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Jesus didn’t mince words when He said, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). Jesus wasn’t speaking hypothetically when He taught that “if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (15:18–19). And the disciples didn’t need to wonder whether there would come a time when they were hated for bearing the name of Christian because Jesus told them explicitly, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Matt. 10:22).
The certainty that Christians will experience hatred and persecution in this life is not in question. Yet God also tells us:
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Rom. 12:17–19)
Christians are promised persecution and hatred and yet are told to leave vengeance to God. This is a simple promise and an equally simple instruction. But the practice of a holy waiting amid hatred and persecution is anything but simple or comfortable. How should a Christian go about doing this?
Before we answer that question, we should note that God has put a longing for justice deep into every human heart. In this holy waiting, God is not telling Christians to care less about justice. God is not calling us to some spiritual numbness wherein when slighted, hated, or persecuted, we toss up our hands and say, “It’s OK; it doesn’t matter; it doesn’t bother me.” Christians are not and should not act like doormats. Our God is a God of exacting justice. Divine righteousness is a clear standard that God preserves in exacting detail, judging every human and every deed, culminating in a final judgment when all men will be judged for all their actions (Heb. 4:12–13). This is just to say that Christians should and will feel righteous indignation when they are persecuted and hated. This feeling is right and good, and when godly, it joins with God in His righteous anger at injustice.
We should mention one more thing: resisting revenge and waiting on God does not preclude making use of all the institutional means that God has provided (Rom. 13:1–7) and governs (Prov. 21:1; Dan. 2:21) to enact some measure of justice in this fallen world. These societal institutions fall roughly into the realms of government and church. These are good institutions set in place by God to provide some measure of protection and righteousness among the cultures of men. If a Christian suffers persecution that breaks civil or federal laws, the Christian should seek redress through those God-given avenues for the maintenance of just societies. If a Christian experiences hatred or slander from another professing Christian, he should use the gift of church discipline and adjudication to protect the honor of Christ, win the erring Christian, and contribute to the peace of the church (Matt. 18:15–20; 1 Cor. 6:1–11).
The important point, however, is for every Christian to understand that there will come a time when human institutions established to maintain justice will not provide full relief or justice to the very real persecution that Christians endure. This may occur for a variety of reasons. It may be that the human institution simply cannot address the injustice fully. Or it may be that the human institution is immoral, unjust, corrupt, or overtly anti-Christian. Or it may be that the offense is more personal and individual, making justice difficult or impossible to obtain through civil or ecclesial courts. This is a hard place for a Christian to be. And it is at this point that the Christian needs Paul’s admonition from Romans 12 to resist the desire for personal vengeance and instead wait on God to see what He will do with the offender.
In that holy waiting, the Christian must set his hope on the sure promise that God will one day exact full justice. Apart from God’s convicting the conscience of the offender, leading the offender to seek repentance and reconciliation, there are two other options. First, God may convert the offender. In this scenario, the Christian persecutor may be born again. In the persecutor’s conversion, the just payment for the offense against the Christian falls on Christ. Christ has won many enemies of Christianity, the Apostle Paul being one of them (Phil. 3:6). When a persecutor of Christians is converted, Christ’s great atoning work at the cross satisfies God’s exact judgment for sins against His own people. The second scenario is the final judgment. At the final judgment, those who do not turn to Christ in repentance and faith will experience God’s eternal divine judgment and wrath. So, Christian, the sins of persecution and hatred against you will be paid for one day, either at the cross or in the eternal judgment of the wicked.
What is the Christian to do during this holy waiting in persecution? The Christian, whenever possible, is to do good to his enemies (Prov. 25:21; Luke 6:27; Rom. 12:20) and to pray for those who persecute him (Matt. 5:44; Rom. 12:14). In this way, the Christian follows the example of God, who shows a long patience with His enemies (Rom. 2:2–4). The Christian leaves vengeance to God, knowing that God alone can wield it in perfect righteousness.