The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-05-11
Take Your Stand
Lesson for May Is, 1862

OlI1lOH Feter nau Dccn III jail
himself, so he knew what he
was talking about when he
wrote to people who were going
to Jail. He was no well-sheltered
man urging others to be brave.
If he had been, we may be sure
no one would have treasured
his letter and saved it.
At the time l Peter was writ
ten. something new and fright
ening was beginning to disturb
the Christians of Asia Minor.
Outbreaks of persecution had al
ready occurred and more was
to come. The new feature of this
was that Christians were being
jailed, their property confiscat-
ed and themselves sometimes
executed as criminals. because
of their religion alone.
Is Suffering Inevitable
Something like a panic was
starting. Was God going to let
His people suffer? Would Cord S
cause be lost in the end?
hould prosecuted Christians
strike back? Those Christians
we're as confused and alarmed
as we would be if suddenly our
government started raiding our
churches and arresting us on no
charges except that of being
Christians.
So Simon Peter writes this let
ter, the main theme of which is
the suffering of Christians. He
does not indulge in the platitude
Of saying that suffering is inevi-
table. It isn't and it wasn't and
he knew it, and so did they.
They could save themselves a
world of distress. even torture
and death. simply by giving up
being Christians any more. But
Simon Peter does not suggest
that way out. We know from
sources outside the Bible) that
some early Christians did actu-
ally renounce their faith; but
mighty few.
Criminal or Christian?
The upshot of what Peter
writes is that it is inevitable
that there should be some suf-
fering, but on the other hand
some ought to be avoided. Suf-
fering is not a good thing in it
self, it is not bad in itself. There
is suffering of which one may
be ashamed. and suffering for
which one must thank God.
Christians, of all people, who
have to be punished for any
kind of wrong-doing. ought to be
heartily ashamed,-not ashamed
of getting caught, nor suffering
the penalty; they should be
ashamed of the wrong doing.
But those who suffer because
they are Christians have no
cause for embarrassment much
less shame.
On the other hand it is not
right to cOvet being a martyr.
In the early church there was a
good deal of trouble with over
enthusiastic. we might say, ia
matte, people. who did every
thing they could to get them
selves arrested and even exc
cuted. The church had to hold
a steady hand on these eager
beaver martyrs. And yet when
it came to the pinch. the very
bishops who had discouraged
rash martyrdoms. went bravely
to their deaths rather than re-
nounce their faith.
All Sounds Very Modern
First Peter is one of the most
up-to-date books in the whole
Bible. We are living in time
when, in more than one part of
the world, it is literally as much ,
as your life is worth, to be
known Christian When the COM
mupists took over North Ko-
rea. where the Christian church
was strong. one of the first
things the government did was
to organize the ministers into a
sort of pro-government propa-
ganda association. Some minis
tiers yielded: but some resisted
and were "liquidated" by firing
squads. Some of these ministers
had sons. who in turn were in
danger of their lives, merely be-
cause they were sons of minis
tiers. What should these boys
do? If they had been like those
ancient Christians who went out
OF their way to get killed they
would have just given them
selves up and been shot. What |
they did was to escape. at great |
risk. and eventually come to
America, where now they are
preparing to go back and help |
what is left of Korea. But even |
IN America they have had to
take stand as Peter put it.
They have been ridiculed for
IS lex ng their necks out
again: their faith has been at
tackled in medical school and
ut hnp-Vr-tcol nv ~,