Haunting Bible Verses VI: We Suffer When Other Christians Suffer…Or Do We?

Hebrews 13:3 New Living Translation (NLT)

Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself.
Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
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Please click HERE for some sobering statistics about Christians who are mistreated around the world for their faith in Jesus.
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Why This Matters

1. Because God says to do this. Enough said. But because we are all sinful humans, it is often not enough for us to obey simply because “God says so.” Thus, here are some more reasons below.
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2. Because our greatest witness to non-Christians is the way we love/treat/care for/support/encourage other Christians (John 13:35). The unbelieving world IS WATCHING us Jesus-people (see Acts 4:13) to see if we really have “been with Jesus.”
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3. Because, according to this article that I just read portions of (please click HERE), even non-Christians are beginning to notice that we Christians in America are being negligent in loving the persecuted church. The LORD used pagan Babylon to MIGHTILY humble and discipline His people, so we should be quickly sobered and genuinely repentant when non-believers accurately point out when we are “asleep on the tower,” when we are skipping the main attraction to play with the candy in the theater lobby.
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4. Because our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ are, with us, part of the Body of Christ Jesus Himself (Romans 12:3-5), and “each part BELONGS to the other” (emphasis mine). We American Christians often like to think of ourselves as the “face” in His Body and therefore we neglect the crippling pain in the feet and the knees (the less prominent parts) to apply more makeup to beautiful/pamper ourselves. I speak this to my own shame–I am certainly guilty of this. Because of sin we “naturally” drift away from pursuing the desires of God–putting Him and others before ourselves. Let us acknowledge this truth repentantly before God and then furiously slay our sinfulness by asking the Holy Spirit each day for the strength and will to carry out, not only Hebrews 13:3, but every verse of Scripture, remembering James 4:17 and James 1:22-25.
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5. Because, like Esther, who knows that God has brought us to our royal (i.e. comfortable) position for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). God has allowed our siblings to suffer overseas and He has allowed us to have the comfort, resources, health, time, and ability to minister to them–none of this is by accident! So let us not neglect our duty for any reason (certainly not because of being “too busy”), remembering that if we don’t step up to our divinely-ordained role, God will comfort the suffering in other ways but that we will not escape the earthly consequences.
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6. Because this is a perfect example of “the Golden Rule” (Matthew 7:12). We would want others to pray for us if we were in jail/mistreated for loving Jesus. We would desperately crave the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ…well, so do they.
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7. Because just as unused muscles wither/deteriorate, just as milk left in the jug eventually spoils, so too do un-shared love/un-exercised faith weaken and grow cold (the subject of next Sunday’s sermon–Matthew 24:12-13).
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8. Because not feeling the pain of others is a SERIOUS spiritual illness. That’s essentially what leprosy is (please click HERE): it’s not that leprosy causes flesh to crumble off, it’s that leprosy deadens the nerves to the point that the person feels no pain and therefore places body parts (usually feet and hands) on areas that cause the body part to eventually fall off (e.g. resting on a hot stove, walking for long stretches without adjusting posture, etc.). NO ONE wants physical leprosy…we should be even more determined not to get its spiritual counterpart.
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9. Because just as filling our bellies with vegetables naturally leaves less room for junk food, focusing on others naturally causes us to focus on ourselves less, and focusing on ourselves (i.e. pride/selfishness) is perhaps the deep/powerful/extensive root of the destructive weed that is sin.
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How We Do This
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1. Pray. You don’t have to fly to China to encourage Christians there. Prayer goes faster than the speed of light and is in one respect the least expensive/most affordable way that you can impact others (James 5:16b). But do we really believe that prayer makes a difference? On our answer to that question hangs the consistency/actuality of our prayer–that is, whether we actually do it or not!
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2. Keep suffering Christians at the forefront of your mind. Notice the verse says to “Remember”; what is implied is that we not forget. Do what you need to do to consistently remind yourselves that at every moment of our often comfortable/”boring” existences in the U.S. there are MILLIONS of Christians around the world who are physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually suffering grinding torture simply because they love Jesus.
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-Post Scripture verses around your house
-Sign up for the FREE monthly mailing from the VOice of the Martyrs–and then read it!
-Go to “Google Images”, search “world maps of Christian persecution”, print out a copy or two, and hang them in heavily-trafficked areas of your house.
-Read a segment each week from “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” or from “Jesus Freaks I” or “II.”
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3. Visit http://www.persecution.com for other ways to get involved. They’ve set the table–all we have to do is sit down and eat.
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4. Repent to the LORD for, up to this point, not doing what you can do for His suffering children, for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in chains.He promises not only to forgive us but to also cleanse us from the residue of sin (​1 John 1:9). What a glorious promise from God! 🙂
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5. Ask God to grow in you a love for Christians whom you have never met and probably will never meet on earth. Obedience is much easier when we have an inner desire!
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6. Ask God to help you remember His grace for you so that you do not obey Hebrews 13:3 out of fear of punishment/hell but obey it out of the overflow of your heart, out of thanksgiving for Jesus’ unconditional love for you (and not as a way to try and somehow earn His unconditional love for you).