The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected

by Nik Ripken

Suffering is one of God’s ordained means for the growth of his church. He brought salvation to the world through Christ, our suffering Savior, and he now spreads salvation in the world through Christians as suffering saints. In the words of Paul, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Clearly, there is a sense in which the danger of our lives increases in proportion to the depth of our relationship with Christ.

How is it, I wondered, that so many people are willing to die for financial or humanitarian reasons while many Christian groups insist on waiting until it is safe to obey Jesus’ command to “Go” into all the world?

The stronger the persecution, the more significant the spiritual vitality of the believers.

For us, persecution is like the sun coming up in the east. It happens all the time. It’s the way things are. There is nothing unusual or unexpected about it. Persecution for our faith has always been—and probably always will be—a normal part of life.”

“Don’t ever give up in freedom what we would never have given up in persecution! That is our witness to the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ!”

“Do you know what prison is for us? It is how we get our theological education. Prison in China is for us like seminary is for training church leaders in your country.”

One of the local pastors raised his hand to ask a question. What he wanted to know was this: “Do the people in other countries also know about Jesus—or is He still known only in China?” I had never been asked that question before—or even considered that point of view. For several long seconds I gathered my thoughts, trying to figure out where exactly to begin my answer. Then, with David interpreting for me, I told the group that millions of Americans and even more people in different countries around the world knew about and followed Jesus. I then told the group that believers in other parts of the world also knew about them—the Chinese believers in house churches. I told them that believers in many parts of the world prayed for them and their churches. “Wait, wait!” people cried out. They could hardly believe what I was saying. One man responded this way: “Do you mean that people in your country know that we believe in Jesus? Do you mean that they know that some of us are suffering for our faith? Do you mean that they haven’t forgotten us and that they pray for us?” I assured them: “Why yes, we have always loved you. And we have never forgotten you. For a long time, we have prayed for you.” It was a holy moment as these believers realized that they were recognized, remembered and prayed for by fellow believers around the world.

I told them about Dmitri and his seventeen years in prison; I told them how he would write out all the Scripture he had memorized as an offering to Jesus, and how he had sung heart-songs to the Lord in praise and worship every morning.

Nothing is more gratifying for us than taking the examples, the stories, and the experiences of one group of believers in persecution and sharing their spiritual wisdom with another group of oppressed Jesus-followers in a different place. Imagine the impact of telling Muslim-background believers that the leaders of ten million Chinese believers are calling their people to rise early every day to pray for their brothers and sisters in Islamic countries who are really being persecuted for Jesus’ sake! When we shared that incredible word with Muslim-background believers, they wept. They cried out to God, “Oh God, please let us live long enough to go to China to thank our brothers and sisters who did not forget us and who are praying for us every morning.”

We seem to forget that Jesus Himself promised that the world would reject and mistreat His faithful followers just as it rejected Him. Could it be that the only way that Almighty God could actually answer prayers asking Him to end the persecution of believers . . . would be to stop people from accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior? If people stopped accepting Christ as Lord and Savior . . . persecution would end immediately. That would be the only way to completely end persecution.

What that means is that, for most believers, persecution is completely avoidable. If someone simply leaves Jesus alone, doesn’t seek Him or follow Him, then persecution will simply not happen. Beyond that, even if someone becomes a follower of Jesus, persecution will likely not happen if the faith is kept private and personal. If a person is silent about their faith in Jesus, the chance of being persecuted is very small. So if our goal is reducing persecution, that task is easily achieved. First, just leave Jesus alone. Second, if you do happen to find Him, just keep Him to yourself. Persecution stops immediately where there is no faith and where there is no witness. The reason for persecution, then, is that people keep finding Jesus—and, then, they refuse to keep Him to themselves. Believers in persecution taught us another important truth. The freedom to believe and witness has nothing to do with the government or political system. The freedom to believe and witness has nothing to do with the civil and political rights that might or might not be present.

before we can grasp the full meaning of the Resurrection, we first have to witness or experience crucifixion. If we spend our lives so afraid of suffering, so averse to sacrifice, that we avoid even the risk of persecution or crucifixion, then we might never discover the true wonder, joy and power of a resurrection faith. Ironically, avoiding suffering could be the very thing that prevents us from partnering deeply with the Risen Jesus.

What do I do with this now, Lord? You seemed a lot tamer—and my faith felt a lot more comfortable—when I studied your ancient Scriptures and simply left you in the past. Allowing you, your resurrection power, your glory, and your Word into the present changes everything! It makes the good news of the gospel great news for the world today!