Philippians 1.27-28:

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

How can one simply decide to not be frightened by people who are, in context, imprisoning you and otherwise physically threatening you?

And what is the corporate nature of this directive to not be frightened? It seems obvious from the context that Paul is asking to see some public display of community behavior. Perhaps simply the positive behavior he mentions is what he wants. That is the alternative to being frightened….

I also wonder if there is something more to it. What would frightened behavior look like? Paul says that their Christian behavior in the face of persectution is a sign of destruction to their opponants. The grammar indicates that they see it.

So are they the ones who are frightened?

Of course they are.

When Paul was in Philippi, there were two frightened groups. There were the owners of the slave girl who were frightened of losing their livelihood when Paul cast out the deamon (did they demand he put it back in her?) and there was the jailer who got frightened but responded in the right way. When you have to persecute someone less powerful than you it is because you are threatened by them in some way despite the apparent difference in power. In other words, you are frightened.

When you have to use local scum to form a mob riot to deal with someone for doing nothing more than proclaim a message, you are demonstrating that you are frightened.

When you have to send emmisaries into other people’s cities in order to make sure that they don’t listen to the message, you are demonstrating that you are frightened.

When you bring a person to court and order the accused brutalized for nothing more than declaring his own innocence, which is exactly what that forum was created to allow an accused person to do, you are obviously frightened of what might come out of his mouth.

When a band of men all refuse to see the gross injustice of their leader, but instead condemn a prisoner for a completely understandable outburst, they demonstrate they are frightened and unwilling to even think about what has happened in front of their own eyes.

So realize, when people lie about you and say all sorts of evil against you for the sake of Christ that, not only were the prophets treated the same way, but it is a sign that you are more powerful than you ever knew.

And don’t be frightened. If you know you will be vindicated, you don’t have to respond to hatred and fear with hatred and fear. You can afford to be generous with those who torment you.

On the internet this is hard to remember. We all have the freedom to speak in defense of our good name, but the nature of the web pretty much delays any possibility of a Final Judgment. Accusations just keep coming. When are you going to simply not bother with them any more?

I have no answer to this question, but I think it would be nice to figure one out.