I am who you persecute.

I don't know about you, but I look on the news and see all these acts of persecution to believers and to those weak in faith and to even those strong in faith it can seem very scary. But what I believe is less touched upon in the church, in the news media, and almost as a taboo between secular society and believers is that persecution to believers occurs everyday in the every day setting. Even within the walls of the church. Even among believer to believer. 

I know in my own life, it appears that the closer I walk with God and the more obedient I am to His purpose the more the people closest to me object. The enemy can use the people closest to us to distract us, hurt us, and do anything in his meek power to destroy God's plan for our lives. After all those closest to us know our strengths and weaknesses and the cuts are much deeper the closer you are in range.

This thought and reminder lead me to Acts 26 as I'm thinking about Saul. 

For Saul he considered himself a man upholding the law and became so legalistic that he lost sight of how a Christian should respond to others in Sin or even in obedience to what God had for them...just because it looked different than that of his expectation and what fit into his schema. 

Acts chapter 26, verses 12-15. 

"12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

               “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

I love these verses because I think if we are honest with ourselves we have each found ourselves down a road where we think we are following him and trying to "make things right" but we operate not from a relational perspective that values the person, but penalizes the person based on the sin. It has never been our position to penalize, but to Love. I love how Jesus comes to Saul and says basically "look you've been doing some pretty heavy persecution and I want to show you WHO EXACTLY you've been persecuting. When you persecute them, you are persecuting me. When they persecute you, they persecute me. I'm going to open your eyes and change your perspective. Life is not always black and white. Sometimes life is in the gray. So meet me there."

What I think we should all take away from this, author included, is that in our words, thoughts, and actions can become a means of persecution to those simply living out the will of God. When we find ourselves in positions where we can't see what they see or believe as they believe  we can find ourselves split by a divide used by the enemy. Our paths and walks in The Lord are specific to the individual. Yes we will share similar heartache, trials, and can ease these by encouragement. 

Just because we question it, or place judgement, or choose not to see doesn't mean that it is our position to place that on the individual...who may in fact ...when looking through the right lenses according to Christ be on the right track and by looking around and we just may find ourselves as the one lost and pointing fingers.