IGSL

Frank Pardue

CPM & Persecution

March 11, 2016

CPMs AND PERSECUTION

FACTS

ABOUT

PERSECUTION

Persecution is part of the normal Christian life. As we witness faithfully, we will

be persecuted. As those we lead to Christ witness faithfully, they will be
persecuted. As those we send into dangerous places witness faithfully, they will
be persecuted.
Still, we should not seek persecution or urge young believers to do
something for which they might be persecuted.
Enduring persecution seems to be part of the price required for rolling back
the darkness (Rev. 12:12).
Satan uses persecution to try and gain control over us.
He uses it in an attempt to make us afraid. He wants us to become quiet
about Jesus.
Remember that the more a church/team is defined by property, buildings,
and a foreign identity, the easier it is for persecutors to gain control over
them.
Persecution divides churches and teams.
Some believers/team members will want to give in to the persecutors
demands while others will not want to. Some will remain faithful while
others will lie, deny Christ, or betray other believers/team members. Some
believers will turn out to be informers.
Remaining faithful under persecution can be the most powerful witness.
Be humble and Christlike when facing persecution. Use the occasion to
examine yourself, to grow deeper in holiness, and to learn to trust God fully.
Choose joy instead of fear. Maintain passion and a sense of urgency that
attests to the importance of salvation and the necessity of conversion.
In times of persecution, God remains gracious, merciful, and sovereign.
He can use persecution to sanctify believers. He usually gathers His new
children into local churches before He allows them to be persecuted.
Cry out to Him in prayer. Get your team, prayer partners, and the new
believers crying out to Him in prayer too.

KINDS

OF

PERSECUTION

Discriminatory: being shamed, losing job, being refused public service, etc.
Abusive: imprisonment, torture, and death.
Destructive: damaging of sanctuaries and Christians houses.

KINDS

OF

PERSECUTORS

The State.
An ideological opponent.
The family/social structure.
The State and an ideological opponent.
The State, an ideological opponent, and the family/social structure.

CPMs and Persecution

POTENTIAL REASONS

FOR

PERSECUTION

Local people are turning to Christ.

Believers are witnessing faithfully.
The church is using culturally unacceptable methods for social projects,
evangelism, baptism, etc.
Believers are associating with an outsider.
Outsiders are speaking out against the local culture and religion.

SPARKING CPM

IN

SPITE

OF

PERSECUTION

Prepare yourself
Be spiritually strong in Christ and psychologically tough. Be prepared to
suffer as a family in order to show local believers how families are to suffer
for Christ. Learn the language and culture well. The more competent the
outsiders are in cross-cultural communication, the less persecution they will
cause. Learn how to attract local people to Jesus. Learn how to serve local
believers. Be an outsider Luke to an insider Paul.
Focus on evangelism
Stay among many groups of nonChristians. This will help keep you and local
believers out of trouble. As you go about daily life, model how to witness
faithfully in a dangerous place.
Lead people of peace to Christ. In many contexts, this means employed,
married, male heads of households 30 years old and up. Not fringe people.
Not singles. Not unemployed males.
Get new believers involved in evangelism
In persecution settings, people trust the person who brought them to faith
but not others. In persecution settings, a person trusts the people they led
to faith but not others. Tell people of peace about other locals you think are
interested in Christ. Have them investigate new believers.
Get new believers worshipping on their own
Do not join them. Outsiders worshipping with locals is the #2 cause of
persecution of MBBs.
See that whole families are being discipled
They must be prepared for persecution. Ask, What should new believers
know and not know when being commanded to deny Christ?
They must understand that a call to Christ is a call to the cross. They
must know Jesus well and that their suffering is for His sake. They must
know the power of prayer and fasting. They should have memorized
large portions of the Bible and many indigenous praise and worship
songs. They should know that the believing community will care for
their family. They should see persecution as another opportunity to
bear witness.
Make sure that the Bible storying is building them a genealogy of faith, even
before their conversion.
Stories of those who remained faithful when persecuted. [Noah in Genesis
6. Joseph in Genesis 39. Esther in Esther 3-4. David in 1 Samuel 19-20 and Psalm 56.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago in Daniel 3. Jesus in John 18. Peter and John in Acts

page 2 of 3

CPMs and Persecution

4-5. Stephen in Acts 6-7. The Jerusalem believers in Acts 8. Paul and Silas in Acts 16.
Paul in Acts 24-26.]

Stories of those who struggled when persecuted. [Abraham in Genesis 12

and 20. Isaac in Genesis 26. Job in Job 19:22. David in Psalm 143:3-4. The eleven
Apostles in Matthew 26:55-56. Everyone in the province of Asia, including Phygelus and
Hermogenes in 2 Timothy 1:15.]

Stories of those who denied Christ when persecuted. [Those who are like
seed sown on rocky places in Mark 4:16-17. Peter in John 18 and 20. Unnamed
believers in 1 John 2:19.]

In the Preparation Stage:

Persecution at this stage can completely destroy the church. Protect the
spiritually immature from persecution. Protect young churches from
persecution. Avoid doing anything that might spark persecution.
Urge new believers to remain among their people. If necessary, urge new
believers who are being persecuted to flee to the next town/village.
As you approach the CPM stage:
Make sure that persecution is only the result of faithful witnessing to Christ.
Use culturally acceptable methods for evangelism, baptism, etc. Do not
hire potential leaders. Do not move potential leaders away from their
people to educate them.
Keep witnessing faithfully.
Do not switch to a survival mentality. Witnessing will give you more
believers and potential believers. Witnessing may cause some of your
persecutors to come to faith.
Make sure that new house churches keep being established.
The goal is not to help individual believers survive. The goal is to
multiply the number of churches in such a way that the persecutors
cannot keep up with them. Base the size of churches and the frequency
and length of their meetings on the intensity of the persecution.
Make sure that leaders are being developed for the new churches.
There should be three levels of leadership trainees for each function.
Local leaders should be in charge. Those who exhibit the fruit of the
Spirit. Those who are witnessing faithfully. Those who are mentoring
new believers through one cycle of persecution before bringing them
into an existing church. If they are uncertain about a new believer,
they should urge him to win others to faith and start a whole new church
through him.
In many contexts, baptism is closely related to persecution
Baptism must serve the cause of witness. It must not blur the Gospel or
distract attention from Jesus.
The greater the persecution, the longer the wait should be between
conversion and baptism. The greater the number of new believers, the
shorter the wait should be between conversion and baptism.
The first believers should be baptized by an in-culture or near-culture
believer. Then, those local believers should baptize new believers. It may
be most appropriate for local, female believers to baptize new female
believers.

page 3 of 3

CPMs and Persecution

Baptism should be done in and among the local, believing community. If

baptism is held outside the community and among outsiders, it may spark
persecution. Such persecution is both unnecessary and unhelpful. It is for
our wrong practice, not for our witnessing faithfully.

JESUS TEACHING
All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be
saved Mat. 10:22.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he
who stands firm to the end will be saved Mat. 24:12-13.

APPLICATION
Which kinds of persecution might your team and believers face: discriminatory;
abusive; and/or destructive?
Which kinds of persecutors might your team and believers face: the State; an
ideological opponent; and/or the family/social structure?
What kinds of things are you doing that could spark persecution? Are they
acceptable or not?
What must your team stop doing to not cause unnecessary persecution?
What must your team start doing to better prepare believers for persecution?

page 4 of 3