It’s the final session of the ecumenical Lent housegroup meetings tonight. One of the things we will be discussing is what it means to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake”. As for me, I am broadly in agreement with what it says in the Orthodox Study Bible:
Children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other. Like Jesus, these will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
The Course booklet defines it thus:
Being persecuted for righteousness’ sake means:
- being willing to stand out from the crowd even if this means being thought odd or subversive;
- speaking and standing up for what is true and right;
- being prepared to go against the flow.
Now there are a lot of resemblances between these two definitions. So why is it that the images conjured up by each of them are so different in my mind? If we take Jesus himself as the model for each of the Beatitudes which description fits him better?