I am currently teaching via video to theological students in Pakistan about the theology of the Holy Spirit. They have many questions, and I allow their questions to guide some of the plans I make for the class sessions that I teach. Last week, a student asked about the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. So I decided to plan a class session about the theology of the Spirit in the letters. That is what we did this week.
I planned to speak to them about how the Holy Spirit demonstrates knowledge and interest of each individual situation and how the letters are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s interaction with the seven churches individually. I also wanted them to think about some of this actively. I did not realize how “up close and personal” the discussion would go.
In the letter to the church at Smyrna, the writer says, “I know your afflictions and your poverty-yet you are rich! … Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will
give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:9, 10b)
I asked the students, “When people are being persecuted and they are poor, do they want to keep on practicing their faith?”
One of the students said, “When someone slaps you on the cheek, you should turn the other cheek.”
I said, “What if they keep doing it and doing it and doing it?”
Hearing this spoken through a translator had a very powerful effect on me, and I began to cry behind my glasses. I said, “It wasn’t just that bad things kept happening to the church. People were killing the believers. How do Pakistani Christians react when Muslims kill Christians?”
When I spoke this, I felt that I had trodden on forbidden ground. The tears behind my glasses grew stronger, and I was no longer certain that I could continue speaking.
The students responded: “We are afraid and we don’t fight them.”
I spoke softly to them: “In America, Christians become angry and they want to fight the Muslims.”
They responded, “In America Christians are strong. In Pakistan we are the minority and we must submit.”
I said through the tears behind my glasses, “I do not think that the American response is best. When I read this passage, it tells me that the Holy Spirit knows everything that the church experiences and the Holy Spirit is a comforter at all times, even when we are dying. That is something we must always trust.”
I had the urge to stop teaching and pray with my students. Instead, I allowed a moment to pass and continued teaching.
I think I should have heeded my urge to pray.
At the end of class, I asked them to read John 15:18-26, in which Jesus speaks to the disciples about the fact that people will persecute them because of his name. After reading this passage, I reminded them that the Holy Spirit is both a witness and a comforter. That is where we end on a day like today. It is because of the Holy Spirit that we can say God is with us in this age.
I remain in prayer for the persecuted church–not because I think that God must grant everyone their freedom. The persecuted church is stronger in many ways than the American church will ever be. Great hardship forces growth and faithfulness in ways that freedom allows to lapse. The church at Smyrna draws no criticism at all but only great love and encouragement.
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