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Persecution

Apr 22
Love0

Jesus’ Most Difficult Command

By Evil, Forgiveness, Hate, Jesus, Love, Persecution, Revenge No Comments

A shocking act on a dark New York highway once left a nation demanding justice, but what followed told a far deeper story about the power of love and forgiveness. In 2004, Victoria Ruvolo drove through freezing rain when a group of teenagers hurled a frozen turkey through her windshield. The impact shattered her face and nearly ended her life, leading to hours of surgery and a long, painful recovery. Yet what happened in the courtroom months later stunned far more people than the crime itself.

When the young man responsible, Ryan Cushing, stood before her, the world expected anger and vengeance. Instead, Ruvolo asked the court for leniency. She embraced her attacker, whispered forgiveness, and expressed hope for his future. Observers sat in silence, witnessing what many called a “moment of grace.” The entire scene powerfully echoed the words of Jesus: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44).

Such love feels unnatural because it runs counter to how most people choose to live. We tend to love those who love us, support those who support us, and avoid or even resent those who hurt us. Though these patterns seem logical, even fair, Jesus challenged them directly. “If you love those who love you,” He insisted, “what reward do you have?” (Matt. 5:46). His words expose how self-serving expressions of love can sometimes be.

Stepping outside of what is comfortable and convenient, however, is where the greatest acts of compassion reside. Loving your enemies—those who oppose, offend, or wound you—requires something deeper than human nature or instinct allows. Only by deliberately choosing to act against our impulse can we heed our Savior’s instructions to do good to those who hate us (Luke 6:27). Doing so does not excuse wrongdoing. Yet, mature believers must refuse to let hatred determine our responses to others.

How does this play out in real life? It means extending kindness to a coworker who undermined you or showing patience toward a neighbor who treated you with contempt. Scripture repeatedly reinforces practical kindness with no strings attached. The Apostle Paul instructed, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Rom. 12:20). Actions like these move love beyond the theoretical into reality.

Living with radical devotion to others does not come easy. Thankfully, God graciously embodies and empowers every principle of faith He establishes. Stated differently, the Lord faithfully and compassionately shows love to His enemies before challenging us to do the same. Need proof? He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good while also sending rain for both the righteous and unrighteous (Matt. 5:45).

Even more powerful, though, is the fact that God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ Jesus died for us (Rom. 5:8). Long before we sought the Lord in any way, He chose to love us. In fact, we only love Him, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

These truths revolutionize how followers of Jeus understand godly love. When we grasp the depth of God’s grace toward us despite our failures, it changes how we see others. For the sanctified, love becomes less about evaluating worthiness and more about reflecting God’s character. Loving others well is our greatest opportunity to display the family resemblance of those who belong to Him.

Still, ideas that are easy to understand are not always simple when it comes to living. Emotions often refuse to cooperate, especially when wounds run deep. Yet, in this context, the key is increasing our commitment in order to break free from the bondage of our feelings. Prayer will be foundational to our efforts (Matt. 5:44b).The goal is overcoming evil with good, rather than vice-versa (Rom. 12:21). Like a muscle that grows stronger with exercise, we small efforts will increase our capacity to love well over time. Slowly, our hearts can change.

Ultimately, godly love proves its substance through action. It seeks good for others, even when they have done harm. It prays, forgives, and moves toward reconciliation whenever possible. Jesus summarized this calling with a challenging command to be perfect, or holy, even as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48). Despite our tendency to fall short, God’s desire is that we love others perfectly, even as He loves us.

Adam B. Dooley
April 22, 2026

Jul 01
Love0

Happy Birthday, USA!

By America, Christian Living, Church, Future, Persecution, Pluralism, Politics, Priorities, Separation Church and State No Comments

Every birthday is important. The passing of another year is worthy of celebration because each trip around the sun measures the gift of existing and all the blessings that come with it. For the United States, the Fourth of July marks the significance of our national beginning. After months of laboring over its final wording, the Continental Congress delivered the Declaration of Independence, completing the birth of our country. Every fireworks show, barbeque with friends, and national anthem rendition is a fitting observance of America’s birthday.

Remembering the spiritual groundswell that led to our rise is also an important part of our patriotic celebrations. Though some revisionists regularly dismiss Christianity’s profound influence on both the formation of the American colonies as well as their decisive break from Great Brittain, honest historians acknowledge the seminal guidance of biblical faith toward producing a constitutional republic. Of the settlers in our new land, 98% were Protestant believers (admittedly of different stripes), 2% were Catholic, and slightly over 2000 were Jewish.

Furthermore, the prevalent claim that most of America’s Founders were deists is verifiably false in light of their frequent appeals to divine providence. After recognizing endowed rights from our Creator, the Declaration of Independence concludes with “a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence.”

It was no accident that later, the very First Amendment codified into the US Constitution (1789) guaranteed the freedom of religion, insisting that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Sadly, many recklessly abuse this sacred right by insisting on the freedom from religion rather than freedom of religion. With frequent appeals to a separation between church and state, today’s common refrain is that faith has no place whatsoever in the public square.

Historically, Baptists have been the greatest proponents of the “the separation between church and state,” but few phrases suffer more misuse than this one. If you expose the atrocities of the abortion industry, offer a biblical definition of marriage and gender, or appeal to the morality of any public policy, many will quickly lament the mixture of religion and politics as if the two cannot coexist. Ironically, the loudest voices claiming that the church is becoming too political have no problem at all when their politics becomes more and more theological.

We need to acknowledge that the concept of “separation between church and state” is not found anywhere in our U.S. Constitution. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase in 1802 while writing to Danbury Baptists in Connecticut. These believers expressed concern that the ratification of the First Amendment did not go far enough in protecting religious minorities from governmental intrusion.

Remember, many of America’s earliest citizens sought freedom from the oppression of the state sanctioned Church of England, and Baptists in particular were fearful of similar overreach in their new land. For smaller denominations, the rising influence of early Congregationalists and the taxes funneled to them felt eerily similar to the missteps of their previous experience.

Thus, Jefferson sought to reassure these Christians of their freedom to practice and verbalize their faith without interruption from the government. Rather than exile Christian ideas out of political debate, our third president sought to preserve their expression by eliminating the fear of legal blowback. From his perspective, the First Amendment successfully prevented the federal government from espousing a preferenceof religion without eliminating the presence of religion from our budding republic.

Tragically, our modern sensibilities erroneously maintain, contrary to Jefferson, that Christian influence is more dangerous than governmental interference. Religious liberty is the foundational cornerstone upon which our nation was built. Our founders understood that the best ideas will rise to the top when we persuade, not punish, those with whom we disagree.

Discriminating against distinctly Christian ideas because of their morality is a failure to recognize that a code of ethics governs ALL expressed views. Divorcing morality from public policy is impossible. Thus, the issue becomes whose virtues we applaud and prioritize. Even the most secular adherents are often quite religious about their atheism! In doing so, nonreligious elites ironically insist on a separation between church and state for everyone but themselves.

Christians rightly understand that government is a gift from God established for the good and safety of society (Rom. 13:1-7). The kingdom of God, however, is not of this world (John 18:36), so the former has no jurisdiction over the latter. As salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16), followers of Jesus are to contend for the souls of men and women first (Matt. 28:19-20), followed by the welfare of the cities wherein they live (Jer. 29:7). We have every right to express our views concerning morality, legislation, and the people who lead us. The world would be even more frightening if we did not. Regardless of outcomes, we should rest knowing that the kingdom of our God will prevail over the kingdoms of this world (Rev. 11:15).

Adam B. Dooley
July 1, 2025

Feb 25
Love0

Is Christian Persecution Real?

By Faithfulness, Persecution, Trials No Comments

A recent sermon series through the Beatitudes struck a personal chord with me that I hope echoes throughout our congregation for months into the future. Speaking about life in the family of God, Jesus offers eight specific blessings for His followers that are admittedly counterintuitive. Perhaps the strangest of them all was His final promise, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:10).”

Reading these words left me asking, “Is Christian persecution real today?” If you listen to much western media you might get the impression that Christians do more persecuting than they receive. Progressive spin commonly casts evangelical believers among the oppressors rather than the oppressed. But is it true?

An honest assessment reveals that Christians remain the single most persecuted group of people in the world. Currently, 14% of Christ followers across the globe, or one out of every seven, suffer high levels of persecution. In Africa that number is as high as 20%, or one out of every five Christians. Across Asia, the numbers are even worse, with 29% of believers (two out of every five) suffering for their faith.

According to the Open Doors watchlist, 2024 witnessed nearly 4500 Christians martyred, nearly 8000 churches or properties attacked, nearly 5000 detained or imprisoned, over 209,000 forced from their homes, and persecuted believers in excess of 380 million. Tragically, Islamic rebels in the Congo beheaded 70 Christians in a church last week in an effort to turn the largely Christian region into an Islamic caliphate.

Despite claims to the contrary, Christianity faces more persecution right now than at any other point in history. The first 1900 years of church history recorded 25 million Christian martyrs who suffered for following Jesus. From 1900-2000, a total of 45 million died for their faith. How are we to understand reports like these, particularly in our American context?

Thankfully, Jesus offered a three-fold definition of persecution to guide our thinking. He says, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me (Matt. 5:11).” These descriptions are important because a prevalent lie in the United States is that since people are not dying here, Christian persecution does not exist. According to Jesus, such thinking is misguided.

Notice the three carefully chosen words and phrases which define the suffering of saints. Insults refer to openly mocking or shaming people of faith. The same word later appeared to describe Jesus’ suffering on the cross (Matt. 27:38-44). Persecution bears the idea of running after or pursuing with an intent to abuse violently or to prosecute thoroughly. Falsely speaking evil refers to slanderous accusations void of any truth. Neither time nor space will permit me to list the plethora of examples demonstrating these abuses today, but they should be obvious to us all.

At this point, you might be wondering why anyone would treat other human beings in such horrific ways. Two primary reasons for persecution emerge when we carefully examine the words of Jesus. First, Christians will sometimes suffer for the sake of righteousness (Matt. 5:10). The description refers to godly character and conduct. One unspoken modern reality is that genuine righteousness is often an irritant to unbelievers. The godly conduct laid out in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, is often received as an indictment of wickedness.

To help us grasp the principle, the Apostle Peter listed numerous vices that, when resisted, cause offense to those in darkness. He warns that those outside the family of God will pursue a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries (1 Peter 4:3). Then he explains, “In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you (1 Peter 4:4).”

Have you ever wondered why any talk of sexual purity is mocked incessantly today? Or why resistance to the gay lifestyle is labeled as hate mongering? Is it curious to you that getting drunk, wild parties, and perverted language are commonly celebrated as the good life? And that calling out sin is chided as old-fashioned, or even harmful to society? Do you find it strange that the mere presence of Christians, or the articulation of historical Christian beliefs, is so frequently mocked, derided, and even identified as a threat? This is what Jesus categorized as the sake of righteousness.

Second, Jesus revealed that some will persecute believers simply because of His name. After revealing the previous listed forms of persecution, He admits that all are because of Me (Matt. 5:11). People then, as now, were fine with Jesus being a good, moral teacher, a miracle worker, and even a prophet who spoke truth. The moment He claimed to be God, however, His enemies sought to kill Him and any who chose to follow Him (Matt. 10:21-22).

Similar claims today can lead to just as much trouble. Agreeing that Jesus is a way is fine, as long as you don’t insist that He is THE WAY. Purporting that Jesus told the truth is not offensive, unless you assert that He is THE TRUTH. Crediting Jesus as the founder of Christianity won’t cause consternation, until you maintain that He is THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN. Having a Jesus who is one among other gods will be acceptable to the masses,but those bold enough to declare Him as THE ONLY TRUE GOD will face certain backlash.

Christian persecution is not only real, but also much more prominent that we might initially think. So, what is the silver lining? Joyfully, Jesus assures us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those have suffered for their faith (Matt. 5:10). Your reward will be great because the faithful have always endured the scorn of this world (Matt. 5:12).

Adam B. Dooley
February 25, 2025

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