Faithfulness As Resistance
What does the Bible say to people living under tyranny and oppression? Should we fight back, passively resign ourselves to suffering, or hope only for the afterlife? Is there hope now, or is it only promised after we die? What encouragement does it offer to those who refuse to give up on a world dominated by harm and injustice? The calling is active and dynamic. Peacemaking, love, and faithfulness are anything but passive.
The Bible has always spoken to those living under domination and injustice. The Called Community existed under the oppression of Rome and local tyrants, and the radically inclusive, loving, and liberating energy of Christ shines too bright a light on the wrongs those with power use to maintain and increase that power for us not to see it or for them to ignore us.
While many find the book of Hebrews to be a bit esoteric, it stands out as a clear window into the hope and faithfulness essential to enduring oppression. In particular, Hebrews 10:32-12:3 reminds the early community of their strength during trials and encourages them to remain steadfast in their trust in God’s promises. These verses are a call to live with courage, justness, and an unwavering focus on Jesus, the ultimate model of faithfulness.
The unnamed writer of Hebrews—possibly Priscilla, an influential leader in the early church—reminds the community of their own resilience during "enormous, agonizing conflict." These believers had faced public abuses, oppression, and the loss of their possessions, yet they endured with joy because of their hope in a "better and more lasting possession." This hope enabled them to stand in solidarity with the unjustly imprisoned and to find strength in their shared struggles.
"Remember the earlier times when you endured enormous, agonizing conflict after you were enlightened. On the one hand, this involved being made a spectacle with both abuses and oppression, but on the other hand, it involved becoming co-participants with those who are treated this way. In fact, you experienced the same suffering as those imprisoned and accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy since you knew that you have a better and more lasting possession." (Hebrews 10:32-34)
Many of you reading this already know what it's like to be the primary targets of hostility and oppression. For others, we are called to choose solidarity, advocacy, and providing aid to those who are the most affected by such oppression. Especially if you're in that secondary group who has a choice whether to speak up or not, to draw the wrath of the oppressors or not, keep it up. Supporting others in the work, finding community, and caring for ourselves are vital so that we don't burn out in trying to live up to this calling.
"Therefore, don’t throw away your freedom to speak up, which has a large payoff, because you have need of endurance so that you can experience the promise by doing what God desires." (Hebrews 10:35-36)
Hebrews encourages us not to "throw away your freedom to speak up," linking faithfulness to courage. By standing firm in our convictions, standing up for those who are most affected, we experience the "large payoff" of remaining aligned with God’s purposes.
"You see, 'in only a little while longer, the one who is coming will arrive and not delay, but whoever of mine lives justly will be alive because of faithfulness, and if they back down, my very being is not content with them'" (Hebrews 10:37-38).
This quote, blending words from Habakkuk 2:3-4, tries to get the audience to understand that faith is not a static belief but an active, just way of living. The audience of Hebrews is called to embody trust and courage, rejecting the temptation to back down under the threat of hardship or retaliation.
But Priscilla assumes her audience, both then and now, is already familiar with this challenge and is capable and willing to persevere in being like Jesus in these ways.
"But we are not characterized by backing down, which leads to destruction, but we are characterized by faithfulness, which leads to protection from harm for our very being" (Hebrews 10:39).
Choosing faithfulness aligns us with a way of life that leads to liberation and restoration, even when the path requires enduring suffering along the way. This must never mean we are the ones causing suffering, even for the oppressors, and it can't mean avoiding opposition or hardship. Instead, it means standing firm in trust, even when we are targeted for promoting justice.
Being faithful means embodying the kind of love that refuses to turn away from our neighbors' suffering, the kind of courage that chooses solidarity with the marginalized, and the kind of commitment that mirrors Jesus, even to the point of the cross. And after we have pled for mercy and compassion, the oppressors will most certainly want to nail us to a cross.
That's the context of the famous verse that has been thought to offer the correct definition of 'faith' and has been abused and used to pressure people to affirm beliefs with no evidence. It's been the source of textual arguments for "blind faith" for far too long, intimidating people into unquestioning belief and adherence to whatever an authority says is true for fear of being judged or even condemned to eternal torment.
In context it becomes clear that this has nothing to do with blind faith, and instead it has everything to do with enduring hope, with the anticipated future reality that we are shaping in the present when we take up our calling to follow Jesus.
"Now faithfulness is the groundwork for the things being hoped for, a trial run of the circumstances that aren’t yet seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
Priscilla defines ‘faithfulness’ as "the groundwork for the things being hoped for, a trial run of the circumstances that aren’t yet seen." Faithfulness is active, forward moving, and deeply connected to hope. It lives the values of Christ in the present. It acts out the future reality of resurrection and New Creation today. It is a way of living in anticipation of God’s promises, even when the outcome remains unseen in our current circumstances.
The traditional translation, “faith is the substance of things hoped for,” reduces faith to an abstract belief, as though merely holding onto an idea is what matters. That interpretation encourages a passive adherence to the status quo and obedience to whatever some authority figure tells you is true as a virtue, rather than a dynamic and personal engagement with truth and faithfulness.
In contrast, the translation “faithfulness is the groundwork for the things being hoped for,” emphasizes an active, embodied trust that lays the foundation for God’s promises. Faithfulness is not about sitting back and believing harder but about stepping into the work of justice, solidarity, and love. It challenges us to live as though the future we hope for—liberation, restoration, and peace—is already breaking into the present. Each act of faithfulness, whether advocating for the oppressed, building inclusive communities, or loving in the face of hostility, becomes a "trial run of the circumstances that aren’t yet seen." Rather than a coerced adherence to a static belief, it is an invitation to co-create the Reign of God, one courageous step at a time.
And we're not alone in taking those steps, not in this point in time, and not throughout the history of the Called Community of God.
"With this, those who came before us were shown to be genuine. We recognize that with faithfulness the ages have been arranged with a statement from God for making what wasn’t clearly visible come to be seen" (Hebrews 11:2-3).
Those who have been faithful before us showed clearly what it means to be a people who follow Jesus.
Hebrews 11:4-31 present a series of stories illustrating how "those who came before us were shown to be genuine." These verses give example after example of people who demonstrated faithfulness, transforming the world by trusting and living out God's direction.
Their commitment brought the Reign of God into reality "in the land as it is in the heavens," such as Abraham leaving his homeland behind, Moses' liberation of the enslaved, and Rahab's courageous alliance with God's people. Through their active trust, they made visible what had been invisible, shaping history with their hope-filled faithfulness.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab--chapter 11 presents an impressive array of people who sacrificed and endured through violence, despair, confusion, and genocidal enslavement. They were imperfect, sometimes perpetrating terrible things, but they were willing to grow and reoriented themselves to the way of love and light despite extreme opposition.
Having walked through these foundational examples of faithfulness, Priscilla shifts to highlight others who endured unimaginable oppression and hardship, yet remained committed.
"What else should I say? I’ll run out of time if I go into detail about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and also Samuel and the prophets. They won out against royal powers, performed justice, came upon the promises, closed up the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the bite of a sword, were empowered out from powerlessness, became strong in battle, and made enemy armies retreat. Women received their dead because of a reawakening, but others were tortured without expecting liberation by payment of the price for freedom so that they would hit the mark of a better reawakening. Still others experienced tests of taunts and whips and also chains and imprisonment. They were executed by being pelted with stones, sawed in half, murdered with a sword, and went around wearing a coat made of goatskin, experiencing poverty, being oppressed, and being mistreated (they didn’t fit in with the world system), wandering in the wilderness and mountains and caves and the crevices in the land" (Hebrews 11:32-38).
Priscilla continues with more specific examples who demonstrated faithfulness in extraordinary circumstances. These figures "won out against royal powers, performed justice, came upon the promises," and endured unimaginable suffering. Then it continues to include unnamed prophets and people who were faithful, some who even faced torture and death, trusting in the hope of a "better reawakening."
These stories teach us that faithfulness is not about avoiding hardship but being willing to experience it with trust in a greater purpose. The early community’s willingness to endure mirrored the solidarity they felt with those who suffered. Their example invites us to stand with the oppressed and marginalized, embodying faithfulness as an act of love and justice.
The people in these examples were faithful, and they trusted that their actions mattered for building a more loving world, but as evidenced by the ongoing nature of the list and the horrific experiences they endured, the hoped for results were not immediate, often not experienced by those individuals at all.
"Though these people were all shown to be genuine by faithfulness, they did not experience the Promise of God, who foresaw something better concerning us, that they would not be made complete without us" (Hebrews 11:39-40).
They trusted the Promise of God was coming, that God saw something better, but they did not get to see it for themselves. More people were to come to help bring it to completion: the rest of us who remain faithful, starting with Priscilla's original audience and continuing down through the centuries to today.
As powerful as the affirmation of solidarity with the oppressed, the encouragement to faithfulness, the hope of the promise still to be fulfilled while it still seems so far away all are, there's still more. The passage doesn't stop with the end of chapter 11. The thought continues into chapter 12, culminating in a vivid metaphor: life as a race. With a "crowd of people who attest to the truth" surrounding us (the people described in chapter 11 and everyone else who has been faithful), we are called to "put down every burden and easily discarded deviation" and run with endurance. Running with endurance means we are not alone—we are surrounded by other people who demonstrate the truth with their faithfulness, inspired by Christ’s example, and upheld by a community committed to love and justice.
"For that reason and since we have all around us such an extensive crowd of people who attest to the truth, after putting down every burden and easily discarded deviation, we may run the race laid out for us with endurance, focusing on Jesus, the one who begins and completes faithfulness, who endured the cross and disregarded its shame in exchange for the joy laid out for him, and 'He has sat at the right hand of the throne of God.' So, meditate on the one who endured that kind of opposition against himself from deviators so that you won’t become fatigued in your very beings, becoming exhausted” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
The focus is on Jesus, described as "the one who begins and completes faithfulness," who endured the cross for the joy set before him. Notice that Hebrews doesn’t name the oppressors or the terrors they are inflicting. Instead, it directs us to meditate on Jesus’ example and imitate his endurance. Though we must certainly be aware in order to respond faithfully, focusing on the harm will burn us out, exhaust us, and lead either to despair or abandoning our call in order to "pay back harm for harm" (Romans 12:17) rather than committing to follow the way of love Paul promotes as the way of Jesus: "Do not be conquered by harmfulness, but instead conquer harmfulness with beneficialness to others" (Romans 12:21).
By meditating on Jesus’ example, we find strength to persevere. His faithfulness transforms our understanding of suffering, turning it into a pathway toward restoration, liberation, healing--and even joy. In moments of exhaustion, we are reminded not to grow weary but to stay the course, trusting in the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises.
That trust is that our acts of faithfulness, big and small, build a world characterized by love. When we love our neighbors, our families, and--yes--even our oppressors, we push the whole world forward a tiny bit toward one that operates on love and inclusion rather than domination and oppression. That's the promised end of all of this—the Age to Come—that we're waiting for. It's the New Creation of Isaiah where the lion lays down with the lamb and everyone beats their swords into plowshares and of Revelation where every tear is wiped from every eye. It's the Great Jubilee where everyone has what they need and all are equal with each other. We live out the hope of that future by behaving in those ways in the present, regardless of what the world is doing.
Hebrews 10:32-12:3 encourages us to live with endurance, hope, and trust. It challenges us to let go of distractions, face difficulties with courage, and embody faithfulness in every aspect of our lives. The "better and lasting possession" promised by God anchors us in times of tyranny and oppression, reminding us that our efforts are not in vain.
This race is not an individual endeavor. We are surrounded by a "crowd of people who attest to the truth," drawing strength from those who came before and from focusing on Jesus, who begins and completes faithfulness. We need each other in order not to be overcome by exhaustion. We are the Body of Christ, and it is through looking to each other and supporting each other that we can make it through this present Age. Together, as we encourage each other in embodying love, inclusion, and justice, we participate in the unfolding of God’s promises and help bring the world closer to the Age to come.
As we run the race set before us, may we draw strength from those who came before, the example of Jesus, and the support of our faithful community. Together, as we embody love, justice, and faithfulness, we help bring God’s promises closer to fulfillment and lay the groundwork for the the coming Age.
