Consistency in Mission despite severe Oppositions: Insights for Today

Mission and persecution are related and recurring themes in the Book of Acts. In the context of continuing persecution and suffering, the believing community faced a paradoxical situation that needed urgent explanation. Why do people of God suffer? Whether suffering is a sign for their weakness? Luke addresses this complex situation and takes efforts to construct a self-understanding to strengthen the community providing a scriptural view of suffering for faith. Luke emphasizes that these are not the common sufferings of humanity, but unique and constructive sufferings for the faith in the advancement of the reign of God. 

The Nature of Mission: Community Building

According to Acts, biblical mission naturally leads to the building of new communities as envisioned in the gospel known as worshipping communities-churches. Wherever new communities were formed in kingdom values, violent repression from opponents became a reality. The preaching of diluted gospel in entertainment/consumeristic models that neglect community formation can escape persecution but scripture is against such approach. Book of Acts and epistles witness that Apostle Paul faced tremendous pressure to dilute the gospel to present consumer friendly in the Jewish and Gentile contexts to ward off the suffering. But Paul opposed such a move and stood strongly to the truth of the gospel emphasizing that gospel must be enfleshed in the lives of believers. The mission aims to create a counter culture community inclusive of all people as family of God and in this process it challenges the dominant cultural worldviews that distort the real human value. Luke says that Paul and his team followed the prophetic vision model of ‘suffering servant’ in reaching the Jew and Gentile with the message of new creation in Christ. 

Paul: The Persecutor

Paul was a fierce persecutor of the young church. He was behind hatching the plan of stoning of Stephen and scattering believers from Jerusalem with a view to get rid of the new messianic movement formed around Jesus of Nazareth. The Pharisaic world view convinced him and provided courage to unleash severe persecution against the believers. As a Pharisee he thought, the emergence of this new movement will jeopardize the Jewish hope of national freedom, purity and uniqueness and even will delay or prevent the coming of the messiah. He thought persecuting the believers as pleasing to God and in this conviction he advanced even beyond Palestine. Thus the church in the beginning faced severe opposition mainly due to theological and political reasons. 

But the apostles and disciples faced this opposition courageously and remained consistent in witnessing Jesus as the promised messiah with the support of proper reading of scripture and through the experience of the power of the Spirit of God. The scattered church continued the mission more vigorously and planted faith communities in various distant places.  It was the Jewish persecution that paved the way to reach the gentiles with the gospel. The persecutors sought to stop and destroy the church but it actually helped them to advance the mission beyond geographical and ethnic boundaries. This shows that a church that is thoroughly convinced and experiences the power of the Holy Spirit can’t be stopped from mission. Their motivation was not to gain temporal material comfort or personal benefits but to remain true to their conviction and calling in the presence of Lord Jesus Christ. They were convinced that they are labouring with Lord Jesus Christ in establishing the people of God to realize the eschatological purpose of God. 

Paul: The Convinced Missionary

The lopsided Paul was corrected by an encounter with Jesus at Damascus. The encounter with risen Jesus brought an epistemological shift in the life of Paul and he began to re-read the scripture in the light of his new experience. His old conceptual frameworks and convictions were proved faulty and he finally accepted Jesus as the promised messiah. The nationalistic flavour of salvation was replaced by the biblical big picture of salvation for all through the faith in Jesus. This Christ encounter and epistemological shift enabled Paul to become a thoroughly convinced witness. This shows that only a person who is fully convinced who Jesus is and maintains deep intimacy can have the courage to continue the mission with consistency. 

Epistemological Shifts: The Wisdom of Cross

Paul explains the epistemological shift using the term the ‘wisdom of Cross’. Receiving insight from the scripture he realized that the Almighty God manifested the great plan of salvation in such a way that no human being can perceive and understand in human capacity. In the first ‘exodus’ God executed a great plan to deliver his people from the hand of Pharaoh. God brought Israel to Mt. Sinai and established a covenant with a purpose to transform them as the people of God. Then God promised through his prophets that in the last days he will establish a new exodus and a new covenant that encompass both Jews and Gentiles with a view to establish the people of God. This is the eschatological plan of God that leads to new creation. God revealed and inaugurated this eschatological plan on the cross and resurrection. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus realized the grand manifestation of salvation to all as predicted by the prophets. This wisdom of the cross opened the eye of Paul and he became thoroughly convinced about the importance of the servant mission model as pictured by prophet Isaiah. This conviction enabled Paul to remain faithful and consistent even in the midst of extreme sufferings and persecutions.

Paul: The Suffering Servant

Paul was not glorifying the suffering but understood it as an inherent element in the servant model of mission. A clear understanding of the nature of mission enabled him to continue in ministry even in the midst of severe persecution. Earlier Paul was a stout persecutor but this new revelation converted him as an apostle who underwent severe persecution for the sake of the gospel.

The missionary Paul faced the brunt of persecution from both Jew and Gentile unbelievers. The risen Jesus, prior to Pauls’ commissioning, clearly revealed to Ananias that Paul needed to go through severe persecution for the sake of the gospel, “But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts. 9:15-16). From the very beginning of ministry Paul encountered suffering and persecution. Jews turned against him and planned to murder him. The persecution became more severe when he commenced the missionary journeys under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

During the first missionary journey onwards he faced opposition all-around. He visited the synagogues in each city and presented the crucified Jesus as the promised messiah and proved it through the scripture. This message brought division in the synagogues and who believed the message formed different worshipping communities in the house of believers. This community building nature of the mission fuelled the persecution and unbelieving Jews used all opportunities to destroy this new movement. 

Book of Acts vividly pictures such events as, Paul and Bernabas faced opposition from the locals at Pisidian Antioch “But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium” (Acts 13:50-51). In Iconium an angry crowd tried to stone them, “There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country” (Acts 14:5-6). At Lystra Paul faced severe opposition where the mob heavily stoned and he miraculously escaped from death.  “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead” (Acts 14:19). 

We Must Go Through Hardship: Exhortation for Consistency in Persecution

In the first missionary journey Paul faced the brunt of persecution in proclaiming Jesus as the Lord. Persecutors tried to stop this movement by killing Paul and other leaders. After the first missionary journey Paul could have returned to Syrian Antioch from Derbe crossing the Tarsus mountain range as an easy escape route. But they went back through the same cities where they planted churches to strengthen the believers giving more teaching and appointing leaders “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust” (Acts 14:23). The main aim of this visit was to strengthen the believers in the midst of opposition so that they can remain consistent in faith. He enlightened them that suffering from unbelievers is inherent truth of the gospel and exhorted them to face it boldly being in the presence of the reign of God “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). In the epistle to Colossians Paul declared that “"I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Colo. 1:24) and he gives the insight that those who suffer for Christ will be glorified with him (Rom. 8:17).

The Insight: Can Persecution Stop Mission?

The scripture reveals that persecution is part of the plan and providence of God. Persecution originates from the rejection of God’s purpose and plan through unbelief. Persecution is not something new but scripture witnesses that all the prophets and servants of God went through persecution. Persecution is the occasion of believers' perseverance and God’s triumph. The worldly wisdom is impotent to grasp fully the constructive and creative role of persecution and suffering in the mission. In this generation it is our God given responsibility to be consistent in mission. Persecution and suffering may appear in various forms to stop the mission but our Lord Jesus Christ is with us to continue in mission with courage and conviction.