''Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 5:10
T
JL HE LAST Be-Happy ATTITUDE. The final lesson. Jesus saves His toughest teaching for last. Only those who have gone through all the previous classes are qualified for admittance to this final lesson: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
HOW TO BE HAPPY
Be-Happy Attitude #1 was: “I need help—I can’t do it alone!” In order to be truly happy, I must learn to admit those areas in which I am weak and to welcome constructive help and advice.
Be-Happy Attitude #2: “I’m really hurting — but I’m going to bounce back!” In the face of failure or loss, I must have the attitude that I’m going to grow from my experience and move on.
Be-Happy Attitude #3: “I’m going to remain cool, calm, and corrected.” I must maintain a steady, stable, teachable attitude through the good times and the bad times before I will ultimately find true satisfaction.
Be-Happy Attitude #4: “I really want to do the right thing!” My attitude must be to achieve, maintain, and live by integrity, for honesty and righteousness attract good friends and great people who will help me. Here is the sensible secret of sane and safe ego control.
Be-Happy Attitude #5: ‘Tm going to treat others the way I want others to treat me. ” I will have a positive attitude, keeping in mind that there is a law of proportionate return. So when I am abused or mistreated, I shall choose to be merciful and forgiving, knowing that this will come back to me in kind and I will be blessed.
Be-Happy Attitude #6: ‘Tve got to let the faith flow free through me. ” I must constantly scrutinize my motives, my methods, and my manners, being humble enough to know that I can get on the wrong track in a hurry. So, I shall maintain a positive, soul-searching attitude toward myself at all times, lest I get off the track and miss getting on the best track of all.
Be-Happy Attitude #7: ‘Tm going to be a bridge builder.” To be truly happy, I shall maintain the attitude that an enemy can become a valuable friend. I shall strive as much as I can to live in respect and harmony and peace with all people. But this will mean making peace with myself first!
This brings us to the last Be-Happy Attitude—#8: “/ can choose to be happy — any-
way!” If, after applying all of these positive attitudes to the best of my ability, I still find myself the abused victim in human relationships—personal, social, or professional—I shall choose to believe that God can settle the score in His way and in His time. I shall be blessed by knowing that my hurts, borne quietly, patiently, and positively, can be turned into halos.
STICKS AND STONES CAN BREAK YOUR BONES—
BUT WORDS HURT, TOO!
Persecution is something all of us have faced or will face. For some—especially in certain countries—persecution takes the form of physical torture. Through the years it has been everything from the rack to bamboo under the fingernails to cigarette burns and electric shock. With terrorism on the march today, this subj ect becomes painfully relevant.
And persecution wears many faces! It is true that we in the free countries are not constantly shadowed by the threat of physical persecution for our beliefs. But at one time or another we can all expect to face some kind of harassment, snubs, rejection, or discrimination. Emotional persecution that attacks a person’s self-esteem can be devastating! The calculated insult, the contrived put-down are weapons wielded even by religious people against their own kind.
Yes, persecution occurs at various levels in life and strikes from a variety of sources. Our supporters can inexplicably turn on us. (Judas was Christ’s treasurer.)
Society can snub and turn its back on us.
When we fail to live up to our expectations, we often persecute ourselves. Regrets, guilt, remorse can torture the soul! Is any form of persecution more prevalent and widespread than self-recrimination?
Persecution attacks losers and winners, too! Even the achiever has enemies, people who are jealous and would “persecute.” Excellence takes it on the chin today. Positive thinkers have always been persecuted. They said of Norman Vincent Peale, “Peale is appalling, but Paul is appealing.” Clever, cute, but very un-Chris- tian! Negative thinkers persecute positive thinkers. Rich people are persecuted, too, by suspicious, cynical “have nots” who assume that anyone who is wealthy must be a crook or a swindler. Super-successful people are often viewed with suspicion; persecution at that level is very prevalent in society.
Peer pressure can be a powerful persecution. The truth is: No social unit, no racial or religious community, and no age grouping is free from the sometimes blatant and more-often subtle stabs of persecution. Young people are often led into drugs and immoral conduct under the fear of persecuting taunts from their class-
mates. Social pressures in junior high, high school, and college are often applied to those who live by high ideals. The square and straight person can expect to be laughed at and scorned. Insulting epithets, chilly ridicule, and demeaning labels become weapons of emotional torture.
Do you feel persecuted? Then be of good cheer! You can choose to be happy—anyway. This Be-Happy Attitude is for you. Yes! You can be happy, too, even if you are the innocent victim of authentic injustice, insult, injury, discrimination, or oppression.
How can you be happy when you are facing persecution? Is this Be-Happy Attitude really practical? Is it possible? Oh, yes. There are several people I know who have gone through tremendous suffering, and they have emerged from the fire not unscathed, but stronger.
Follow with me and you will see how they did it, and how you, too, can turn your scars into stars. These people who have mastered this final Be-Happy Attitude were able to be victorious because they:
(1) Remained POSITIVE! They took a positive attitude—they chose to rejoice in spite of their circumstances.
(2) Were PREPARED! They had equipped themselves with a spiritual and emotional support system that became an invisible shield.
(3) PERSEVERED in doing what is right. They kept on keeping on, and would not let others get the better of them.
(4) PARDONED those who hurt them! They forgave those who did the persecuting.
(5) PERSISTED in trusting God, even when He seemed far away! They kept in mind that God is the ruler yet, that He will have the last word and it will be good.
(6) PRAYED for understanding and strength! They accepted the help God offers to those that are suffering. They understood that they were not the only ones who had ever been persecuted, and so they resisted the temptation to fall victim to the persecution complex and martyr syndrome.
(7) PASSED triumphantly through the necessary PHASES that we must all go through when we face tragedy!
STAY POSITIVE
Dr. Viktor Frankl, an eminent psychiatrist and author of the famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning, is a living example of this Be- Happy Attitude.
Dr. Frankl, who is a Jew, was imprisoned by the Nazis in the Second World War. His wife, his children, and his parents were all killed in the holocaust.
The Gestapo took Viktor and made him strip.
He stood there totally naked. But they noticed that he still had on his wedding band. As they removed even that from him, he said to himself, “You can take away my wife, you can take away my children, you can strip me of my clothes and my freedom, but there is one thing no person can ever take away from me—and that is my freedom to choose how I will react to what happens to me!”
That was the birth of an idea that years later he would develop into “logotherapy,” a form of therapy that has helped countless thousands deal with what life hands them. And that basic lesson in positive reactionism remains the keystone in the whole arch of possibility thinking. My philosophy has been greatly shaped and influenced by Dr. Frankl’s lectures, writings, and private meetings with him.
We are free to choose our attitude in any given situation—to maintain a positive attitude no matter how negative the situation. What a life-changing idea! Dr. Smiley Blanton, another great psychiatrist, once told of listening to a patient who was depressed. After several sessions he interrupted this suffering soul: “ ‘7/ only '— that’s your problem!” He explained, “You keep repeating those words, ‘If only I had ..‘If only I hadn’t...’ My prescription for you is to strike those words from your life! Replace them with the words, ‘next time.' Do not deny the reality
of mistakes made or sins committed, but learn to forgive yourself. You can do that by facing the torturing memories with a positive attitude, affirming, 'next time things are going to be different.’ ” Great advice to a victim of self-perse- cution!
Here then is a Be-Happy Attitude that we can all use: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matt. 5:10-11).
Jesus was saying much the same thing Viktor Frankl said: You can choose to take a positive attitude toward your persecution. And if you can do this, you will eventually triumph. This lesson in dealing with persecution is a lesson every Christian must learn, because everyone is going to face a time when he has to stand up for what he believes and run the risk of rejection or ridicule. If we learn this lesson well, we’ll be able to tolerate rejection and our self-esteem will be enhanced in the process. That’s a Be- Happy Attitude! If we don’t have a positive attitude, rejection will devastate our dignity. And it’s impossible to be happy without a strong self-respect!
BE PREPARED
We make a grave mistake if we assume that we will never face persecution simply because we live in a free country. There is a strong probability that all of us will face some kind of persecution at one time or another in our lives. And it is vitally important to spiritually arm ourselves with inner emergency equipment before the crises hit.
Most of us have emergency equipment in our homes and offices—a first-aid kit, a flashlight, perhaps a fire extinguisher, at least a telephone with which to call an emergency unit. We prepare for emergencies before they hit, for we never know when they will come and what they will do to us.
As we need to be prepared with physical equipment, we also need to be prepared spiritually before times of persecution arrive. We do that by spending time daily—or, at the very least, weekly—in positive praying, positive Bible study, and worshiping regularly at a positive-thinking church. We saturate our subconscious minds with positive Bible verses, positive hymns, and examples of people who made it through trials successfully, with their faith intact.
Before we can pass the test and graduate from the school of discipleship and commence
living out the Christian faith in a secular and sinful society, we have to pass this final exam: We must be spiritually and psychologically conditioned for ridicule, rejection, and persecution. Only those who have learned that they can expect persecution and are prepared to maintain a positive attitude through hard or horrific times will prove to be star ambassadors of Jesus Christ in the world.
So, study the rest of this chapter carefully. It is a first-aid kit for unexpected crises. In it you will find positive Bible verses, positive hymns, and stories of people who have triumphed in the face of enormous persecution.
PERSEVERE IN DOING WHAT IS RIGHT
Today, the social and moral pressures in our pluralistic society threaten the Christian as never before! The temptations to “become like” the nonreligious persons around us can be terribly intimidating! The temptation to adopt the value system of a secular society becomes a deadly serious form of insidious persecution. To my Christian reader: A warning! Compromise and abandon your principles, and you will literally lose your soul; you’ll no longer be the person you were before. You will have lost your identity as a distinctive, independent person.
For when you give in, for fear of ridicule, to
the pressure to be like everyone else, you’ll have allowed yourself to be absorbed in the total collective society. Run with the foxes, dash with the hounds, and become just another part of the mass of humanity. You’ll be a nothing! A no one! Yes, a non-individual! Only a blob absorbed in a mass! For a little bit of you dies every time you surrender a cherished ideal, abandon a noble value, or discard a moral principle.
So then, how do we stand up against social persecution? Once there was a politician who did the best job he could. But, being human, he made mistakes and was criticized, and reporters repeated errors of fact about him in the paper. Well, he became so upset that he drove out into the country to visit his dear friend, a farmer. “What am I going to do?” the politician cried. “I’ve tried so hard. Nobody has tried harder than I have to do more good for more people— and look how they criticize me!”
But the old farmer could hardly hear the complaint of his persecuted politician friend because his hound dog was barking at the full moon. The farmer rebuked his dog, but the dog kept barking. Finally the farmer said to the politician, “Do you want to know how you should handle your unfair critics? Here’s how. Listen to that dog. Now, look at that moon. And remember that people will keep yelling at you—they’ll nip at your heels, and they’ll criticize you. But
“7 can choose to be happy — anyway!” 259
here’s the lesson: The dog keeps howling, but the moon keeps shiningr
Let people persecute you—but don’t stop doing all the good you’ve been doing.
Think of the great names: Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Stephen, Paul. These names remind us of the final, ultimate Be-Happy Attitude. For these people were really blessed. Even in the face of persecution, they were blessed, because they stood fast for what they believed. They persevered in doing right.
How were these great men and women able to “keep shining” in the face of persecution? They were given the most precious gift of all— the assurance that no matter what happens— even death—nothing can come between us and God’s love. “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. . . . We are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:39, 38).
What does this mean to us? What could top being a conqueror? What is better than winning? Why, it is converting your opponent to your side. It is turning an adversary into an ally. It is turning an enemy into a friend. That is being more than a conqueror!
Jesus did this. When He was persecuted by
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