, right?
The fact is that at least half of Americans today believe that the 1st Amendment is outmoded, especially with regard to the freedom of Biblical Christians to take the gospel message outside their homes or churches. Many jurisdictions have passed laws that have been interpreted to expressly limit the ability for Christians to speak their minds about their faith in public. Corporations of many kinds and sizes are enforcing personnel rules that declare religious discourse as out of place, or verboten. Nevertheless, Jesus had much to say about our evangelistic responsibilities:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
He advised us as follows regarding our evangelistic endeavors: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than that town.” (Matthew 10: 14-15)
But he also told us this: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.” (Matthew 10:16-17)
Then, he encouraged us by saying: “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.” (Matthew 10:22-23a)
My style of evangelism has never been very aggressive. This is partly due to my introverted personality, partly due to my former lack of spiritual maturity, and partly due to a lack of specific training. However, I would say that over the past several years I have taken Matthew 28 much more seriously. This has been easy with respect to my creation ministry, and I have been better at not letting evangelistic opportunities pass me by in the rest of my personal life. I think it has also been helpful to consider what Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12a: 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.”
It is one thing to know that Jesus blesses a Christian that is insulted, persecuted, and disparaged. It is another thing to actually experience it! I expect that it gets easier with more experiences. And, with more experience one should be better able to balance passion for Jesus with the ability to live as a sheep among wolves.
AN INTERACTION:
So for the past five years I had been volunteering part-time for a secular non-profit organization in the city of Portland, Oregon. The work of the organization meshed well with my experience and education as a mechanical engineer. My job consisted primarily of interacting with guests at the organization’s facilities. It was my responsibility to explain the various operational and historical aspects of the mechanical displays. I had occasionally had the opportunity to share my worldview with guests over the years, but I never forced it on anyone. My co-volunteers certainly had come to know my reliance on the Bible and my position as a strong follower of Christ. While they certainly were not at the same place in their spirituality as I was, some indicated to me that they thought my work with them at the non-profit was exemplary. I had not at any time been advised that my behavior or my guest interactions required any sort of cautioning or penalty.
That situation did not last, and I will next relate what happened to change everything.
It came to be that I had signed up for a position where I was responsible in a usual manner for directing and educating groups of people regarding the mission of the non-profit. In a particular group of about 40 people of all ages and demographics I noticed two young women who made it clear by their behavior that they were lesbians. My first inclination was to avoid them, but I did my best to treat them the same as everyone else in my group.
Next, for reasons still unknown to me, the “husband” of the couple began asking me questions. I still do not know why she picked me to answer these questions. I had never seen either of these women before in my life. I would think that most people would have seen my nametag but would have had no reason to remember my name. Most would, if asked, probably just describe me as a white-older-man. I am used to answering questions of all sorts in these situations as a part of my job so I did my best to answer them as they came up.
Her questions over a period of 15-20 minutes ran rapidly through a gamut of topics like machinery efficiency, climate change, alternative energy sources, and pantheism. I answered the questions from my experience and education as an engineer and from my Biblical Christian worldview. The topics then blended into the nature of God. Specifically, was God a man? I answered this one by saying that God is not a man, He is a Spirit, but is referred to in the Bible in the masculine.
Then came a question from looking at my wedding ring: “How do you love your wife?” I said that was a complicated question that would take a while to answer. Unsurprisingly, we quickly slipped into the question of the nature of marriage, and I said that the Bible is clear that marriage has just one true definition, and that is that it is a commitment between one man and one woman for life. At that point they made it clear that our conversation was over. Keep in mind that during this conversation there were no raised voices. There were no extreme gesticulations. So far as I know no one else paid any attention to us. I did nothing but attempt to answer the woman’s questions. I walked away to never interact with them again.
I did not see the couple leave the area of my responsibility, but I did notice that they were gone when the rest of the group was able to depart. So, at the time I wondered if I had possibly influenced the couple to reconsider their lifestyle, or if I had caused them to think about a worldview outside their experience. I hoped that perhaps I had even planted a seed that would be watered by someone else at a different time and place.
It did not take long for those thoughts to be reconsidered. About 20 minutes later after the next group of guests had replaced the former one, my supervisor came to me and explained that the couple had immediately gone to the non-profit on-site authorities to report me and complain about my treatment of them. They evidently had expressed great duress including crying. I explained my recollection of the interaction to the supervisor, and he seemed to be satisfied. I wondered at the time of this talk with my supervisor if the duress might be due to their experiencing a conversation with someone who did not agree with them, or if they were upset because they knew that their life style was an abomination in God’s sight.
I GET CANCELLED:
Five days later, at my next volunteer shift for this organization, as I was involved with guests, a most unexpected event took place. The president of the non-profit stormed (no exaggeration) into the building clearly with a mission to accomplish. This man seldom worked during my regular shifts but had in fact trained me for my volunteer position 5 years earlier when I first signed up. He abruptly took me away from the guests I was interacting with and took me aside to ask about my dealings with the lesbians five days previously. I was happy to provide him with a similar explanation to that I had provided my supervisor. The president would have nothing of it and berated my behavior as unacceptable. He took me elsewhere in the facility and explained that the organization was founded by, and currently relied upon, support from a number of homosexuals. I was given names and positions for these people. These were people I was aware of, but no one had heretofore told me what their sexual preferences were. Until that moment I had no idea that deviant sexual preference was so important to that organization.
In conclusion, it became clear that my point of view was not acceptable. I was told that they could not have me there because I might cause them to get sued. By the next day my online connection to the non-profit, where I signed up for my volunteer shifts, had been deleted. I no longer had any connection to the organization as I had been summarily cancelled.
“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.”
It was very difficult at first to feel blessed after my cancellation. I had developed some pretty good friendships over the five years I was there. After a few weeks I understood and accepted the treatment as God’s will. I trust that my expulsion will put an end to the matter because I really don’t see much positive that could come from further actions by anyone. Perhaps God needed me to concentrate my time on other things at other places. I am determined to flee (Matthew 10:23) from this secular endeavor that I was involved in so as to take up a more righteous habitation. Now that I have experienced cancellation, I do have a much better appreciation for those heroes of the faith who have experienced much worse persecution than I on behalf of their faith in our Creator and Redeemer.
To God be the Glory!
J.D. Mitchell
