The Last Beatitude and My Decision to Do Drugs
I decided to become a drug addict while sitting in church in our regular pew, second row piano side. The same as Chonda Pierce!
Why? I needed a powerful testimony and growing up on a small Kansas farm didn't seem a likely path.
Nobody highlighted the compelling testimonies of "special speakers" who came through our church so kids would conclude the path to a powerful testimony was delving into a life of crime or addictions. But that's the conclusion I reached as a child. Fortunately, my brain matured, and I made better decisions.
But understanding the unintended consequences of our beliefs is necessary. Today's dive into the last Beatitude requires we tread carefully in what we teach -- directly and indirectly -- from these verses.
I attempt to do this as I emphasize the need for a respectful understanding of persecution, contrasting the experiences of believers in free societies with those facing genuine threats for their faith. This distinction is crucial as it underscores the importance of not trivializing the experiences of those who suffer deeply for their beliefs. I encourages you to adopt a nuanced perspective, acknowledging the harsh realities faced by many while also affirming that faithfulness is not synonymous with seeking out hardship.
Takeaways:
- Growing up in church led to a misunderstanding of what constitutes a powerful testimony.
- Persecution, while real for many, should not be glamorized as a necessary path for faith.
- Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is for those who are persecuted, but not exclusively.
- We should focus more on faithfulness in living out our beliefs than seeking persecution.
- Our testimonies, even if not dramatic, are significant and can impact others profoundly.
- We must appreciate the freedoms we have while also caring for those who face real persecution.
Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!
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Transcript
It was growing up in church on the second row piano side, where I decided to become a drug addict.
Speaker A:What in the world does that have to do with the beatitudes?
Speaker A:Stay tuned.
Speaker A:You're going to find out today if.
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Speaker B:If you are a parent, you also learn how to raise empowered kids.
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Speaker B:Let's get started.
Speaker A:I am incredibly grateful for the spiritual heritage that I have of growing up in church.
Speaker A:We were there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and every night we had revival.
Speaker A:And yes, our seats were just like Shada Pierre's, the pew on the second from the row, from the front piano side.
Speaker A:And it is there on that view where I decided that I would become a drug addict.
Speaker A:Just to be clear, I never followed through on that because my brain did mature and I did make a few better choices in my life.
Speaker A:So why, of all the places in the world, would a kid decide that they needed to become a drug addict?
Speaker A:It was because I thought I needed an amazing testimony.
Speaker A:And here I am, this kid, growing up in church in a small farm in Kansas, and I just don't see too many ways to be able to have this amazing testimony.
Speaker A:You see, what happened is when speakers would come through our church, then they would have so much attention, and they would have all these wonderful things said about them.
Speaker A:These were the people who were winning the world for Jesus.
Speaker A:These were the people who were having an amazing impact on the world.
Speaker A:And they had stories of coming out of prison.
Speaker A:They had stories of being set free from addictions.
Speaker A:They had all these amazing stories of salvation and how their lives were totally turned around.
Speaker A:And I wanted to be able to have the same impact that they did.
Speaker A:And I just didn't see how growing up on this farm, kid was trekking my way through school and getting along.
Speaker A:I just didn't see how that was going to kind of give me the testimony that I needed to have the impact that I wanted to have.
Speaker A:But there was a problem.
Speaker A:You see, my church also taught.
Speaker A:We heard a lot of sermons about the second coming of Christ, what we would have called the rapture.
Speaker A:And people still use that phrase today, and we didn't know when it was going to happen.
Speaker A:Growing up, many, many people in my church's congregation believed it was going to happen in their lifetime.
Speaker A: that it was going, you know,: Speaker A:That sounded a lot like what the book of Revelations records.
Speaker A:I don't say that in a way that's mocking.
Speaker A:I say that that rather in a way of giving a frame of reference and also a word of caution that we make certain that we don't allow our theology about the end times to so distance us, especially as parents raising kids, from the reality that we really don't know the day and time.
Speaker A:And we are called to live with an eternal perspective, but to be fully present and engaged and to have generational thinking while we live here.
Speaker A:So this teaching on the second coming of Christ presented a bit of a problem because I definitely did not want to get left behind.
Speaker A:I mean, these were also the days of the original thief in the night movies and those types of things.
Speaker A:And yet I had to have this testimony if I was going to bring people to Jesus, and yet I didn't.
Speaker A:How would I be able to navigate this?
Speaker A:So that my testimony, my state of rebellion, lasted long enough that I had credibility.
Speaker A:I didn't think like one experience with drugs was going to give me the credibility I needed.
Speaker A:I pretty much ruled out I didn't really wanna become part of a gang and certainly didn't wanna kill anybody.
Speaker A:And there were other types of sins that a person could get off into, and I definitely didn't wanna go down those paths.
Speaker A:So drug addiction, maybe alcoholism, kind of seemed like the best fit, and how could I do that for a long enough period of time to be credible, but also kind of navigate that?
Speaker A:So I wasn't in the midst of my testimony building phase of life when Jesus came back.
Speaker A:It was quite a dilemma for an eight year old kid to figure out.
Speaker A:And at this point, you might really be wondering about your podcast host here, and that's okay.
Speaker A:But there is a lesson to be learned in that, and that we don't really ever know what our teaching is, is really teaching our kids.
Speaker A:What are the conclusions that they might be drawing that we have no awareness of?
Speaker A:I am 100% positive that no one in that church suspected that by giving so much attention and focus on these people that came through, that had these amazing stories of salvation, that what it was communicating was the only way that you can have a powerful testimony and impact people for Christ is to have this life of major sin before you come to know Christ.
Speaker A:And instead, if there had been more focus put on, you know, just the people that were there who weren't out living these lives of sin and maybe had never had that in their past.
Speaker A:But, man, they were showing up, and they were living a life of faithfulness before God.
Speaker A:It might have kind of balanced it out a little bit, but that's not what happened.
Speaker A:Well, I never could quite resolve how I was going to be able to build my testimony and make sure that I did it while I avoided the second coming of Christ.
Speaker A:So eventually, I did grow up.
Speaker A:I got older, my brain matured, and I realized that I was.
Speaker A:Didn't really have to make that kind of a decision.
Speaker A:But still, for years and years and years of my life, I really felt like my testimony was something that didn't really have the power that other people's had.
Speaker A:But as I have grown and matured, I have come to appreciate the testimony that I do have and to recognize that we don't have to go seeking out struggle and temptation and trauma, because it has a way of finding all of us, sometimes just in more overt ways and sometimes in ways that aren't flashy and don't make it up on the billboard, so to speak.
Speaker A:But it's still tremendously significant, and I want you to bear that in mind as we are talking about this last beatitude, as we've been walking through this series from the book of Matthew, chapter five, and the beginning of this famous passage called the Sermon on the Mount.
Speaker A:And the beginning part of this, where we have these very few verses that are the beatitudes, as we've come to call them.
Speaker A:And this last one is one that we want to be careful how we teach it, because it can leave both kids and adults with a perspective that we don't really intend for them to have this last beatitude.
Speaker A:And it's kind of typically referred to as the same, even though it's in a couple of different verses.
Speaker A:It's like there's the short version and then there's a little bit of the longer version.
Speaker A:But this is the beatitude that says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker A:And then the next verse, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Speaker A:Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Speaker A:I want to handle this last beatitude with great care for a couple of different reasons.
Speaker A:First, I record this as a citizen of the United States.
Speaker A:And I do not have to live in any kind of fear that as I record this or when this airs, there will be no government officials that come knocking on my door or tearing down my door and dragging me off to prison.
Speaker A:But the reality is that there are millions of people around this world who, if they were caught even listening to this podcast, could face that reality.
Speaker A:And so I'm looking at this, this concept of persecution as someone who does not have to face the imminent threat of physical violence or harm or death, as I am aware that so many people around the.
Speaker A:Around the world do.
Speaker A:And I want to be respectful of that.
Speaker A:And I don't want to equate the persecution that somebody leaves a nasty comment on social media or disagrees with me and calls me a name.
Speaker A:I in no way want to disrespect the people whose lives, whose families, whose economic security, their livelihoods are on the line every single day just because they believe in Jesus.
Speaker A:That's not the same thing as if somebody leaves a nasty comment on.
Speaker A:On something on one of my accounts.
Speaker A:I also want to be careful in how I present this, because just like, as a kid, I picked up these messages from things that were said and not said that nobody intended for any kid to be picking up on.
Speaker A:I don't want people to walk away from listening to this, this podcast episode on this particular beatitude or reading this for themselves, which I hope you will do.
Speaker A:You need to go back and definitely read this for yourself in Matthew, chapter five, and to come away with wrong conceptions about what's being said here.
Speaker A:Jesus does not say, in effect, the only people who are blessed and that will inherit the kingdom of heaven are those who are persecuted.
Speaker A:We have done a disservice to our own kids as well as other people around the world when we talk about here in the states, and I've heard this said for decades now, that, well, if the church is going to grow, it's going to require persecution.
Speaker A:And we wonder why we're not having prayer meetings that people are pouring into where the whole focus is, let's just pray for persecution.
Speaker A:And yet that mentality that somehow people who are.
Speaker A:It's only when persecution happens that growth results.
Speaker A:It's almost kind of like it's become this, you know, sacred cow.
Speaker A:Yes, I know I am mixing different worldview, belief system metaphors here, but just stick with me.
Speaker A:It's like it has become something that we don't really say is scriptural in the sense that we can't point to a particular scripture that says that, and yet we've come to treat it as if this is fact.
Speaker A:You know, a few years ago, there was a prominent christian magazine that did an in depth article on this.
Speaker A:And I really appreciated the work that they invested in this article because what they showed by research and statistics is that this idea that persecution is what causes the church to grow, it's like the only thing or a necessary thing in order for Christianity to spread and the church to grow is severe persecution.
Speaker A:I'm not talking here about persecution because somebody, you know, says something about your blog post or about this podcast episode or I, you know, fires off an email because they didn't like your sermon or something.
Speaker A:I'm talking about the kind of persecution that results in an arrest, that results in killing, that results in torture, that results in people's homes being destroyed and churches being burnt down and their businesses being ransacked.
Speaker A:And this article debunked the idea that this is a necessary part for the christian faith to spread.
Speaker A:As a matter of fact, they showed statistically, it's just the opposite.
Speaker A:Over a period of time when you look at the record, not just in a very short, narrow period of time, but over a period of time, when you look at those nations, when you look at those areas around the world where christians are truly persecuted to these extreme measures, Christianity over time does not flourish there as the large percentage of the population.
Speaker A:Now, that doesn't mean that it doesn't flourish in a minority of the population, but it does not become the majority belief in those areas that exist.
Speaker A:And we want to be as people of truth, people who do not perpetuate fallacies and things that sound good but aren't actually true.
Speaker A:So why do I bring that up?
Speaker A:I bring that up for a couple of reasons.
Speaker A:One is if you have ever felt guilty because you're not kind of praying for persecution so that you can become a better christian, if you have ever felt like, I just really can't bring myself to pray for our nation or whatever nation that you are in, if you do live in a nation that values freedom of conscience and people being able to choose who they're going to worship or they're not going to choose to have any religious belief at all, which is kind of a misnomer, but we'll save that for another time.
Speaker A:And you've ever felt kind of guilty for that?
Speaker A:Well, we'll stop.
Speaker A:You don't need to do that.
Speaker A:Jesus is not saying here, hey, if you want to inherit the kingdom of heaven, you must be severely persecuted.
Speaker A:What he is saying is, hey, it's going to happen to some of you.
Speaker A:It's going to happen to some of those people who were sitting right there physically present in Jesus teaching, and he knew it was going to happen to people in the centuries to follow.
Speaker A:And he's speaking a word of strength and encouragement to those individuals to say, just know this.
Speaker A:When it does happen, to those of you who will experience this, know that when you hold fast, you will be rewarded.
Speaker A:You will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker A:You will experience the goodness of a God who says how awful and terrible that is, and yet he allows it, and he is going to reward you for your faithfulness.
Speaker A:And for those of us who do not live under that, we need to stop glamorizing that and acting like, well, that's really the path that we all ought to be on.
Speaker A:We have a responsibility for whatever country that we live in with our citizenship and what we do with that.
Speaker A:And for those of us who have this incredible privilege to live in a country where there is freedom of expression, of worship, we are to steward that.
Speaker A:We're not to just throw that away and be careless with our citizenship and how we show up and engage in these areas that.
Speaker A:That continue to give us laws or to remove them as it comes to our worship.
Speaker A:But that is to be something that we steward, because if all that was needed was to bring people en masse to faith in Christ was severe persecution, then we would actually be not stewarding our citizenship to try to hold on to those freedoms.
Speaker A:But freedom is ultimately something that God has given us.
Speaker A:It did not originate in the United States.
Speaker A:It did not originate with the Constitution in the United States.
Speaker A:It did not originate with the Magna Carta.
Speaker A:It originated in the Garden of Eden when God gave people a choice.
Speaker A:Freedom is ultimately not a political item.
Speaker A:It is a spiritual item that originated with God.
Speaker A:And the reason that we are to advocate for freedom is not because we have a political perspective.
Speaker A:It is because we are honoring what God established himself in, humankind.
Speaker A:And one of the things I want all of you to hear wherever you live, but especially for those of you who may hear this and you are in a situation or you live in a country, because it is true that on an individual level, there are people here in the United States today who are being persecuted, seriously persecuted, for no other reason than because of living out their faith in a real way.
Speaker A:But en masse, that is not the norm.
Speaker A:It could become that, which is another reason we need to be good stewards of our citizenship.
Speaker A:But we're not there yet, nor again, should we be in a hurry to try to get us there.
Speaker A:But this podcast isn't only heard in the United States.
Speaker A:So welcome, and I'm thrilled to have those of you who listen from other countries.
Speaker A:But if you find yourself in a situation of facing real persecution, I want you to take heart from what Jesus did say here.
Speaker A:Because more than any of the other beatitudes, he talked about the rewards to these people more than any other group that he talked about in the Beatitudes.
Speaker A:And he says, you are going to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker A:And that's not just something for the afterlife, that is something that we live to a limited degree here and now in terms of God's presence.
Speaker A:He also went on to say, your reward is great in heaven.
Speaker A:You know, sometimes we can tend to think it's kind of arrogant to have the perspective that, that we will earn any kind of rewards, but it's actually just the opposite.
Speaker A:Hebrews eleven six tells us that if we want to please God, we must not.
Speaker A:We can't.
Speaker A:We must believe not only in his existence, but we must believe in his goodness and that he rewards those who faithfully follow him.
Speaker A:You see, that's believing something about the character of God.
Speaker A:And our highest calling is to believe in the goodness of God.
Speaker A:That's why we come to salvation, because we believe in the goodness of God.
Speaker A:So believing that God does reward is not having an entitlement mentality.
Speaker A:There is a difference between having that, hey, if I do this, God, that I'm going to expect you to do this for me.
Speaker A:That's not what I'm talking about.
Speaker A:But people who are facing hardship and persecution aren't usually living with an entitlement mentality.
Speaker A:But it is an affirmation of Jesus saying, know this, you might feel forgotten, you might feel like God doesn't care, he doesn't see, how can he be allowing this.
Speaker A:But remember this, Jesus is saying, your reward will be great, it will not be small.
Speaker A:God is there.
Speaker A:He does hear, he does care, he does see, just because you're not experiencing the reward of that in the here and now doesn't mean it's not coming.
Speaker A:So hold on.
Speaker A:And for those of us who are not experiencing that in our life and don't have an immediate sense that we're going to be experiencing that tomorrow or next week, we need to first of all have gratitude for the countries in which we live, that we have freedom of worship, but we also need to not spend energy feeling guilty or being guilty because or feeling guilty because we're not praying for persecution, because that's not the teaching of Jesus is saying here, if Jesus teaching was, hey, in order to really be my disciple, you are going to have to go through severe persecution.
Speaker A:He would have said so, but he doesn't say that.
Speaker A:What he says is all of you are going to face temptations of different kind of all of you are going to have to wrestle through and make decisions, and they can be very hard decisions about being my disciple.
Speaker A:There will be a cost of discipleship for everyone, but that cost is not evenly calculated.
Speaker A:And what we are called to is not persecution.
Speaker A:Let me say that again.
Speaker A:We are not called to persecution.
Speaker A:We are called to faithfulness wherever we are, whether we've been given one, five, or ten talents, whether we have been given freedom of conscience or we have not in the countries in which we live.
Speaker A:So wherever we are, let's commit ourselves to live out these beatitudes as they show up and apply in our lives.
Speaker A:And let us pray for those around us, the people that we know, as well as other believers around the world, to have the strength of and the knowledge and the wisdom to also be able to live these out.
Speaker A:Well, that's going to wrap us up for today.
Speaker A:Thank you for being with me.
Speaker A:And remember this, you have an impact that is immeasurable, eternal, and irreplaceable.
Speaker A:I'll see you next time.
Speaker B:Thank you for listening.
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Speaker B:Together we can invite and equip generations to engage fully in God's grand story.
