Should We Expect Persecution?

Question 11099

In much of the Western church, persecution is something that happens to other people, to Christians in restricted nations, to believers in hostile cultures, to the early church. The assumption is that the normal Christian life, at least in a free society, should be relatively comfortable. Scripture does not share this assumption. The New Testament consistently treats suffering for Christ’s sake not as an exception to the Christian life but as a normal feature of it.

The New Testament Expectation

Jesus did not leave this matter ambiguous. In John 15:18–20 He told His disciples: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” The logic is straightforward. The world’s hostility to Christ extends to those who belong to Him. If the church is at peace with the surrounding culture, the question is whether the church has become too much like it.

Paul stated the principle with equal directness: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). The word “all” does not leave room for a comfortable exception. Peter echoed the same expectation: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). The early church did not treat persecution as strange. They treated its absence as unusual.

What Persecution Looks Like

Persecution is not limited to physical violence, imprisonment, or martyrdom, though all of these remain realities for millions of believers around the world. Jesus included verbal hostility and social exclusion in His description: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (Matthew 5:11). Being marginalised for holding biblical convictions on marriage, sexuality, the exclusivity of Christ, or the reality of sin is a form of the hostility Jesus described. It may not be dramatic, but it is real.

In the contemporary Western context, persecution increasingly takes institutional and legal forms. Christians face professional consequences for expressing biblical convictions. Churches face pressure to conform to cultural orthodoxies that contradict Scripture. Believers are labelled as bigots, extremists, or hateful for holding positions that the church has held for two thousand years. This is not the same as being thrown to lions, but it operates on the same principle: the world’s values and Christ’s values are incompatible, and those who refuse to conform to the world will pay a cost.

Why Persecution Comes

The root cause of persecution is the offence of the gospel itself. The message that all people are sinners, that no one can save themselves, that Jesus alone is the way to the Father, and that God’s moral standards are not negotiable is inherently offensive to a culture built on autonomy, tolerance, and self-determination. Paul called the cross a “stumbling block” (skandalon) to the Jews and “folly” to the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23). The gospel has always provoked opposition because it demands submission to a Lord other than the self.

Persecution also comes because the Christian life exposes the darkness around it. Jesus said in John 3:19–20 that “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” A life lived in genuine obedience to Christ is an implicit rebuke to those who have rejected Him, and that rebuke provokes hostility even when no word of judgement is spoken.

How to Respond

The New Testament response to persecution is not retaliation, withdrawal, or compromise. It is endurance, joy, and continued faithfulness. Jesus commanded His followers to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Peter instructed believers to return blessing for insult (1 Peter 3:9). Paul modelled this throughout his ministry, enduring extraordinary suffering without abandoning his mission or his message.

The early church’s response to persecution was not survival but advance. The scattering of the Jerusalem church after Stephen’s death resulted in the gospel spreading throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1–4). What the persecutors intended as suppression became, in God’s purposes, expansion. This pattern has been repeated throughout church history. The church has never grown faster than when it was most severely opposed.

So, now what?

The Western church needs to recover the New Testament expectation that faithfulness to Christ will cost something. This is not a call to seek suffering or to manufacture a sense of persecution where none exists. It is a call to honesty. If we are never opposed, never challenged, never made to feel uncomfortable for our faith, we should ask whether we are living with enough visible allegiance to Jesus to provoke any reaction at all. The promise is not comfort. The promise is Christ’s presence in the midst of whatever comes: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10