Opposition Is a Grace

What do we do when we encounter opposition? I don’t know if you are like me, but over the last few months I have found myself asking that question a lot — at least every Sunday! 

Opposition comes in several varieties. One we ordinarily welcome: When someone opposes me because I have dishonored God by being selfish or uncharitable or harsh or for committing some moral evil, opposition is a grace. Opposition calls me to examination and repentance; it summons me to seek the mercy that is to be found in Christ and, in receiving his grace, to ask forgiveness of the person I have wronged and make restitution as needed.

But sometimes followers of Jesus face opposition for other reasons. The church in Philippi experienced opposition from: preachers of Christ who wanted to stir up trouble for Paul, from Roman opponents intent on intimidation, from Jewish Christians who demanded the Philippians adopt Jewish practices, and even from Gentile Christians living as hypocrites because of pressure from their pagan Roman environment. If any congregation had reason to lament opposition, they did. The opposition was undeserved, unfair, frightening, demonic. 

But Paul reminded them that even underneath this kind of opposition, it’s grace. He writes, “for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake” (Phil 1.29). God has “graced” us both to believe and to endure opposition. Opposition reminds us that Jesus endured our hostility, our mockery, our blindness, our outrage. It reminds us that while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us. And so now, as those who have been saved by this precious grace, we are invited to bear such hostility in such a way that others, too, might see his face (1.28b). 

So, Cities Church, let us therefore heed Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians, “Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents”(1.27-28a). 

And this reminds us of our need to pray.

Prayer of Confession

Father, we acknowledge with the apostle that there are many who walk as enemies of the gospel, whose god is their belly, whose glory is their shame, whose minds are set on earthly things. And to our shame, we confess that, unlike Paul, we don’t make that acknowledgement with tears. For such were we. We find that we have sinned against you in thought, in word, and in deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us for fearing man, for failing to plead your mercy, for neglecting to assess our manner of life against the worthiness of your precious gospel, for despising opposition, rather than receiving it as a grace. Search us now and know our anxious thoughts, help us as we confess these and our other sins to you in this time of silent confession…