Day: May 27, 2010

Jesus Freaks

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Studying the Church at Smyrna, while working through a series from the 7 Churches in the Book of Revelation, reminded me that persecution of Christians is not just something that took place on the pages of ancient history.  Persecution of Christians is an ever-present tragic reality.  We are told by historians and scholars that more Christians were persecuted for their faith duing the 20th Century than during all history up to that time – COMBINED! 

As startling as that statistic may be, it is important for us to be aware. 

As Christians we are instructed to “bear the burdens” of other believers (Galatians 6.2), and to “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn”. (Romans 12.15)  We can do none of those things if we are not aware of what others are experiencing. 

We are also strangely strengthened by the examples of those who have endured suffering and persecution for the sake of Jesus.  Their testimonies ought to be an important part of our devotional diet.

There are a number of good resources that will share the stories of those who have endured hardship, indignation, and even martyrdom, for the Cause of Christ.  The classic is Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Another I recommend is a more contemporary book – one I was at first skeptical about simply because it is written by the members of CCM’s DC Talk.  (I didn’t know anything about them.  I just assumed: “How deep can it be?”  But was I ever wrong…)

Jesus Freaks by DC Talk is a wonderful collection of testimonies of those who have glorified God by faithful endurance throughout the generations.  Each account is brief and profound.  Simply by reading a page or two daily, or periodic intervals, will enrich the reader with chronicles of Chrisitans whose lives have been poured out for God’s Glory.

Suffering Saints

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

I have begun a series of messages at Walnut Hill Church from the Seven Letters to the Churches in Revelation.  This past Sunday we looked at the Church at Smyrna, from Revelation 2.8-11.

The Church at Smyrna is most intriguing for a couple reasons. 

First, the name Smyrna litterally means “City of Myrh”.  If myrh sounds familiar it is probably because it is one of the three gifts the Magi brought to Jesus, the new-born king.  We sing about it at Christmas-time.  Myrh is an herb that when crushed emits a fragrant aroma.  This was an appropriate gift for the young Jesus, who was born to become a martyred prophet. It is also an appropriate name for this church since it endured incessant crushing and persecution.  

Second, the Church at Smyrna is one of only two of these churches that received no correction, only commendation. That alone ought to make us take note of them. They received only encouragement from Jesus, who commended them for faithfully enduring seasons of suffering and persecution.

As I considered the Church at Smyrna, and the message Jesus had for them, I could not help but contrast them from the television ministries today that proclaim, what they call, Prosperity Gospel.

The Propserity Gospel, in a nutshell, proclaims that God wants all his people to be Healthy, Wealthy, and Happy.  There are differnt versions of this.  The Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn disciples embrace this clear message.  The Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale disciples embrace a tamer Positive Thinking version.  And Joel Osteen has created a hybrid version, proclaiming you can have the best life now (as opposed to what the Bible says – that the BEST life is yet to come). 

In my message Sunday I pointed out the erroneousness of this teaching.  I was pretty blunt pointing out that this message is unbiblical.  But there are words I did not use that now, in retrospect, I wish I had; I think I should have: Heresy, Lies, Dangerous.   That’s what this whole memvement is – no matter the sincerity of those behind it. 

See, here the issue: they proclaim that the faithful will not experience hardship on this earth. Jesus proclaims to a church that is in the midst of persecution (not prosperity) that they are being faithful by enduring hardship. Clearly there would be no room for Jesus in the Prosperity Gospel movement.

Further, Hebrews 2.10 says:

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

In some sense, Jesus was made perfect through suffering.  So, the logic of the message of the Prosperity Gospel is:

Be more faithful, be LESS like Jesus. 

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