Romans 12: Part 14
After Paul tells us to practice hospitality, he goes on to instruct us to bless our persecutors and further clarifies that by bless, he means that we shouldn't curse them.
Bless
There are many definitions of the word "bless", but the best one in this context according to dictionary.com is "to bestow good of any kind upon". When we bless someone, we are actively doing good, whether we are talking about a financial, material, or emotional blessing.
We are blessed so that we may bless others (see Genesis 12:2). Now some of us might need this reminder: God might be using other people to bless us and we need to accept that help and assistance from others. Yet others of us need to hear the opposite: God wants to bless other people through us and we need to be obedient so that they can be blessed. One way to tell which we need is to see which of these situations make us more uncomfortable.
Bless Our Persecutors
Paul specified the recipient of our blessing. We are to bless those who persecute us. It is interesting to note some of the things Paul didn't say here. He didn't say "bless those who are fellow believers" or "bless those who treat you like you want to be treated" or even "bless those who are fellow citizens in your nation". Now to be fair, these are good groups to also bless, but honestly, blessing members of our faith family, kind people, or fellow citizens isn't something that is radical to the Christian faith; lots of non-Christians do that too.
But blessing our persecutors?!?! That is radical in our society, nation, and world. Paul is building on what Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:44 (namely to pray for those who persecute us). We are clearly commanded here that we should be blessing those who persecute us.
When someone has it out for us, we are to bless them.
When someone tries to beat or kill us, we are to bless them.
When someone changes (or tries to change) a law to restrict our ability to worship, we are to bless them.
When someone disowns, fires, or evicts us because of our faith, we are to bless them.
I highly recommend visiting The Open Door to learn about the persecution the global church is facing. The Church in the United States is quick to cry "I'm being persecuted", but we cheapen the word when we throw it around so readily. To be perfectly blunt: Wearing masks in a global pandemic is not persecution. Being ordered to reduce singing because it's a high risk activity is not persecution. Being told to find safer alternatives to crowded services is not persecution. Facing backlash for our poor treatment of marginalized people is not persecution.
Bless, Don't Curse
Paul finishes, just in case we were uncertain of what he meant by "bless those who persecutes us", by adding that he means BLESS and not CURSE. It is not a blessing to wish an abudance of lice on a person; that's a curse. It is not a blessing to wish harm, punishment, or judgment on a person; that's still a curse.
How can we bless our persecutors in the coming weeks, months, and years?
Questions to Wrestle With
Take time this week to consider:
Who has the Spirit led you to bless? Did you obey?
Who has the Spirit used to bless you?
Which makes you more uncomfortable: giving blessings or receiving blessings? Why is that?
Who do you typically prefer to bless?
How has the Spirit led you to bless someone who has persecuted you? Did you obey?
After reading about the Persecuted Church on The Open Door, what persecution from their stories have you also faced?
How have you been tempted to curse your persecutors?
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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