Facing Persecution: Are You Ready to Pay the Highest Price?

Part 2 of The Cost of Following Christ

In my last post about the cost of following Christ (When the World Is Having Fun and You Feel Left Out) I talked about some of the discomforts of being a Christian. And by discomfort, I mean the displeasure of missing out on all the fun you think everyone else has. Sure, it’s no tiny matter to feel alone while your friends can do anything they well please. But giving up things like frat parties and racy movies is a small price to pay for Jesus. We can manage that for the sake of faith, right?

And then you hear stories like these:

• A North Korean man, imprisoned for his faith, was assaulted by his fellow prisoners when he admitted to praying in his cell
• A group of suicide bombers targeted a Christian church in Pakistan, killing 81 members and injuring more than a hundred others
• Ayan, a member of a Muslim community in an African nation was forced to flee her family and friends when she converted to the Christian faith

Lest you think these are isolated incidents, according to the 2019 World Watch List report, in one year, 245 million Christians experienced high levels of persecution. And that number is only from the top 50 of 150 countries known for persecuting Christians. 

Please take a moment to reread that sentence and really let it soak in.

Facing Persecution A Little Closer to Home

Sobering as that statistic may be, it’s easy to pretend it doesn’t happen.

I live in a country where Christians rarely die for their faith. But even in places like the United States, the cost can be high. Just ask Elaine, a photographer by profession, who declined to photograph the wedding of a same-sex couple. Elaine was sued and forced to pay a large penalty.

Or consider the case of Rosaria, a former “leftist lesbian professor” who had to leave behind her lover, her lifestyle, and the identity she used to claim when she chose to follow Christ.

For those facing persecution, the cost of following Christ is real.

The High Cost of Following Christ

Conversion to Christianity is not always a rosy moment where suddenly all your dreams come true and life sails by smoothly.

Following Christ comes at a high price. Conversion to Christianity is not always a rosy moment where suddenly all your dreams come true and life sails by smoothly. For people like Ayan and Rosaria, it’s a summons to leave behind everything that was once familiar. For people like Elaine, it’s a call to stand up for Christ, even in the face of heavy legal and financial challenges. And for multitudes of others, it’s a death sentence. 

This isn’t a joking matter. And it might happen to you someday.

As David Platt puts it in his book Counter Culture: “The gospel is a call for every one of us to die—to die to sin and to die to self—and to live with unshakable trust in Christ, choosing to follow his Word even when it brings us into clear confrontation with our culture.”

Jesus himself said it in Luke 9:23:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

He doesn’t invite us to live the high life. He calls us to risk everything—luxury, financial security, family, friends, jobs, reputation, possessions, freedom, even our lives.

What’s the Point?

If this is what it means to follow Christ, then why do it? In the face of such trial, our human nature demands to know: “What’s in it for me?”

To answer that question, we need only go to Paul, the author of 13 books of the Bible—and former persecutor of the Christian church. Paul (formerly known as Saul) did a complete reversal of his beliefs, a switch that transformed him from persecutor to persecuted. A switch that likely cost him his friends, his lifestyle, even his name. Threatened, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and stoned, Paul lived in poverty, never in one place for long.

And yet he wrote things like this:

“Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Romans 8:18

“…in all things God works for the good of those who love him…”

Romans 8:28

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:31

“We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Ronans 8:37

 “The one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us.”

2 Corinthians 4:14

“Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

2 Corinthians 4:17

“We would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 5:8

Pick Up Your Cross!

It is impossible to know Christ and remain silent about him, even in the face of earthly opposition.

Paul knows something many of us have yet to learn: It is impossible to know Christ and remain silent about him, even in the face of earthly opposition. The reward exceeds the price, and Paul gave his life for it. But even amidst the hardships, he found it in him to say, “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:5)

I find it striking that no one needs to tell Christians living in countries of high persecution to live boldly in faith. Rather, we who have known the comforts of the modern world and religious freedoms are those who tend to hide when confronted by cultural opposition. Let this no longer be true of you.

The cost of following Christ may be steep, but the steepest mountains have the greatest views. Stand bold, stand firm, and keep your eye on Christ!

Help For Christian Teens Facing Persecution

First, see what Jesus has to say about the cost of following Christ in Luke 9:23-26. Then check out this article about Facing Persecution, written by a teen. And finally, feed your faith with Psalm 119.