"Now my beauties, something with poison in it, I think, with poison in it. But attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell. Poppies. Poppies will put them to sleep. Now they'll sleep..."
-The Wicked Witch of the West
There is a scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy and her friends must cross a field of poppies in order to reach the Emerald City which lies within their sight on the horizon. The poppies are beautiful and seemingly harmless, and the path ahead looks pleasant and easy. Dorothy and co. enter the field without trepidation. They do not know that the poppies have been enchanted by their enemy, the Wicked Witch of the West. As they wade into the field of flowers, an unnatural exhaustion begins to overwhelm them so that they lie down and go to sleep.
It is easy for Christians living in the wealth and comfort of the Western world to regard persecution as something that other Christians experience. Missionaries tell us their stories. The news (sometimes) reports the suffering and violent hardships experienced by Christians in other parts of the world and we look at our own pain and think that nothing we’ve experienced qualifies as persecution on that scale. We aren’t being martyred. No one is bursting into our homes to slaughter us lest we renounce Christ. We aren’t second class citizens. We don’t have to pay a special tax because we’re believers. Occasionally, we get mocked on television or sidelined politically. But when we compare ourselves to Christians elsewhere, we might think we’ve got nothing to either worry about or show for ourselves.
When we believe this, we are in danger of placing our suffering and experience somewhere beyond the context of Scripture and risk being deceived. The book of Job reveals the role that the spiritual realm plays in human suffering. Job was persecuted by Satan for his righteousness. While his family, his livelihood and his health all suffered, his anguish was spiritual and psychological in nature. The kind of persecution experienced by Christians in the wealthy and comfortable nations of the world is less overt than the outright violence experienced by some of our fellow believers. It is subtler, easier for us miss. The Wicked Witch of the West’s bewitching of the environment was no less a snare to Dorothy and her friends than the flying monkeys sent to harass and them on other parts of their journey. Sleepiness was arguably the most effective tactic. It was the one they didn’t recognize; making it just as deadly to Dorothy’s purpose of reaching the Emerald City as outright attack.
Christians are also looking to reach a glittering city on the horizon. And while it may look like we’re just crossing a field of flowers, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a deadly enemy lurking nearby.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
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