Open Our Eyes, Lord!

Is persecution good for what ails the church? Here’s the word on the street:

Viewpoint A: Everyone knows that persecution purifies the church –

• Therefore, if revival is to come, it will be through suffering.
• Therefore, persecution is a good, a benefit.
• Therefore, the committed Christian should pray for persecution to fall on their country.

Now, I know of no verse where Christians should hope for or pray for persecution. Nor is there a passage that says, “If you pray for revival, you’d better duck, God will send you tribulation.” Viewpoint A strikes me as one of those Bible interpretations which are, to use the British phrase, “too clever by half.” It’s similar to the one I’ve heard people say, that we shouldn’t pray for patience – after all, if we do, God will send trials on us! I’m stymied, how a Christian could balk at praying for a fruit of the Spirit, or imagine that God will use our sincere prayer in order to play a trick on us!

The Bible is clear, and 2000 years of history give the same message –

• Revival comes with or without persecution.
• That is, revival and persecution do not follow a strict cause and effect. Nor are they typically correlated.
• If there is correlation, it’s the question of the chicken and the egg – sometimes persecution comes because the church is growing and lively.
• Persecution does not necessarily result in purification or vitality.
• Persecution may be an impediment to church growth as much as it is a spur to growth.
• People who pray for, seek or volunteer for persecution are on thin ice.

The evidence: (more…)