Persecution

When I was about eleven years old, my mother, in one of her evangelistic fits, took me and my siblings to the downtown area of Billings, Montana, to "witness" to the people there. It was late and already dark on the streets when we arrived. The few people still wandering the streets were not interested in stopping to chat about Jesus, and so my mother finally gave up trying to speak to anyone and decided instead to try to gather a crowd by the usual means: making us kids sing and recite scriptures. It had been her observation that many people who otherwise would probably just wander by would often stop for a group of kids singing, if only out of pity. And so, on the dark street-corner, my mother lined us kids up on the sidewalk and led us in some praise choruses. But still, no one stopped.

After a few minutes, a car drove by. As it passed through the intersection near us, the wheels spun up a few loose pebbles, which skittered across the sidewalk near our feet.

Of course, this was nonsense. There was no way that the driver of the car could (even if he wanted to) intentionally toss tiny pebbles at us with his wheels. If he had wanted to throw stuff at us, then rolling down the window and tossing soda cans would have most likely been his preferred method. And, as my husband recently pointed out when I told him this story, if the driver HAD done that, we probably would have deserved it, considering we were making an awful racket on the street so late at night.

But the main point here is that there is absolutely no comparison between a few pebbles skittering across the sidewalk and the martyrdom of Stephen. Calling it a "stoning" (even if it was intentional) was a wild exaggeration. So why did my mother claim that it was persecution? Because it turned an otherwise dismal night into a success. Rather than admit that we had failed to evangelize anyone, we could go home claiming that we were persecuted for Christ and fantasizing about a great reward in Heaven.

Pentecostals almost always believe themselves to be persecuted. And yet, most often, when those claims are really examined, it is easy to see that they are merely masking their own failures.

Pentecostals often behave like immature teenagers who throw spitwads in the classroom and then try to convince their parents that they have detention because the teachers are just being mean. Believing themselves to be "in the Truth" and therefore above normal social proprieties, Pentecostals often behave very rudely to others and then cry "persecution" when they are punished for their behavior.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me."

Thus, my Pentecostal friends, it is NOT persecution when you are evicted from your apartment for playing your church music too loud late at night, after other residents have repeatedly asked you to turn it down. It is NOT persecution when you are tossed out of a restaurant for shrieking in tongues and laughing in the Spirit and falling on the floor and otherwise making a scene while other people are trying to eat. It is NOT persecution when you are asked to leave a college biology classroom for repeatedly challenging the professor to debate the existence of God when he or she is trying to discuss plant pigments. And most importantly, it is NOT persecution when people point out errors in your church or relate stories of religious abuse that they experienced in your denomination.

"Persecution is the language of nonthought," Mary Alice Chrnalogar says in her book Twisted Scripture. She explains this to mean that many cult groups use claims of persecution to stop their followers from seriously analyzing criticism of the group's teaching.

Pentecostals use "persecution" this way as well. In my discussions with Pentecostals, I often refer to this as the "Always Right" argument. The Pentecostal logic usually goes something like this:

Once this pattern is established in the Pentecostal mind, it is virtually impossible for them to seriously consider any alternate viewpoints. If someone agrees with their teaching, they proclaim their victory. If someone disagrees with their teaching, they scream "persecution".

But this is nonsense. The Bible tells us repeatedly to consider the counsel and even the rebukes of others. (Proverbs 28:23, Ecclesiastes 7:5, I Timothy 5:20, II Timothy 4:2) And the Bible says nothing at all about criticism or disagreement being any form of persecution.

In the 1970's, Pentecostal-preacher-turned-cult-leader Jim Jones led his followers into the jungles of Guyana to build a settlement there, ostensibly to protect themselves from the "persecution" of the United States government, which had begun to show some concern about the illegal dealings of the People's Temple. Although alone and generally undisturbed in their new home, Jones was not content to let his followers dwell in peace. He sent his henchmen into the jungles surrounding the settlement to fire their weapons into the air, and then he called midnight meetings to proclaim that the settlement was under attack. The frightened followers, believing themselves to be in serious danger, were paralyzed with fear and thought that leaving the compound would mean capture, torture, and murder at the hands of the enemy.

Ultimately, Jones convinced his followers to take their own lives, believing that they were about to be tortured by their enemies. Jones recorded the event on an audiotape, and he can be clearly heard urging his followers:

"Don't be afraid to die. You'll see, there'll be a few people land out here. They'll -- they'll torture some of our children here. They'll torture our people. They'll torture our seniors. We cannot have this!"*

And yet, at the moment that Jones was speaking, there was no enemy out in the jungle. There had never been any plan to attack or torture the Jonestown residents. In fact, the only threat to their lives at all came from Jones himself.

Although this is an extreme example of the use of bogus persecution claims, it is not entirely unlike the persecution claims made in many Pentecostal churches (and, unfortunately, some other denominations as well). Exaggerated claims of "persecution" are often used as a threat and a rallying cry: We are being persecuted! They want to destroy us! Circle the wagons! Get ready to fight for your life! Make your decision: are you with us or against us? These are troubled times and there is no in-between!

The clear message is that, if you do not throw your lot in with the "True Believers", then you will be destroyed by the enemy. And yet, generally, the real threat is wildly exaggerated.

As Christians, we must not tarnish the memory of the true martyrs of our faith with bogus claims that we are being persecuted when we are not . . . even if it helps rally people to our cause. It is dishonest and shameful.

In Pentecostal churches, this usually means shutting oneself off from the world (homeschooling kids, getting rid of TVs, etc) and trying to wage "spiritual warfare".

Scripture tells us that even real times of persecution are not an excuse to rally the troops or to hunker down in a siege. We are to endure persecution, blessing and praying for those who persecute us. We are to treat others kindly, even when they have not shown us the same courtesy.