Facing Condemnation
“We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect 6 and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. [7 ] 8 By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”
9 The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true. Acts 24:5-9 (NIV)
It amazes me how man has not changed over the centuries. We read about the trumped up charges made against Jesus before His execution and we read about the trumped up charges made against Paul here in the book of Acts, and this continues to this day. In this passage, Paul is imprisoned because of fellow Asian Jews accusing him of disrupting their lifestyle. The Roman governor had to hold him in prison to save his life from the threats of these Jewish leaders.
As I was meditating on this day, I find myself reading the account of the prison system in Soviet Union. It is recorded for us by Alekandr Solzhenitshyn in his three volume book “Archipelago Gulag”. The atrocities done to over 60 million people based on the premise that their thoughts could be a danger to society’s ideologies were inhumane. They were not imprisoned for what they had done, but on the danger their worldview could spread throughout society and destroy socialism. Just like Barrabas, the murderer, they released but instead tried Jesus because of His worldview which threatened to destroy their dictatorship. Punishment is dished out, not based on what was done, like Barrabas murdering, but on what potentially could be done, like Jesus. Jesus was not accused based upon what He had done, but on His “danger to society and the social structure already existing”. The actual criminals of Soviet prisons who were the same as Barrabas, were placed in positions of prestige within the prison system so they could manipulate and control those charged for “political” reasons, just like Jesus. I recall a Chinese Christian during their Cultural Revolution, telling us of his labor camp days. He was called upon to perform surgery while in camp using little but kitchen tools. The prisoners saw how good he was and would ask the guards why he was imprisoned. The guards response was, “He has good hands but a poisoned mind”. You see, his stand as a Christian was considered a danger to socialist China and for that he was imprisoned.... just like Jesus, just like Paul, just like millions of Russians, just like numerous others throughout history.
To the world, we who are alive in Christ, are progressively being viewed as poisonous to society. The words to describe this poison in Canada are, “intolerant”, “exclusive”, “restrictive”, and “religious”. Newly made bylaws stop our freedom to speak truths, law reform destroys the principles underlying spiritual covenants, and psychological manipulation are leading us slowly down the same path as what happened to Jesus and to Paul and to Russian and Chinese Christians. It is like the frog in warm water with the heat slowly being turned up.
But how do we, as Christians, respond to this? Jesus continued to pray for them and said very little. Paul corrected many of their false accusations and then addressed the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the significance of His resurrection. The Christians in Russia knew their authority came from One higher than the Soviet authorities and followed Him. The Christian Chinese did the same.
So what should we do in Canada? The same.
1) Continue to pray for our leaders. When I say “leaders”, I am referring to academics, government, and societal influencers. Pray that God would so penetrate their spirit that they would repent and change their ways. Or that His Truth, the Truth which reflects reality, would negated their influence by whatever means He chooses. Truth does prevail but we need to pray that it comes quickly so that fewer lives are destroyed by the lies being propagated.
2) Be open about correcting the falsehoods being promoted in society as well as the falsehoods being implied about Christ and faith. Our young adults do not know the truths about Christ and faith. Their ignorance will leave them follow that which they hear because there is no alternative. How can they hear unless we speak out? You may ask, If we speak out, we may hurt them so why should we speak out? My response is, “Can we say we love them if we don’t? Can we say we follow Christ who spoke out against falsehood if we don’t?” Be like Paul, who did not get angry at his fellow Jews who were accusing him. Instead he just calmly corrected them and I can imagine him shedding a few tears as he shared. Be like Jesus, who quietly spoke the truth about His Kingship and then with tears of great sorrow and pain asked that God would forgive them.
In Canada, we have some who is doing just that. They are reaching out to any young people who will listen… and with tears sharing with them the dangers they have learned. In sharing God’s truth, we can bear witness to changed lives.
We, in Canada, can still speak out the truths, and we must before it is too late like it was in Russia and in China. Because when that happens, we will need to be like my Chinese Christian surgeon, who quietly went about performing excellent surgery, bearing witness to Christ through the healing of body because he couldn’t speak out. With this regime, he had to prayerfully quote Psalms 23 throughout the long 30 days in solitary confinement. He found himself in water up to his waist and hands tied behind his back so he could not sit, could only eat food thrown to him and floating near his mouth. Quoting the 23rd Psalms placed him into a frame of spirit where God was real and he was able to cling to his faith. You see, once evil gets a hold, the depth of depravity is bottomless. There is no end to what the human mind can think of for torture once evil reigns.
We have a choice and a responsibility to be witness to Christ in prayer for our leaders and in daily sharing of God ’s truths through the spoken word or through our acts of faith to those in our sphere of influence.