And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman." Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes." The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. Acts 22:25-29
As we saw last time, though God can rescue us from danger miraculously, He more often does so through “ordinary means.” Paul was rescued from an angry mob—yes, by God, who used ungodly civil authorities.
This time let’s note that Paul used his Roman citizenship to escape being beaten by the Roman authorities. Under Roman law it was unlawful to beat a Roman citizen. Paul knew that and so he used that privilege of citizenship to his advantage.
In most cases it is wise to avoid persecution. The only exception is if such an avoidance would require compromising—or worse, denying Christ, our faith, or truth. Those who deny the Lord to avoid persecution sin against the Lord, who warned us, “If you deny me before men, I will deny you before My Father” (Matthew 10:43).
There are ways to avoid persecution that are not wrong, however. When Jesus sent the disciples out to preach, He told them that if they were not accepted, they were to leave that place (Matthew 10:14). From this we may safely deduce that avoiding persecution is not only permissible, but prudent in some cases.
Let us be wise in discerning this matter however. Avoiding persecution by never letting on that you are a disciple of Jesus is much more a silent denial of Christ than it is wise means of avoiding persecution.
Jesus could not avoid the cross because His death and resurrection is what He was sent by the Father to do. Avoiding the cross would have been disobedience. You and I are not so clearly sent to be persecuted. So at the risk of redundancy, use wisdom in avoiding persecution (including taking full advantage of civil laws as Paul did), but let us never compromise, much less deny Christ, our faith, or truth.
Last Thought: There are many believers around the world who are persecuted for simply believing in Jesus as Savior. Though they worship in secret, they cannot completely avoid persecution. Please remember these in prayer! And as our society is increasingly hostile to Christ, and His followers, let us fortify ourselves in our faith and resolve to never deny Christ, our faith, or truth to save our necks!