Persecution

The last few weeks I've been reading about global religious persecution. Christians in Muslim and Communist contexts suffer greatly for their faith. Radical Islam calls for the extinction of the infidels. Communist dogma demands total allegiance to the government leaving no place for religion.

But Christianity is no stranger to persecution. As I prepared for a sermon from Second Thessalonians my study reminded me that the church in Thessalonica was birthed amid persecution (see Acts 17). Jesus told his disciples that they would certainly be hated by the world just as the world hated Christ. The New Testament repeatedly tells of Christians facing persecution.

The American church seems to be immune to it, though. Even in recent years while we have watched the culture and the government move away from biblical morality, persecution hardly describes our plight.

When I think of immunity I think of not being impacted (getting a sickness) by something negative around you. Maybe a person's tolerance is built up against the disease. Maybe they have been inoculated. The best way to avoid the flu is to wash your hands frequently, stay away from those who are sick, and get the shot.

It's that "stay away from those who are sick" that bothers me about the American church and persecution. I've learned in my recent reading that persecution is to be expected - it's natural - when the gospel moves into the darkness of sin. If one Muslim becomes a Christian and is the only believer in his village, he will be persecuted severely. If one house church in a communist country is exposed they will be shut down, jailed, or worse. As the light of the gospel pushes against the darkness, darkness wants to push back.

So why do American Christians not face persecution like so many of our brothers and sisters around the world do? Does it have anything to do with the conflict between the light of the gospel and the darkness of sin? I think so. We make a lot of noise about the gospel but do we make much progress in advancing the gospel.

Let me say it this way: We seem to be more concerned with making sure we are free to share our faith than we are with actually sharing our faith.

Have you had a child learning to play an instrument? Remember what you endured in those early months or years? It was noise more than music. But remember how it one day turned to music as they continued with practice and the tones were more melodic? When Christians sound off about things other than the gospel we sound like a toddler banging on pots and pans. But when we faithfully proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ it sounds right.

And what sounds right to the Lord sounds awful to darkness. So persecution is the response. We shouldn't go out looking for persecution. At the same time we ought not let the fear of persecution keep us from going out.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10). Let us live out our faith and tell others about our Savior even if persecution may come. Let us remember in prayer our brothers and sisters who face persecution today.