Mike's musings

Persecution and Righteousness

Today's post is a synchroblog (see below) on the topic "Persecution of Righteousness". I chose a somewhat different title on purpose, as there was something about the topic that I wasn't sure about, and which I thought I'd look at. We agreed to synchroblog on persecution after an incident where one of our number was removed from a leadership role in a church, not for something he wrote on a synchroblog, but for the fact that he linked to other members, whose views his church didn't like. This led me to write an entry I called Guilty by assocation. I later discovered that other synchrobloggers have suffered similarly. Given the proximity of this month's synchroblog to Easter, posting on persecution seemed to make sense, and I pushed for the topic to include it.

But when the topic was chosen, it was broader - I wondered about querying this, but it started me thinking, and I'm of the opinion that when I start thinking about things theologically, God generally is prompting me to keep doing so.

So, what worried me about "persecution of righteousness"? Well, I'm clearly _against_ persecution of righteousness, but what about persecution in general? One definition of persecution (Webster, 1913) gives:

1. The act or practice of persecuting; especially, the infliction of loss, pain, or death for adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship.

I'd take it much more broadly than that, and I think that's rather an old definition - more modern definitions would be likely to include issues such as more general beliefs, practices or ways of life (e.g. sexual orientation), or states of being (e.g. physical or mental disability). Now, what's interesting from my point of view, here, is that some of these areas might involve behaviour which is not righteous, and therefore don't exhibit righteousness. Some of them would be up for general debate - homosexual sex, for instance - and I wondered if there is something about the act of persecution which lends righteousness to the persecuted? I think that there's something about the act of persecution which is incompatible with righteousness (in terms of the persecutor), but I don't think, on reflection, that the suggestion holds water. What about paedophiles, for instance? Does their being persecuted make them righteous? No, I don't think so.

But - and here's the rub - I believe that we have a Christian duty (in the strongest sense of the word, in that it's handed to us by Jesus Christ himself) to reach out to the persecuted. Matthew 25:

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Christ's mission was not just to the righteous, but to sinners. Our mission should include the same.

Synchroblog

Today is a "synchroblog" on the subject of spiritual warfare. If you've liked what you read here, or, more particularly, if you didn't, and you'd like to read some other opinions, please visit one of the other participating blogs:

• David Fisher - Be the Revolution
• Fishing for Trouble - Phil Wyman's Square No More
• Persecution and Righteousness - Mike's Musings
• Restoring Our View of Humanity - Eternal Echoes
• Persecuting the Marginalized - JohnSmulo.com
• The Ends Justify the Means - Calacirian
• Billy Calderwood - Billy Calderwood
• Seeking First Righteousness - Tim Abbott
• Jamie Swann - More Than Stone
• Persecution and Martyrdom - Handmaid Leah
• "Don't squash the counter-revolutionary/the plank in my own eye" - Jeremiah
• The Martyrs of Epinga at Notes from Underground
• Terrorism in Christianity at The Rivera Blog
• Persecution or Poor Elocution? "Hello," said Jenelle

Labels: synchroblog, theology