I am doing this later in the day than I usually would. I had to attend a committee meeting at breakfast — and an early one at that: the meeting was over as the alarm went for my usual time to go to work. Since then I have been working on various tasks at the conference and have another fairly long list of things to do work wise before I go back to the meeting.

But you have to make the word a priority at some time of the day. Not because i am perfect, but because I need to allow the spirit to work in me.

It is not about fear, although sometimes turning to the word is about duty. Instead it is about love, and a desire to know God.

The challenge is remembering that the desire to honor God, to obey His word, to walk uprightly, and be a good witness are good things. Yet they are not the principle thing. The principle thing is “ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings”.

And yet somehow doesn’t it seem we always find ourselves back in the struggle to prove our worth by the goodness of our actions rather than allowing our love propel us into obedience and right actions that flow from the heart? We operate from fear, rather than His perfect love. And make no mistake, the desire to appear good, the striving to meet the letter of the law with little regard for the spirit? That springs from fear, and its many manifestations. Including pride.

And this love will express itself in our concern for one another and our encouragement of one another. Even when we see a truth about us, and do not like it, or wonder why we are facing difficulties, or look at others and think they are doing better.

Paul gives us an example. When the disciples were under pressure, and he did not know what was going to happen, he eventually sent someone to investigate if the people were remaining in the faith. And when he found that they were, his joy was considerable, as shown in today’s reading.

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

(1 Thessalonians 3 ESV)

It is worth noting that Paul considered being afflicted and in trouble the usual state for a Christian. He did not think that being blessed was usual. The elite will oppose us: that is what they do.

The way this expresses itself is quite visceral. We should not be deceived. The secular elite hate and mistrust us.

When I looked over the comments of the respondents, several respondents made comments about lions in some form or fashion that implied the desirability of feeding Christians to lions. Even as a joke, it is indeed a sick joke and the sickness of the joke is illustrated if we consider how Jews would feel about jokes of having them put into ovens. When I went back and counted how many times lion references occurred, I found that it happened seven times. Okay, this is more than once or twice, but it is not an overwhelming amount. Perhaps if those were the only times of an expression of an unreasonable hatred, I could let that go. But alas, this was not the case.

What we have to remember is that we are not of this world. We are not of our nation or tribe. We have been called out of these places to be a new people, a new nation, and although we may have working relationships with the ruling class, be citizens of a nation, or subjects of a monarch, the church is not of them.

So we should rejoice when we are oppressed and called offensive. It means we are doing our job. We should fear, instead, when we worry more for our reputations and social standing than how we love our fellow believers. For the faith does not change: let us pray that, like the Thessalonians, we are steadfast when the times of oppression come.