八福
殉道情意結
經文
歌羅西書二1-15
1我願意你們曉得，我為你們和老底嘉人，並一切沒有與我親自見面的人，是何等的盡心竭力；
2要叫他們的心得安慰，因愛心互相聯絡，以致豐豐足足在悟性中有充足的信心，使他們真知神的奧祕，就是基督；
3所積蓄的一切智慧知識，都在他裡面藏著。
4我說這話，免得有人用花言巧語迷惑你們。
5我身子雖與你們相離，心卻與你們同在，見你們循規蹈矩，信基督的心也堅固，我就歡喜了。
6你們既然接受了主基督耶穌，就當遵他而行，
7在他裡面生根建造，信心堅固，正如你們所領的教訓，感謝的心也更增長了。
8你們要謹慎，恐怕有人用他的理學和虛空的妄言，不照著基督，乃照人間的遺傳和世上的小學就把你們擄去。
9因為神本性一切的豐盛都有形有體的居住在基督裡面，
10你們在他裡面也得了豐盛。他是各樣執政掌權者的元首。
11你們在他裡面也受了不是人手所行的割禮，乃是基督使你們脫去肉體情慾的割禮。
12你們既受洗與他一同埋葬，也就在此與他一同復活，都因信那叫他從死裡復活神的功用。
13你們從前在過犯和未受割禮的肉體中死了，神赦免了你們（或作：我們）一切過犯，便叫你們與基督一同活過來；
14又塗抹了在律例上所寫攻擊我們，有礙於我們的字據，把他撤去，釘在十字架上。
15既將一切執政的、掌權的擄來，明顯給眾人看，就仗著十字架誇勝。
信息分享
我們現在明白，有的時候受苦或受逼迫，可能是因為我們的處事缺乏技巧和智慧。今天我想再進一步探討關於受苦和受逼迫這題目，特別是有些基督徒刻意培養出一種「殉道情意結」。
「殉道情意結」是一種思想態度，要從受逼迫中找到不正常的情感滿足。為甚麼會這樣？例如：如果一個人從不覺得個人有良好的價值，就會輕易被引發以其他方式去得到那種價值。而其中一種方式，是透過在某些「基督徒」事件中採取某個立場，以能夠對周圍環境或社會產生即時的影響。當然，我並不是說，所有在色情、暴力或其他嚴重的道德問題上採取立場的人，都是因為「殉道情意結」的動機而起，這樣的說法和推斷肯定不智。但我們必須察覺，有些基督徒在一些問題上出擊，不是因為注重基督徒的價值觀，而是因為從備受注目中得到滿足。當這種受注意引致嚴重迫害的時候，他們便從中得到情感力量來彌補他們不足的自我價值的感受。因此，這種人喜歡受苦和受迫害，但我們需要指出，他們不是為了公義而受苦，他們只是為了自己而受苦。願神給我們恩典和智慧，使我們曉得自己甚麼時候是在藉某些事情來滿足自己的情感需要，而不是出於對祂的愛。
「我們想吸引誰的注意？」
進深研究
林後十一16-33；提後二8-9，三10-11
1.列出保羅所受的一些苦。
2.保羅的見證是甚麼？
祈禱
天父，我更清楚的看到，除非我的需要在與您的緊密關係中得到滿足，否則我便會是一個脆弱的人，很容易誤入歧途。求您今天使我靠近您。奉主耶穌的名祈求，阿們。
The Beatitudes
A martyr complex
Bible reading:
Colossians 2:1-15
1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[e]
Message
We are seeing the suffering and persecution we experience can be due to our own tactlessness and folly. Today I want to go a stage further, and suggest that in relation to this matter of suffering and persecution, some Christians have developed a "martyr complex".
A "martyr complex" is an attitude of mind that finds strange emotional satisfaction in being persecuted. Why should this be? Well, if, for example, a person does not experience a good sense of personal worth, they become motivated to secure that worth in other ways. And one of those ways can be that of making an impact upon their immediate environment or society through taking a stand on some "Christian" issue.
Now I am not saying, of course, that all of those who take a stand on such issues as pornography, violence, and other serious moral problems are motivated to do so because of a "martyr complex". That would be foolish to suggest and foolish to deduce. But it must be seen that some Christians strike out on issues, not because of an overriding concern for Christian values, but because of the satisfaction they get out of being noticed. And when being noticed leads to severe persecution, they draw from this the emotional charge they need to compensate for their low sense of worth. Such people almost court suffering and persecution, but it has to be said that they are not suffering for righteousness' sake - they are suffering for their own sake. May God give us grace and wisdom to understand when we are doing things to meet our own emotional needs, rather than out of love for Him.
"To whom are we drawing attention"
Prayer
Father, I see even more clearly that unless my needs are met in a close relationship with You, then I am a vulnerable person - and prone to go astray. Draw me closer to You this day. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
2 Corinthians 11:16-33
2 Timothy 2:8-9; 3:10-11
1. List some of Paul's sufferings.
2. What was Paul's testimony?
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