Blessed Are the Persecuted + Third Day Concert
Day 34: Why Faithfulness in Lent Leads to Conflict and Glory
The Inevitability of Opposition
If the Beatitudes describe a life that contradicts the world, then it should not surprise us that such a life provokes resistance. Jesus does not end His teaching with peace but with persecution. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” He says, because living according to the standards of the kingdom will inevitably bring us into conflict with those who reject them.
\This is not persecution for foolishness or arrogance, but for righteousness. It is the result of embodying a way of life that exposes the emptiness of the world’s alternatives. When you hunger for righteousness in a culture that celebrates compromise, you will be opposed. When you pursue peace in a world that thrives on division, you will be misunderstood. When you live for the approval of God rather than man, you will be reviled.
Lent prepares us for this reality by stripping away illusions. It reminds us that following Christ is not a path to comfort but to faithfulness. The cross is not an exception in the Christian life; it is its pattern. And therefore, we must not be surprised when obedience leads to tension, when faithfulness leads to misunderstanding, and when righteousness leads to opposition.
Misunderstood by the World
One of the most subtle forms of persecution is not physical but cultural. It is the experience of being misunderstood, of having your deepest convictions interpreted as strange, harmful, or even oppressive. The world cannot understand the culture of heaven because it has been formed by a different set of assumptions.
What the Christian sees as discipline, the world calls abuse. What the Christian sees as order, the world calls control. What the Christian sees as truth, the world calls intolerance. This is not new. It is the same pattern Jesus experienced and the same pattern the prophets endured before Him.
This kind of misunderstanding can be disorienting because it challenges not only our actions but our identity. It tempts us to soften our convictions, to adjust our language, to seek acceptance. But Jesus does not call us to be understood; He calls us to be faithful. And He reminds us that we stand in a long line of witnesses who have faced the same opposition.
Lent, therefore, is a season of recalibration. It teaches us to expect misunderstanding and to endure it without bitterness. It calls us to root our identity not in the shifting approval of men but in the steadfast approval of God.
How Shall We Then Live?
The question remains: how shall we live in light of this reality? The answer is not to withdraw from conflict, nor to seek it unnecessarily, but to understand it rightly. Conflict, when it arises from faithfulness, is not a sign of failure but an opportunity for the gospel to work.
In the life of the Church, this means viewing tensions not as interruptions but as instruments. God uses conflict to expose sin, to refine relationships, and to restore His people. It is uncomfortable, often painful, and rarely clean, but it is one of the primary ways God sanctifies His people.
This requires courage. It is far easier to avoid difficult conversations, to maintain superficial peace, to let offenses go unaddressed. But true peace is not the absence of tension; it is the presence of reconciliation. And reconciliation requires engagement, humility, and a willingness to bear the cost of restoration.
Lent calls us into this work. It reminds us that we are a people engaged in holy labor, not merely maintaining personal piety but participating in God’s renewal of the world. Our work, our relationships, our speech, and our conflicts are all arenas in which the kingdom is made visible.
And in the midst of this, we are given a promise. “Rejoice and be glad,” Jesus says, “for your reward is great in heaven.” This is not a call to ignore present suffering, but to interpret it in light of a greater reality. The approval of God outweighs the rejection of the world. The inheritance of the kingdom surpasses any loss we endure.
Lent, then, is not merely a season of sorrow, but of clarity. It teaches us to see that the path of Christ, though marked by conflict and suffering, leads to glory. And it calls us to walk that path with confidence, knowing that the kingdom that appears upside down is, in truth, the only kingdom that will stand.
Nuntium
I went back in time and spent a few hours with Third Day here in Pensacola. It’s amazing to see these guys on their 30th anniversary tour still jamming like it’s 1996. For those of us steeped in old CCM, these guys were pioneers. And they played their classics, including Thief, which is a brilliant angle on how the thief on the cross interpreted his position in those last moments.
