I got an email from a friend with a link to some video footage of Christians being beaten in India. I am going to link to it, but I want to be very clear: it is very graphic and is actual, unedited footage of real people being beaten, some of them to death.
This is not something to watch lightly, and please do not click the link without first preparing your mind for what you are about to watch. Please do not click on it out of curiosity or because of our fascination with the dramatic or horrific. I had to think about whether to actually post the link or not, and I decided to because seeing the footage gives a new meaning and understanding to what persecution really is.
Persecution is not something to be excited about or interested in. It is not glamorous or cool. Though we would probably not describe it verbally in those terms I think we often think of it that way. There is something sort of hero-ish in our thinking about those who are persecuted so we view it through jaded lenses, but it is nothing to take lightly.
Persecution is sad, heart-breaking, devastating, brutal, and necessary. Thinking about these things should make us stop, even if only for a few seconds. It should not make us want to talk more. It should silence us, and it should at times move us to tears.
Philippians 1:29 is a verse that comes to mind. It has been given to believers not only to believe in Jesus, but also to suffer for him. Whether we are willing and how we do it are the unknowns in it, not whether it should or will happen.
As I think about this it makes me ask myself questions about how and where I spend money, how and where I spend time, and what I ultimately care about. As the church, where are we spending our money, what are we spending it on? How are we using our time, our influence, our lives? Are we really investing in the kingdom? Or are we investing in our kingdoms or our ideas of what we think THE Kingdom is? What kinds of things are we doing in worship? What or who are we really worshipping? Are we really worshipping?
These are all things that this makes me think of. What does the fact that Christians are not just being killed, but are being abused and purposefully injured to scare others form it do to me? What implication if any does that have for my life, for our church, for our ministry? All things to think about.
Here’s the video. Comments are welcome.
Tags: Aaron Clayton, India, persecution, Philippians 1:29
1 peeps have commented . . .
You’re right about silencing me. The link didn’t work but just going to youtube and searching for persecution in india lead me to a video. Jesus is so real for them and this message of God redeeming them is so much more important than anything else. It brings strong meaning to the verse about not fearing those who can destroy the body but fear the One who can destroy the body and soul.