by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Christians ought to see themselves as living out the story of Jesus. Since He suffered, we should be willing to suffer. As He gave Himself for others, we ought to be willing to give ourselves for others. As He submitted, so ought we to submit. As He loved, so should we love. As He forgave, so ought we to forgive. We follow His example, His way, His will. “Not my will, but Yours be done<\/em>.”<\/p>\n It doesn’t matter who the governing authorities are. It doesn’t matter if they are nice to us or not. It doesn’t matter whether or not we agree with them or like what they do (I Peter 2:13-25). If we are oppressed for Christ, then we are to rejoice that we are considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. In that case, we are to keep preaching and teaching Jesus (Acts 5:41-42). If it happened to Christ and His chosen disciples, shall we think we will escape the derision of the world? Disciples are not above their Lord.<\/p>\n “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed<\/em>” (II Timothy 3:12-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our calling is sure, and it is to follow the crucified Christ. We are not to deviate from His plan. We are not to see ourselves in roles to which He did not call us. There is no call from Jesus to violence or insurrection. The good fight of faith is just that. It is of faith. That fight can be justified only by the authority and grace of the One in whom we believe. We must set aside our desires, our love of this world, and put on the armor of God. Our sword is the Spirit’s sword, the word of God, and we are never to underestimate that power because it is directly tied to God Himself (Ephesians 6:10-18; Hebrews 4:12-13; Isaiah 55). If we are to be subversive, it is in the relentless teaching of His Word and the living out of His story in this world.<\/p>\n “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world<\/em>” (John 18:36).<\/p>\n “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God<\/em>” (Luke 9:60).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Trust God. He will handle the avenging of His people.<\/p>\n In the meantime, teach Jesus. The chips will fall where they may, and we will either be found for Him or against Him. The world will think us weak. Even many who believe will think that what we are saying here is “weak.” Yet there is a pervasive theme throughout Scripture that we ought to know well: strength is made perfect through weakness. God takes what appears to be weak and makes it strong. It is not strength as the world sees it. It is not strength by political means. It is the strength He alone provides to live out the path of His kingdom, to live His will on earth as it is in heaven. It is the way of the cross, and the resurrection is coming. This is the Gospel.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer Christians ought to see themselves as living out the story of Jesus. Since He suffered, we should be willing to suffer. As He gave Himself for others, we ought to be willing to give ourselves for others. As He submitted, so ought we to submit. As He loved, so should we love.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[310,572,182,188],"class_list":["post-29617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-government","tag-persecution","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88570,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/these-you-ought-to-have-done\/","url_meta":{"origin":29617,"position":0},"title":"These You Ought To Have Done","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Heath Rogers \"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone\" (Luke 11:42). Imagine the time and patience it took to measure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88883,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-apostasy\/","url_meta":{"origin":29617,"position":1},"title":"What Is Apostasy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kyle Pope via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 The word apostasy means, \"1) Abandonment or renunciation of one's religious faith or moral allegiance... 2) By extension, the abandonment of principles or party generally\" [Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 1, p. 390].\u00a0It is derived from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unashamed-of-the-shame\/","url_meta":{"origin":29617,"position":2},"title":"Unashamed of the Shame","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name\" (I Peter 4:15-16). There are many reasons why people suffer, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74139,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/morality-from-molecules\/","url_meta":{"origin":29617,"position":3},"title":"Morality from Molecules?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Atheists have a sense of right and wrong; as skewed as it is, it is an issue they cannot explain. Where did this sense of ought, moral right and wrong, come from? Do men get to make it up from within their own molecules? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/molecule-300x240.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-lost\/","url_meta":{"origin":29617,"position":4},"title":"Who Is Lost?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Thessalonians 1:3-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Whenever I\u2019ve published material which is read by people who claim to be Christians but are not living by God\u2019s word, I\u2019ve received complaints. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhy are you bothering with this issue? You should be seeking the lost instead. All you are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55503,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christians-and-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":29617,"position":5},"title":"Christians and Christmas","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry It's that time of year again: the weather is getting cold, snow is beginning to fall, and we are constantly bombarded by retail stores and their marketing blitzes. Christmastime is upon us yet again, and every year it seems more commercialized, more cutthroat, and less about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“Come out of her, my people,<\/em>
\nlest you take part in her sins,<\/em>
\nlest you share in her plagues;<\/em>
\nfor her sins are heaped high as heaven,<\/em>
\nand God has remembered her iniquities<\/em>” (Revelation 18:4-5).<\/blockquote>\n