Theirs Is the Kingdom of Heaven

“Is persecution coming to the West?”

This is a question I hear often in my leadership role with Open Doors US, a ministry with nearly 70 years of experience serving and supporting persecuted Christians around the world.

In response to cultures in the West that can seem increasingly indifferent or even antagonistic to the Christian faith, some followers of Christ here have shrunk back in fear from the broader culture and sought isolation. Others have come out swinging in anger and declared war against the culture at large.

The Bible clearly states that anyone following Jesus will be met with some level of opposition (Matt. 24:9; 2 Tim. 3:12). But when thinking about persecution, most of us tend to gravitate toward the idea of physical violence, such as martyrdom, assault, or the burning of a church building.

While those things certainly qualify as persecution, in the Beatitudes, Jesus also says those are blessed who endure insults or are the targets of those who “falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matt. 5:11).

As we look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 5, I wonder if the question about the likelihood of persecution is the wrong question to ask. Instead, what if we asked simply, “Do we treat persecution as a blessing?” And it’s here that our persecuted brothers and sisters have a lot to teach us.

Regardless of whether the response is expressed in fear or hostility, the root of both responses seems to be the same underlying assumption—persecution is inherently bad and should be avoided.

Yet in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges this notion, saying, “Blessed are those who are persecuted” (Matt. 5:10, emphasis added).

While I’m not saying we should pray for persecution, Jesus presents it as if it were a gift. As Christians, we certainly believe the words of Jesus are true, but still this idea that persecution is a gift seems counterintuitive and incredibly far removed from our felt experience in the West.

Perhaps we think persecution is one of those gifts we cannot fully appreciate now. When thought of in this way, we accept the words of Jesus as he tells his followers to “rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (v. 12). This notion of delayed gratification resonates with us. We can understand the idea of enduring discomfort now for a future benefit.

This is a principle we live out nearly every day in a variety of ways. Today, we accept reduced spending power so we can save for retirement. We experience the pain and discomfort of exercise now for the prospects of better long-term health. In Genesis, Joseph recognized God’s hand decades later on his brother’s evil deeds: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 50:20).

In this context, it’s not a stretch for us to understand the idea that persecution experienced now can result in a future reward in heaven.

Yet while Jesus does speak of rewards in heaven, his words aren’t just about future blessings. “Blessed are those who are persecuted,” he says. He does not say, “Blessed will be the persecuted, someday.” Is it truly possible that persecution can be a blessing here and now?

Persecution manifests differently across the globe. In places like North Korea, Christians can be arrested for even having a Bible. In other places, believers are shunned or excluded by their communities. In still other contexts, Christians may be denied access to the education or employment needed to provide for their families.

I recently had a conversation with Ibrahim, a Christian brother from Sudan. When he converted from Islam, he was thrown out of his home. After sharing his faith with other Muslims, he was arrested and tortured and later chased from his home country. He calls that part of his life “dark times,” as he was contained in a dark prison cell so tiny he could barely turn around. And he endured that experience not once but multiple times because of his decision to follow Jesus and share his gospel.

When I asked Ibrahim about Jesus’ words in Matthew 5, his perspective was striking. For him, the blessing of persecution wasn’t relegated to the distant future. Rather, it seemed the blessing was something he had already experienced and continues to experience. “I went into prison as a kitten,” he told me, “but I came out as a lion.”

In his darkest moments in prison, Ibrahim said he was forced to recognize that he was poor in spirit (a group Christ also refers to as “blessed”), but in his poverty the riches of Christ were poured out upon him. In that dark prison cell, the light of Christ burned bright, transforming his suffering into a profound declaration of faith in Jesus—both to those around him and to himself.

In the same way Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, his beloved son of promise, had shown that he valued obedience to God above everything else, my brother Ibrahim demonstrated that he treasured Christ above all else as he clung to him in prison. For Ibrahim, the persecution he experienced is a gift he treasures, not a socks-for-Christmas type of gift he didn’t really want. It is a gift he holds on to. It is a gift he is truly thankful for receiving. It is a gift that has changed his life. 

Despite the challenges each step of the way, Ibrahim continues to minister to the people of Sudan. After being forced from Sudan, he moved to Egypt, where he continued to serve and encourage other displaced Sudanese. Before long, he was given two days’ notice to leave Egypt as well.

He is now in Kenya, focused on equipping Sudanese believers who travel to Kenya for training and then return to Sudan to minister. He is planning to move back to Sudan in the coming years and looks forward to the day when, in addition to equipping other Sudanese believers, he is able to participate in the frontline evangelism of his fellow Sudanese countrymen.

While persecution may certainly look different in the West than it does in Sudan, I pray that our responses to persecution would look the same as that of our Sudanese brother. Rather than responding with our gut reactions of fear or anger, will we respond to rejection, pressure, discrimination, or other mistreatment with a posture of thanksgiving for what God is doing through the suffering? Will we rejoice, as the apostle Peter encouraged us to do, as we “participate in the sufferings of Christ”? (1 Pet. 4:13).

I pray that rather than giving way to fear or anger, we’d invite the riches of Christ to fill in where we fall short. I pray that even though we may go into persecution as kittens, we’d emerge as lions. It’s more than any of us can do on our own. But Ibrahim’s testimony has shown that through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in each of us, it’s something God can do in us and for us.

Ryan Brown serves as president and CEO of Open Doors US, one of twenty-five national Open Doors International bases located around the world.

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