Test of Our Faith
In ad 304, the Roman emperor Maximian victoriously entered the city of Nicomedia. Parades were ordered as the city gathered to thank pagan gods for the victory—everyone except for a church full of people who worshiped only the one true God. Maximian entered the church with an ultimatum: Escape punishment by renouncing faith in Christ. They refused. All were killed when Maximian ordered the church set on fire with the believers inside.
The apostle Paul understood the cost of following Christ. In 1 Corinthians 4, he confronted the believers living in the Greek city of Corinth with his testimony. Paul stated that the apostles had suffered for Jesus and for their sake. They had been “made a spectacle to the whole universe” (v. 9) as they served Christ.
Similarly, the apostle Peter reminded us how Jesus suffered on our behalf. “When they hurled their insults at [Jesus], he did not retaliate,” wrote Peter. “When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
Still today, believers in Jesus suffer for their faith. Like the Nicomedian believers who willingly chose to suffer for the gospel, may any opposition we face serve to reveal the strength of our faith in Christ. We can entrust our lives to the one “who judges justly.”
By Matt Lucas - Bread Ministries
1 Corinthians 4:9-13
9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
