"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will o from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
Acts 14:22
"... We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."
I feel as if there are two natural questions that must follow from these two scriptures.
1)What do these scriptures mean?
2) How are they applicable to those who are called into the fellowship?
To address the first question, Some of you will say that we are being persecuted(after much thought), and then you'll come up with a few examples about how you've lost a few friends here and there because of Jesus. That is good my friend! That is the very least that should come in the name of Jesus! But is this really "persecution?"
The dictionary defines persecution in this way.
persecute |ˈpərsəˌkyoōt|
verb [ trans. ] (often be persecuted)subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, esp. because of their race or political or religious beliefs : Jews who had been persecuted by the Nazi regime.Now unto the second question.I am not really sure how they are applicable. Maybe a call to more urgency? Maybe for us to be more desperate for the Lord Jesus Christ? As I sit here writing this, I look up at a poster in my room of the movie "V for Vendetta," and it makes me think of what I'm trying to relate in a really radical form. If you haven't seen the movie, then please watch it, and you then might have some sense of what I am discussing.
I leave you with this thought: However one chooses to interpret these scriptures will be what it is, but i trust in the teachers above all teachers to reveal truth to you if you truly seek it.Challenging Question:Are we radical enough?
