The Olive, Without Crushing, Yields No Oil

As Americans, it is easy to complain about the things that make life difficult for believers here. We throw around the term “persecution” as if it has no meaning. But it does have a meaning. It means “to pursue in such a way as to injure or afflict; especially to cause to suffer because of belief.” (Thank you, Merriam-Webster Dictionary.) The neighbor down the street from you who doesn’t wish you a Merry Christmas (for whatever reason) is not persecuting you. The Muslim worshipping Allah at the mosque down the street is not persecuting you. The Supreme Court deciding that it knows what marriage is and is not and that the philosophical pronouncements of one Supreme Court Justice are on par with the Constitution in enforceability in the United States is wrong, foolish, and arrogant, but it is not persecution. (Although it does seem increasingly likely that this ruling will lead to persecution, as we have already seen business owners in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and New Mexico who are being taken to court and sued for their life savings and forced out of business because of their beliefs about marriage, and it seems inevitable that someone will call for anyone who believes marriage is only between one man and one woman to be thrown in jail for it. (Oh, wait, I already know of at least one law professor who holds that opinion.))

Our brothers and sisters around the world know what persecution looks like. It looks like the Islamic State beheading Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya. It looks like the North Korean regime jailing Christians for their faith. It looks like Pastor Saeed Abedini spending years in an Iranian prison for his witness. It looks like the Church in China, where the true Church is underground, meeting in secret and getting bibles smuggled into the country to learn about God.

The church in China has been blessed with many great examples of faith and endurance over its years of suffering persecution. Watchman Nee, who was eventually martyred after 22 years in a communist prison, wrote a beautiful hymn that has been translated into English as The Olive, Without Crushing, Yields No Oil. The hymn beautifully captures the proper response to suffering: “Lord, Thy afflictions are true gain to me; what Thou removest, Lord, replace with Thee.”

We are not suffering the degree of persecution here in the United States that our brothers and sisters are in other parts of the world, but we can still learn from the powerful words of this hymn. In my life, God has bruised and crushed me emotionally in many ways, not because he desired to hurt me, but because He had to do so to prepare me for His purposes. A friend recently reminded me that beautiful cathedral windows can only be made out of glass that has been broken and stained. This hymn reminds me that olive oil only comes from olives that have been crushed. The wonderful aromas of herbs come from the plant only when its leaves are bruised. Wine only comes from grapes put through the winepress. I can only properly play God’s song that He has set forth for me if He has stretched and tuned the strings of my life as I present the members of my body as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:13).

If I am not surrendering everything to Christ in a life of relative ease compared to my brothers and sisters in the world, then why should I believe that I would do so when faced with the persecution to which they are subject? We should be ashamed that we hold back anything from our Father who has given us everything. We must follow Jesus, and His road was not an easy one. He faced hate, rejection, and death on a cross, and we are called to follow Him there so that we, like Him, can be raised to new life. Nothing on earth can compare to the glorious riches of Christ, yet we so often choose the things of this earth. But when God calls us to be broken, stretched, bruised, and crushed for Him (whether in a physical sense in persecution or in a spiritual and emotional sense as He sanctifies us), may our prayer truly be, “May I decrease. May Thou increase in me. Lord, Thy afflictions are true gain to me; what Thou removest, Lord, replace with Thee.”

The Olive, Without Crushing, Yields No Oil

The olive, without crushing, yields no oil;

The precious herb, unbruised, no fragrance frees;

No wine from grapes without the winepress toil;

Must I be bruised and crushed, Lord, such as these?

Lord, Thy afflictions are true grain to me;

What Thou removest, Lord, replace with Thee.

For sacred Love to find the melody

Must my heart’s strings be stretched and tuned by Thee?

Must I be smitten, Lord, to know Thy love?

I fear no loss, if Thou draw close to me.

Oh, how ashamed I feel for holding back!

You sculpted me, yet I myself retain.

According to Thy pleasure, dear Lord, act!

Mind not my feelings, Thy delight is gain.

Lord, should my joy and pain not match Thine own,

I’ll welcome, bear Thy yoke at any cost;

I’ll take the suff’rings for Thy joy alone;

If you are pleased, I’ll gladly bear Thy cross!

I want to praise Thee with the sweetest praise.

On earth there is none fairer, Lord, than Thee.

Tears cloud my eyes, yet sweetness fills my heart.

May I decrease. May Thou increase in me!

 (Public Domain)