The Epistles

Writer

Sam-Kingsley Ashong Jnr.

The very nature of persecution and it’s evolution is a topic I’ve had thoughts on for a while. It wasn’t until this morning however, that the Holy Spirit led me to meditate a bit more on the subject. I felt inspired to focus my meditation on 2  Timothy 3. As I was doing my daily chores, He hinted at turning this into an article. What I hope to achieve at the end of this article is to awaken a believer somewhere to ‘Rise Up’ and intercede for those who cannot do that just yet.

In 2 Timothy 3:12 , Paul tells Timothy that all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. This truth was evident in Paul’s life as well as the lives of the early apostles. It was even evident in the life of Jesus Himself. Persecution in those days had a very violent approach to it, leading to carnage on several occasions. So great was the persecution in Acts 8 that it caused the Christians to scatter, running for their lives.

The goal of persecution was and still is to get witnesses to stop witnessing, to shut the mouths of believers, and eventually prevent the gospel from spreading. The verdict of the Sanhedrin in Acts 4 was for Peter and John to stop speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus. A man over 40 years old had just been healed, and they couldn’t deny it. The whole of Jerusalem was witness to the miracle. The power of God was undeniable, and the only solution was to shut them up. Any device of the devil to keep believers quiet can and should be treated as persecution.

The aforementioned paragraph brings me to what I refer to as the Rebranded Persecution; a series of ‘new’ tactics by the devil to shut Christians up by normalising a lot of sins to the point of indulgence even by Christians. The believer’s argument against sin is then thwarted. The Christian living in sin loses confidence, has his prayer life affected and speaks less of the power of God in order not to sound like a hypocrite. The goal of silence is hence achieved.

The distractions of social media is another tactic being used. Social media in recent times has been supersaturated with enticing contents, making it hard for one to concentrate on anything. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to YouTube to watch basketball highlights only to end up somewhere else, probably a tech channel. The church as we know it has ended for some people because of these distractions. The closure of churches during the pandemic and the sudden shift to online services sent them on a hiatus. If only they knew that they are the church and that their bodies are a temple, maybe – they would react differently.