Articles
Being a Christian Can Be Hard
Being a Christian Can Be Hard
Neal Pollard
The church office (Bear Valley Church of Christ) receives a monthly publication called Faith Connect. In the July 2017 edition, they include some data from Barna Group on faith in America. In a sidebar of statistics to an interview with Barna's Vice President, Bill Denzel, writer Kelly Russell reveals what the research organization found in interviewing those who identify themselves as Christians. They report feeling:
- "Misunderstood" (54%)
- "Persecuted" (52%)
- "Marginalized" (44%)
- "Sidelined" (40%)
- "Silenced" (38%)
- "Afraid To Speak Up" (31%)
- "Afraid Of Looking Stupid" (23%)
These findings accompany the assertion that America is a "Post-Christian nation," having forgotten or rejected its roots, history, and former culture and practices (Summer 2017, 49-51). The thing that strikes me is how "Christians" report feeling. Barna did not exist in the first-century, and as such there is no record of any polling of the original Christians. But if there was, can you imagine the New Testament church answering the way these respondents did? I'm sure they felt misunderstood and persecuted. How could they not? Reading New Testament books like Acts, Hebrews, 1 Peter and Revelation, along with early church fathers, we're sure the Jews and Romans sought to marginalize, sideline and silence them from the marketplace to the temples and synagogues. Our ancient spiritual family members were arrested, murdered, driven from their homes and cities, ostracized, stolen from, ridiculed and more.
How they responded to such treatment is instructional for us today. Peter reports their feeling:
- "Living hope" (1:3)
- "Great rejoicing" (1:6; 1:8)
- "Love" and "believing" (1:8)
- "Joy inexpressible" (1:8)
There are a lot of imperatives and exhortations throughout the rest of this epistle, written to encourage them to hold onto their faith however poorly they were treated by the people around them. Peter wants them living holy lives, but he also wants them to appreciate how great living the Christian life is. That's a message we need to take to heart.
I hope we never put the focus in our spiritual lives on how hard it is to be a Christian. It can be! But, what will make the greatest adversity bearable is keeping our focus on our purpose, our promise, our privileges, and our peace. There is no better life than the Christian life. May we focus on our opportunities rather than our obstacles!
