Nnanna sells motor spare parts at Ladipo market in Lagos now. His stall is narrow and crowded, stacked to the ceiling with brake pads, shock absorbers and fan belts, and he can find any part a mechanic asks for in under a minute. He is a cheerful man with a loud laugh. You would not guess, buying a gasket from him on a Tuesday afternoon, what he carries.
Eleven years ago he had a much bigger shop in a market town in Plateau State. He had gone north as a young apprentice, married there, and built a business over fifteen years. His younger brother had joined him, and on Sundays the two of them worshipped together in a small church at the edge of town, where his brother sang in the choir.
One Sunday morning armed men attacked the area. They came on motorcycles while the service was going on. Nnanna had stayed home that morning with his two small daughters, who had fevers. He heard the gunfire from the house. By the time it ended, the church was burning, and his brother was among those who had been killed. Nnanna’s shop was looted and set alight the same day.
He survived because of a woman named Hafsat. She was a Muslim widow who fried kosai and sold it at a table beside his shop, and for years she had given his daughters a free ball of kosai every evening while they waited for their father to close. When the shooting started she came running to his house, took the two girls by the hand and pulled the whole family into her storeroom behind the kitchen. They stayed there among sacks of beans until soldiers arrived late in the afternoon.
I met Nnanna years later, when he was invited to speak at a prayer meeting in Lagos for persecuted Christians. He told the story quietly. Afterwards a young man came up to him, visibly upset. “How can you stand there so calm?” he asked. “They killed your brother. Why are we always the ones turning the other cheek? When will we fight back?”
PunchlineNnanna put a hand on his shoulder. “I am not calm,” he said. “I have been angry for eleven years. The question is what my anger is going to become.”
That is the question this teaching addresses. How do believers stand firm under real opposition for Christ, without bitterness, without retaliation, and without confusing every unpleasant experience with persecution?
The reality of suffering for Christ
We must begin by saying plainly that persecution of Christians is real. In many countries today believers are imprisoned for their faith, denied work, driven from their homes or killed. In parts of northern and central Nigeria, Christian communities have suffered terribly over many years. Villages have been attacked, churches burned, pastors abducted and murdered, and families scattered into camps for displaced people. Some of these attacks have clearly targeted Christians because they are Christians.
It is also true that insecurity in Nigeria is complicated, and that it has claimed many Muslim lives as well. Armed groups have attacked mosques and Muslim villages. Disputes over land, ethnicity and criminality are tangled together with religion. And there are Muslims who have risked their lives to protect Christian neighbours. In 2018 an imam in a village in Plateau State sheltered more than two hundred Christians in his mosque and his house when gunmen attacked. Hafsat’s storeroom has many counterparts.
Holding these things together is not a way of minimising Christian suffering. It is a way of telling the truth, and truth is the first discipline of a believer under pressure. The suffering church does not need exaggeration. It needs our prayers, our compassion, our advocacy and our practical help. It also needs us to refuse the hatred that would make us like those who harmed it.
Jesus never hid this from His followers. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). The forms vary enormously. In some places it means death. In others it means mockery, exclusion, lost promotions or family rejection. But opposition to Christ and His people is part of the Christian story from the beginning.
Blessed are the persecuted
Jesus included persecution in the Beatitudes, the opening lines of the Sermon on the Mount:
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you , and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Look at the qualifications Jesus places around this blessing. He does not say, “Blessed are they which are persecuted.” He says, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” Then, “when men shall... say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” Three phrases define the kind of suffering Jesus blesses. It is suffering because of righteousness. It involves false accusation, so the evil spoken is untrue. And it is suffering because of a person’s connection to Jesus.
Within those boundaries, the response Jesus calls for is astonishing: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.” Suffering is never pleasant. The joy comes from what it means. “Great is your reward in heaven.” God sees, and nothing suffered for Him is lost. “For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” The persecuted believer has joined a long and honourable line: Jeremiah in the pit, Daniel in the den, John the Baptist in Herod’s dungeon. They are in good company.
The apostles discovered this joy in practice. After the Sanhedrin had them flogged and ordered them to stop preaching, Luke records their response:
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them , they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
“Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” They counted it an honour. And notice that the beating did not silence them. “Daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Standing firm meant carrying on with the work they had been given.
Suffering for doing good
Peter wrote his first letter to Christians who were facing hostility across the provinces of Asia Minor. He spends much of the letter on how they should respond, and this passage lies close to its heart:
And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye : and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
Peter begins with a general principle. “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” In most ordinary circumstances, honest and kind people are not targeted. Doing good is often its own protection. But Peter knows it is not always so. “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye.” He echoes the Beatitude almost word for word.
Then he tells them how to stand. “Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.” Fear is the persecutor’s main weapon. The threat is meant to make you deny, hide or compromise. Peter’s answer is to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,” to set Christ apart as Lord at the centre of your inner life. When He is enthroned within, the terror of men loses its grip.
“Be ready always to give an answer.” Persecuted believers are not called to silence. They are called to explain their hope, and to do it “with meekness and fear,” gently and respectfully. Even under pressure the believer’s manner should commend the gospel.
“Having a good conscience.” This is crucial. Peter wants the accusations against them to be shown up as false, so that their accusers “may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” A believer’s best defence against slander is a life that makes the slander unbelievable.
And then the summary: “it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” Peter made the same point a chapter earlier: “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently?” (1 Peter 2:20). There is no credit in enduring the consequences of your own wrongdoing. The honour belongs to those who suffer for doing right.
NuggetSuffering for doing good honours Christ. Suffering for doing wrong is simply the harvest of our own choices, and calling it persecution dishonours those who are truly persecuted.
Not every criticism is persecution
Peter makes the distinction even sharper in the next chapter:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
“Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.” The first three are obvious. The fourth is surprising. The word translated busybody describes a person who oversees other people’s affairs without being asked, a meddler. Peter places it in the same list as murder and theft. He seems to have known that Christians could provoke hostility by interfering where they had no business, and then call the reaction persecution.
This matters greatly for believers in Nigeria and elsewhere, because the word persecution is used very loosely. A young man is queried for spending office hours preaching to colleagues instead of doing his job, and he calls it an attack of the enemy. A trader is reported for selling expired goods and complains that they are fighting him because he is born again. A church leader faces legitimate public questions about the use of funds and announces that the devil is persecuting the ministry. A believer is rude, judgemental and arrogant, people avoid him, and he concludes that the world hates the light.
None of that is persecution. It may be the consequence of laziness, dishonesty, pride or poor judgement. Calling it persecution does two kinds of harm. It prevents the person from learning what he needs to learn. And it cheapens the word, so that when believers in Borno or Benue suffer for Christ, the church has already worn the word out on office disagreements.
Here are some honest questions to ask when you feel opposed:
- Is the criticism true, even in part? If so, the first response is repentance and correction.
- Am I being opposed because of Christ, or because of how I have behaved?
- Have I done my work faithfully and treated people with respect?
- Is the opposition because I refused to do something wrong, such as falsify records, give a bribe or lie for my manager?
That last question matters. Believers in workplaces do sometimes suffer for righteousness. The accountant who will not adjust the figures and is moved to a lesser post, the civil servant who will not process a fraudulent contract and is passed over, the student who will not trade her body or her money for marks: these suffer for doing good. Their suffering is real, and Peter’s word “happy are ye” belongs to them.
Punchline“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” The aim is not to avoid all suffering. The aim is to make sure that when we suffer, it is for the right reason, and that our response glorifies God.
Bless, and curse not
Now we come to Nnanna’s question. What should anger become?
Paul answers in a series of short commands near the end of Romans. “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not” (Romans 12:14). This echoes the words of Jesus: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). To bless is to speak good over someone and to desire God’s good for them. That is the opposite of cursing, of calling down harm. It is one of the hardest things the gospel asks.
The very next line is “weep with them that weep” (Romans 12:15). Before we speak of forgiveness, we must make room for lament. When Stephen was killed, “devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him” (Acts 8:2). Grief over persecuted brothers and sisters is right. The Psalms are full of cries like “LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?” (Psalm 94:3). Even the martyrs in Revelation cry out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood” (Revelation 6:10). God does not rebuke them for asking.
Then Paul says, “Recompense to no man evil for evil” (Romans 12:17), and “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). Notice the realism. Peace is not always possible, because it depends on others too. But the believer must never be the reason it fails.
And then the heart of the matter: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Paul does not say that wrong does not matter or that justice will never come. He says the opposite. Vengeance belongs to God, and He will repay. The believer can renounce personal revenge precisely because he trusts that God is just. Bitterness grows when we believe that if we do not get even, nobody will.
This needs careful explanation, because some people hear “avenge not yourselves” as “accept injustice quietly.” That is not what Paul teaches. In the very next chapter he says the civil authority “is the minister of God... a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:4). God’s justice works partly through lawful government, police and courts. Paul himself appealed to his rights as a Roman citizen when he was beaten unlawfully (Acts 16:37; Acts 22:25). Christians may and should call for justice, report crimes, give evidence, support victims and press governments to protect their citizens. “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction” (Proverbs 31:8).
Believers may also protect themselves and flee danger. Jesus said, “when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another” (Matthew 10:23). Paul was let down through a window in a basket to escape Damascus (2 Corinthians 11:32-33). Fleeing is not faithlessness. Communities may organise lawful protection, cooperate with security agencies and help people reach safety.
What Romans 12 forbids is personal revenge: the reprisal attack, the burning of a mosque because a church was burned, the killing of an innocent neighbour because someone of his ethnicity or faith killed your brother. That kind of retaliation does not honour the martyrs. It multiplies graves. And it treats a whole people as guilty for what particular men have done.
Paul ends with a command that sounds impossible until you have seen it lived: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink... Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21). The worst outcome of persecution is not that we suffer. It is that the evil done to us takes up residence in us, and we become what we hated.
The prayer of the first martyr
Stephen was the first Christian killed for his faith. He had been one of the seven chosen to serve the widows in Jerusalem, and he preached Christ with such power that his opponents could not answer him. They dragged him before the council, and when he finished speaking they rushed at him:
Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him : and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God , and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Stephen’s last words echo the words of Jesus on the cross. Jesus had prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Stephen prayed, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” In the moment of his death, he refused to let his murderers become the object of his curse.
And look who was standing there. “The witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.” Saul was “consenting unto his death” (Acts 8:1). He went on to make “havock of the church” (Acts 8:3). Yet within a short time, Saul of Tarsus met the risen Christ on the Damascus road and became Paul the apostle, the man who later wrote “Bless them which persecute you.” We cannot know all that God did in answer to Stephen’s prayer. But the persecutor who held the coats became the preacher who carried the gospel to the nations.
Forgiveness in this sense does not mean pretending nothing happened. It does not mean the attacker should escape justice, or that the survivor must return to a place of danger, or that trust is restored overnight. It means releasing the right to personal vengeance and handing the case to God, the righteous Judge. It is what Peter saw in Jesus, who “when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).
For many survivors this is not a single decision. It is a road. Nnanna told me he had to hand his brother’s killers to God again and again, sometimes several times in a day, especially in the early years. That repetition is not failure. It is faithfulness under a heavy load.
Endurance and solidarity
The letter to the Hebrews was written to believers who had already been through a season of persecution and were in danger of drifting away. The writer reminds them of how they had once stood:
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Two things stand out. First, the believers had stood with those who suffered: they “became companions of them that were so used,” and “had compassion of me in my bonds.” Persecution is resisted together. Second, they “took joyfully the spoiling of your goods.” Their property had been seized or looted, as Nnanna’s shop was, and they bore it with joy. How? “Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.” What they had lost was real. What they had in Christ could not be taken.
The same letter instructs: “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). That is a call to every believer living in relative safety. Pray for persecuted Christians by name and by place. Give to churches and agencies caring for the displaced. Support widows and orphans. Speak up wisely and truthfully. Visit those who have been resettled near you. The body of Christ is one body, and when one member suffers, all suffer with it.
There is also a guard-rail here for those who have lived through violence. Survivors of attacks often carry trauma long after the event: nightmares, panic, sudden anger, numbness, difficulty sleeping. These are not signs of weak faith. They are wounds, and they need care. Pastors can help, and trained trauma counsellors can help in ways that complement prayer and the word. If you are a survivor, please let someone walk with you. And if you find yourself thinking of harming yourself or others, speak to a doctor or someone you trust today.
The writer to the Hebrews also warns of a danger that comes after the attack is over: “lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). Bitterness is a root. It grows underground, and it spreads. It defiles many, children and congregations as well as the bitter person. Standing firm means guarding against that root as carefully as against the outward threat.
Nnanna still goes north sometimes. Every Sallah, he sends a carton of provisions and some money to Hafsat, who is old now and lives with her son in Jos. She still calls his daughters, who are at university, “my girls.” When he visits, she cooks for him.
Several years after the attack, Nnanna gave evidence to a panel of inquiry about what he had seen that Sunday. He wanted the killers identified and tried. He still does. “Justice is not revenge,” he told me. “I want the courts to do their work. What I do not want is to become a man who sees my brother’s murderer in the face of every Muslim I pass in the market. If I do that, they will have killed two people in my family.”
The young man at the prayer meeting came to see Nnanna at Ladipo some weeks later. They talked for a long time between customers. Nnanna told me the young man was still angry when he left. “That is all right,” he said. “I was angry too. I just told him what I told myself. Anger is a wound. It can heal into courage, or it can rot into hatred. Only Jesus knows how to make it heal well.”
Perhaps you have suffered for Christ, in a small way or a terrible one. Grieve honestly. Seek justice through every lawful means. Stand firm in your faith, ready to give a reason for your hope with meekness and fear. And do not let the evil done to you become the evil you do. Bless, and curse not. Overcome evil with good. The Lord who sees has said that great is your reward in heaven.
Teaching Companion
For Reflection
- Have you ever called something “persecution” that was really the consequence of your own behaviour? What would honest self-examination look like?
- How do Matthew 5:10-12 and 1 Peter 4:15-16 help you tell the difference between suffering for righteousness and suffering for wrongdoing?
- What is the difference between seeking justice and seeking revenge? Why does Romans 12:19 make the first possible without the second?
- How can you “remember them that are in bonds” in practical ways this month?
- Is there a root of bitterness in your heart toward any person or group? What would it mean to hand that case to God?
This Week
Choose one region of Nigeria or one country where Christians are suffering for their faith, and learn about it this week from a reliable source. Each day, pray for the believers there by name or place, for the protection of all civilians, and for justice. Then pray, in your own words, Stephen’s prayer for those who persecute them. Before the week ends, give something, however small, to a church or agency caring for displaced families.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, You were reviled and did not revile again, and You prayed for those who crucified You. I bring before You my brothers and sisters who are suffering for Your name in Nigeria and around the world. Comfort the grieving, protect the vulnerable, heal the traumatised and bring the guilty to justice. Give me the courage to stand firm when I am opposed for You, and the honesty to recognise when I am suffering for my own faults. Guard my heart from bitterness. Teach me to bless and not curse, to seek justice without seeking revenge, and to overcome evil with good. I commit myself to You, who judges righteously. Amen.
Truth received brings freedom. Truth believed establishes the heart.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. · Illustrations using first names only are composites unless stated otherwise.