Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. - Romans 12:14-16
Most of us in America have not experienced anything comparable to the persecution that our brothers and sisters in other countries are facing. In Nigeria, the extremist Muslim group, Boko Haram, has been slaughtering Christians and destroying churches. In many other countries, numerous Christians have been imprisoned, killed or forced to leave their homes and flee for their lives.
Some of you may have been ostracized at work or suffered discrimination when it came time for a promotion because of your Christian faith. Perhaps family members have been mean to you because you’re a Christian. Maybe a professor at the university ridiculed you in front of the class because you believe in God as the creator or you believe that the Bible is reliable. While I’m not belittling such persecution, I think you’d readily agree that it does not compare to seeing your loved ones slaughtered or having your house burned down and being forced to flee with only the clothes on your back. However, there may come a day in which we may be facing increased persecution and difficult times here in America, so we need to understand how to respond to persecution in a way that pleases God.
In addition to persecution, Paul jumps to two other topics (sympathy and humility, 12:15-16) that might at first seem somewhat unrelated. Are these just random thoughts that Paul throws out without any connection with each other?
For one thing, each of these commands reflects the attitudes of a totally transformed life and a renewed mind. Back in Romans 12:2, Paul said, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Now he is showing what this transformed, renewed mind looks like. It blesses enemies who have persecuted them, it sympathizes with others in their joys and sorrows and it demonstrates genuine humility.
I don’t know about you, but I find these commands extremely challenging, almost impossible at times. Especially the command to bless those who persecute or harm me! It would be hard enough if the Bible simply commanded us not to return evil for evil. But the Bible actually says that simply not retaliating, or simply holding your tongue is not good enough for the Christian! We are called to “bless” those who hurt and wrong us!? By “blessing,” Paul means genuinely praying for and seeking the well-being of the persecutor.
When someone persecutes you or harms you, and then something bad happens to him/her (be honest) there is a part of you that is tempted to rejoice at his suffering: “I’m glad that he got what he deserved!” Or, if your persecutor has something good happen to him, you might be angry, not rejoicing, at his good fortune. For example, if someone at work who has slandered you and turned other workers against you, gets a promotion, you wouldn’t be rejoicing. But God commands you to bless your persecutor, not to rejoice at his downfall or be unhappy about his success.
But how can we possibly rejoice at a persecutor’s success or be sorrowful at his troubles? Paul isn’t talking about faking it, where you smile at the news of your enemy’s promotion, while in your heart you’re thinking, “I hope that dirty rat gets what’s coming to him!” No, Paul is talking about genuinely rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. How can we do that from the heart?
We can only bless our persecutors and not curse them if we are more concerned about their eternal welfare than we are about our suffering. We can only rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep if our focus is off ourselves and on their situation. We can only be of the same mind with one another and not be haughty or wise in our own estimation if our eyes are on the Lord and others, not on ourselves. Selflessness is the thread that ties all three verses together, and it is the self-sacrificing love of Christ in us that enables us to love this way!
Jeff Frazier
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