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"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all- surpassing power is from God and not from us."

2 Corinthians 4:7

WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO DO GOD'S WILL

Our Open Doors colleague, Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church.”

 

While living in Hong Kong, I used to make a point of having dinner with many of the Open Doors supporters worldwide that gave up some holiday time to courier Bibles into China. Often in the course of their travels some of them would meet famous house church leaders and say, “To be truthful, I was a bit disappointed in meeting.” They would add something like, “I thought these people would be remarkable saints, and of course they were, but they were also quite prejudiced, or rude, or had some other feature that I did not think worthy of a very spiritual leader.” They assumed that the persecuted were “super-saints.” But they are not.

 

It is a very unfortunate trend to idolise the persecuted. We assume that if a Christian survives twenty years in a stinking prison cell they are in a completely different spiritual category from ourselves. They are of course different in what they have experienced, but that does not necessarily make them more spiritual. As J.C. Ryle once put it, “Even the best of men are only men at the best.” They often retain the blind spots and prejudices of their culture.

 

On one occasion I was taking a distinguished Bible teacher to meet a revival leader in Lanzhou, Gansu province. This Chinese leader had seen over 50,000 people come to know the Lord through his ministry over a ten-year period, but to our amazement he taught that “you can only come to faith on a Sunday.” He had been taught Christianity by his beloved grandmother, who believed the Lord would only listen to pleas for repentance on a Sunday. We talked and argued about this, and eventually he threw us out shouting, “You just hate my Granny.” I hear now, years later, that he has extended the “repentance period” to Saturday as well. Yet he is still an extremely effective evangelist despite this chronic, man-made obstacle he has erected to the grace of God!

 

Surely the great point is this: flawed as some Chinese leaders were, they did the will of God mightily. They laboured in a country that has seen the number of Christians grow from less than one million in 1949 to over eighty millions today; the largest revival in the history of Christendom. God didn’t stop pouring out his Spirit because his saints were imperfect.

 

If the persecuted teach us anything, it is that God will work through us even despite our prejudices, blind spots and eccentricities. If we offer ourselves, we will be used…as we are.

 

We do not have to be perfect to do God’s will. Otherwise, no one could.

Response

Today I will walk in faith thankful that I do not have to be perfect to do God’s will.

Prayer

Thank You, Lord, that You can still use me with all my imperfections and blind spots. 

© 2013 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

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Amen

Yeppers!! 👱🏻‍♀️

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"If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them."

lLuke 6:29

TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK

An Open Doors colleague shares the following incident from an SSTS seminar in Indonesia:

 

I remember standing in front of nearly 800 pastors on the island of Timor facing a serious dilemma. Most of the pastors were victims of attacks by Muslims on the island of Ambon. They had lost homes, churches and even family members during these attacks. They were hurt, devastated and needed answers to the challenges they faced.

 

As soon as I started preaching, one pastor stood up and interrupted me: “Must we accept the persecution from the Muslims or must we retaliate? We are tired of forgiving just to be attacked again. We believe it is time to defend the honour of God and retaliate. What must we do?”

 

I understood perfectly the challenges. I had met those who were attacked and I have seen the scars on the bodies of those who simply accepted it. I understood there was no easy answer. Then another pastor interrupted: “No, pastor, tell this brother he is wrong. The Bible tells us to accept our suffering. We will dishonour God if we retaliate. Seventy times seven we need to forgive. Isn’t this true?”

 

I looked at the pastors and replied, “The Bible is clear. You MUST retaliate!”

 

There was silence. I sensed the division. I could see the smiles on the faces of those who agreed and saw those who disagreed getting ready to leave the hall.

 

“Wait, brothers!” I intervened. “Before you leave, let me finish my sentence. Luke 6 teaches us clearly to retaliate, but in doing so, we need to choose our weapons. When someone curses you, you don’t just accept it. You retaliate by blessing him. When someone mistreats you and persecute you, you don’t just accept it. You retaliate by praying for him. When someone takes your cloak you retaliate by giving your undercoat. When someone slaps you in the face, don’t stand for it. Retaliate! Turn your other cheek.”

 

The burden of just accepting suffering was broken. They were satisfied.

Response

Today I will retaliate against attacks upon me using the spiritual weapons of Jesus.

Prayer

Lord, may I always remember how You want me to respond when others treat me badly.

© 2013 Open Doors International. Used by permission.