What Does Persecution Look Like?

By Evangelist Paul Mershon

January 2, 2012

By-and-large, American Christians know nothing of real persecution.  We think that if someone disagrees with us or rebuffs us that is somehow persecution.  We think that if someone slams the door on us when out soul-winning, that is somehow persecution.  We think that if someone curses us because of our faith that is somehow persecution.  We do not have a clue what persecution really is.  This following is real persecution.

"BY IMPERIAL COMMAND EXTERMINATE THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION! DEATH TO THE FOREIGN DEVILS!”

In June, 1900, crazed mobs bannered this terrible proclamation as they rampaged through cities of North China, looting and burning churches and the homes of missionaries and Chinese Christians. They were led by bare-chested fanatics called Boxers who brandished long-curving swords and cried for the heads and hearts of Christians and missionaries.

In Manchuria, a Chinese pastor was caught. When he refused to deny Christ, his eyebrows, ears and lips were cut off. Still he would not recant. His heart was then cut out and put on display in a theater. His fourteen-year-old daughter, following the example of her father, suffered a like fate.

In Shansi Province, Mary Huston and Hattie Rice, two young single women affiliated with the China Inland Mission, strove to flee an angry mob. Miss Rice was beaten to death by the roadside. Miss Huston, seriously injured by a cart that ran over her to break her spine, died a month later.

At remote Tsun-hua, the Chinese Methodist pastor was forced to a pagan temple, mocked before idols, then left tied to a pillar. He spent the night preaching, while friends pleaded with him to recant. In the morning, a thousand-strong mob descended on him and literally tore out his heart.

Two Chinese women teachers who were captured, also refused to renounce Christianity. The feet of one were chopped off . . . . (the other) was wrapped in cotton, soaked with kerosene and burned alive. One hundred sixty-three Chinese Methodists in Tsun-hua were martyrs for Christ in June, 1900. Only four or five escaped." (From "Frontlines")

John and Betty Stam

As John and Betty Stam were led to certain execution by their Communist captors, someone asked, “Where are you going.” After saying he didn't know where the guards were going, John added, “But we're going to heaven.”

John and Betty Stam met at Moody Bible Institute, where both felt God calling them to missions in China. A year after, Betty returned to China, where her parents were veteran missionaries, John followed but was stationed in a different region. A year later, on October 25, 1933, the two married, and in September 1934, they became the proud parents of Helen Priscilla.

Three months later, when 2,000 Communists mounted a surprise attack on Tsingteh (Ching-te), where the Stams lived, John, Betty, and the baby were taken into custody. For several days, the Communists watched them closely, but allowed John to send letters to China Inland Mission headquarters. In one letter, he relayed their captor's demand for a $20,000 ransom and then closed with, “The Lord bless you and guide you, and as for us, may God be glorified whether by life or by death.”

They were aware of the strong anti-Western, anti-Christian sentiments of the Red Army, but they were nevertheless shocked when they overheard the soldiers discussing how to dispose of their baby. On the morning of December 8, as the soldiers prepared to kill Helen Priscilla, a farmer who had heard about their situation, stepped forward and pleaded for the baby's life. They told the farmer it would be his life for hers, and he agreed. They killed him on the spot.

The next morning, as Betty was bathing Helen, the Communists suddenly forced them to leave the house - without the baby. Stripped to their undergarments, the two were paraded down the street, and a crowd gathered as they were sentenced to death. A Chinese doctor, a Christian, made a last minute plea for their lives; without hesitation the Communists condemned him to death. In turn, John begged for mercy for the doctor, to no avail. Then John and Betty were ordered to their knees, and in quick succession, both were beheaded.

Christians around the world learned of the young missionaries' deaths as well as of a daring rescue by Chinese Christians of baby Helen - delievered to her grandparents.

Despite serving only three years, John and Betty Stam inspired a generation through their courageous martyrdom. Hundreds volunteered for missionary service following the publication of Stams' biography. Tertullian's comment, “The blood of Christians is seed” proved accurate in China. The courage of the martyrs, both Chinese and missionary, inspired three-fold church growth in the decade following the Boxers' fury; and again thirty years later through the sacrifice of Christians, missionary and Chinese, the Communists not only failed to destroy Christianity in China, but they fanned the flames of the Gospel to the present day . . . . (From "Frontlines")

In what was once known as the country of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), marauding butchers entered a missionary compound one horrible afternoon, and when their heinous and cruel work was done, dozens lay dead. The women were raped and their children hacked to death with machetes as the men watched in helpless horror. Then the women were murdered, and inevitably all of the men as well. Though we do not always understand the why of these things, we do know that God gets the ultimate glory. Often the blood of martyrs awakens people to many things. Though the enemies of the Cross think they have snuffed out the Christian testimony, the results are often far different. God's people are stirred, and as a result of these tragic and awful events, missionaries are actually multiplied as God uses the death of His saints to call many more, whose hearts are moved by the Spirit of God, to surrender to the "Macedonian Cry." Consider the testimony of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot. Though the Auca Indians had murdered her husband, yet Elisabeth went back to these needy people with whom she lovingly shared the saving gospel message.

The serenity of the evening was suddenly shattered. On January 31, 1993, armed guerrillas burst into the homes of three missionary families. They treated the husbands roughly, bound their hands behind their backs, and marched them into the Panamanian jungle, and later across the border into Colombia. Very quickly, the missionary wives, Nancy Mankins, Tania Rich, Patti Tenenoff, and their children were whisked away to the USA. The Kuna village and the people God had called them to reach would eventually become snap-shot memories . . . Just before Christmas '93, Dave, Mark and Rick were allowed to send a radio greeting to their families. Shortly after that broadcast, communications with the guerrillas unexpectedly ceased. All efforts to contact the guerrillas have proven fruitless . . . Reports and rumors continue to emerge. Some claim the men have been executed; others claim to have seen them alive in guerrilla camps. No definite conclusion is evident. But this is definite: God has a purpose in this heartache." (Copied from a brochure entitled, "3 Missonaries Hostage Since January 31, 1993" -emphasis mine)

I had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Tenenoff and her family in 2001. My heart was instantly burdened for them, and I have had Bro. Tenenoff, as well as the other two men, on my heart almost daily. These families, in response to the call of God on their lives, went to Panama to take the Gospel of Christ to a people living in spiritual poverty and darkness. A heavy price has been paid in the lives of these men, their dear wives, and their precious children, and yet God has something in all of this that will bring glory and praise to His name. These things do not happen by accident, but by providence. God has been, and is at this very moment, using these events to accomplish His perfect will. When a missionary gives his life for the sake of fulfilling the Great Commission command to “GO,” he is literally giving his very life for the cause of Calvary. (Since originally writing this article, Bro. Tenenoff and the other two men have been officially declared dead.)

This, my dear friends, is what real persecution looks like.  Read “Fox’s Book of Martyrs” if you want to see what real persecution looks like.  What many think is persecution in this day-and-age of soft American Christianity is not persecution at all, but just business as usual in the course of human events. 

Dealing with False Accusations

It is often true that spiritual maturity can be gaged by the way a Christian handles false accusations.

Have you ever been falsely and unjustly accused by another of something you did not do? Has a brother or sister in Christ made charges against you that were patently untrue? Have you ever experienced the hurt of being charged maliciously with things that are unfounded, and have no basis in fact?  This is not persecution.  This is the fruit of the fallen nature of man.  Taking things one step further, have you and I done the same thing in our relationship with others? As we see the tendency towards carnality growing in our Baptist churches today, and there is less and less fear of God in our assemblies, the sin of bearing false witness, and uttering false accusations has become a real problem. Because there is a tendency to not follow a biblical path to conflict resolution, and because inter-personal relationships have grown so fragile, the Body of Christ has been threatened with turmoil and strife over and over again.  It would serve us well to review Matthew 5:23-25 and Matthew 18:15 when it comes to resolving this matter of false accusations and personal conflict.  The prescription for conflict resolution is very clearly delineated in Scripture.  Church discipline is often necessary when those who bear false witness refuse to repent and resolve the matter in a timely and biblical manner.  But there remains a godly pattern for the individual who is falsely accused in his or her response to the matter.  

When I am falsely accused, how does God expect me to respond? What is God's prescribed method of handling those things that have been charged against me that I have not done? Am I to lash out and defend myself with vigor and great indignity? Am I to seek to right the wrong done to me by launching a counter-attack? Am I to enlist the sympathy and support of others, creating an atmosphere of polarization? Am I to seek justice for myself at any cost, even at the cost of unnecessary strife and division? Am I to seek recompense for the pain and suffering that has been inflicted upon me? Am I to have a spirit of vengeance and a "get even" attitude? What does God expect and require of me as His child? How am I to deal with false accusations that are baseless and hurtful?

Let us admit to ourselves at the outset that we are human, and we are prone to react the way humans do. That is the tendency of the fallen nature. When we are hurt, we do tend to react rather than respond. Our first reaction is defend ourselves, and defend our position in the matter. That is the natural thing to do. That is in keeping with our nature, not the nature of Christ.

The old nature, the fallen nature, will always tend to the sins of the flesh and these are contrary to the Spirit, we know that. The new nature imparted by Christ Jesus will produce the fruit of the Spirit, which fruit is contrary to the sins of the flesh, we know that too (Galatians 5:16-24). But, how often do we yield to the flesh rather than the Spirit when we are attacked or otherwise set upon by an injurious accusation coming from someone unscrupulous enough to not establish the facts in the matter? Remember that when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be like Christ in how we respond to things like false accusation.  "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." (Romans 13:14)

The Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself the mantle of meekness. When He was reviled, He reviled not again. He was meek and lowly. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am MEEK and LOWLY in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29) And understand that meekness is not weakness. It is strength, for God honors the meek in spirit, and upholds those who would depend upon Him in the clearing of any unjust matter. The man who will chose to not defend himself against the unjust accusations of others is taking the position of meekness and humility leaving the matter in God's hands alone for His resolution. When a brother or sister is falsely accused, and matters are taken into one's own hands, pride and arrogance will follow, leading to a bad case of bitterness and anger.

How is meekness defined?

(1) Softness of temper.

(2) Gentle

(3) Not easily provoked or irritated.

(4) Yielding

(5) Given to forbearance under injuries.

(6) Humble

(7) Submissive to the Divine will.

(8) Without murmuring or peevishness; opposed to pride, arrogance and refractoriness.

(American Dictionary of the English Language - Noah Webster 1828)

"I THEREFORE, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3).

"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness" (I Timothy 6:11).

" . . . be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men" (Titus 3:1c-2).

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that FALSELY ACCUSE your good conversation in Christ" (I Peter 3:15-16).

When a Christian jumps into the fray and attempts to defend himself from the attacks and accusations of the unjust, he just becomes a part of the contentious equation. In his assessment of the attacks of the devil through Alexander the coppersmith, the Apostle Paul did not take up a defensive position, but rather declared, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: THE LORD REWARD HIM according to his works." (II Timothy 4:14) Paul was wise to not allow himself to take the bait, but resisted the temptation to rise up in "righteous indignation" in defense of himself.

My experience has been that the false accuser is rarely, if ever, interested in facts. They are just interested in destroying people with their malicious behavior. They do not have the best interests of the accused at heart, and demonstrate no desire to clear the matter biblically. Often they may well know their charges are patently false, and only seek to hurt, tear up, and disenfranchise and defame an innocent party. This is a person with an agenda and impure motives. It would be easy to seek vengeance against such a man or woman like this, but that would be in clear violation of God's Word in that He said that vengeance was His, and His alone, and that He would repay the perpetrator should they not repent.

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

When a believer who is falsely accused enters into a vigorous defense of himself, and that defense becomes public knowledge, that may well cast suspicion upon him. Others may begin to think there is some merit to what the accuser has said. Best to leave the outcome to the Lord. God will honor those who honor Him, and the false accuser will find that his wrongdoing will come down upon his own head. God knows how to clear the just, and in time He will do that. In the meantime, it is important that we pray for those who have falsely accused us, and have made themselves our enemies. Let us guard our own hearts against this sin, and let us deal with false accusation in a manner that pleases the Lord.