On Monday, I finished reading the last book in a trilogy by Francine Rivers called Mark of the Lion. They are amazing novels and I could go on and on about them, but in the spirit of brevity, I will try not to. :) There are just a few things I want to share. And if no one reads this, oh well. I like writing down my thoughts.....
First of all, the books are set in the time of ancient Jerusalem, Rome and Ephesus. The first book begins about 40 years after Jesus' resurrection and I was fascinated by the historical elements of the books. I loved the story line, but the fact that its setting was this time period made me love it even more. Before these books, I really didn't have a clue about this time period in history. I probably could have told you that Jerusalem was where the Jews lived and Rome......well I couldn't have told you anything about Rome in that time. I didn't realize how much Christian history I didn't know. I am now a little embarrassed at my ignorance. But now, God has put (through these books) a hunger in me to learn about the history of Jerusalem and Ephesus and Rome and what Christians went through in the beginning ages of Christianity.
The second thing I want to share is that I have come to understand what "suffering for the Lord" really meant back then. I've seen the phrase in the bible many times, in Paul's letters to Timothy, etc. But the phrase didn't really have a whole lot of meaning to me. I didn't understand at all the context in which it was written. After Rome destroyed Jerusalem and tried to annihilate the Jews (they very nearly succeeded), the remaining Jews were either killed or sold in to slavery and sent all over the Roman Empire. At this point, it was the Christian Jews that Rome hated so much. The fact that they proclaimed there was one God and He was sovereign over all infuriated the Romans. They worshiped their emperor as a god and that man had power over all of Rome. Whenever it was made public knowledge that someone was a Christian, they were sent to the gladiator arena to be fed to the lions, which Romans gathered to watch as a sport. Many other horrible, unspeakable things happened to Christians and basically making it public that you were a Christian in those times was a death sentence.
I say all of that to say this: When reading 1st Timothy the other day, I read these verses in chapter 1, written by Paul to Timothy: "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work - which is by faith." The name of Ephesus jumped out at me first and then the message of the verses took on a whole new meaning. The characters in the books had to completely hide their faith in Rome, and when they went to Ephesus, they still had to hide but not to the extent as in Rome. In Ephesus there were many people who preached false doctrines that were allowed by the officials only because they supported the idea of many gods, among other things. As long as "Christianity" looked like all the other religions and gods, it was okay to be public about it. This caused the characters great distress because it was their job, then, to denounce those false doctrines and minister to those lost people who had been deceived. And while I understand that that part of the books is fiction, and things didn't happen exactly word-for-word like that, the basic series of events is based in fact.
Here are some verses about suffering.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." ~Romans 5:3&4
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." ~Romans 8:18
Paul wrote this to the Ephesians: "In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, do not be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory." ~Ephesians 3:12&13
"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." ~2 Timothy 1:7&8
As I said, I could go on and on about these books, and I fear I have gone on too long already. The main point I want to make is that I have a new found understanding of what it means to suffer for the Lord. Compared to the people who lived in the decades after Jesus' resurrection, I have never suffered a day in my life. Not once have I been in ANY kind of danger because I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. It makes me eternally grateful for the grace of God that placed me in this time period of the world. It seems, though, that it's just as hard to talk about Jesus today as it was back then. The risks aren't the same, and yet I some days I am still afraid. Afraid of being rejected. Afraid of being asked a question I can't answer. Afraid of being laughed at.....
Anyway, I hope I've said something you didn't know before. If not, well, you just got to hear it again. :)
"You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." ~Psalm 10:17
