There's a Storm Brewing

I’ve read through the book of Acts many times in my 20 short years.  I’ve been in a lot of Bible studies on the book of Acts.  One thing that often gets a lot of attention is the persecution that the Christians had to endure.  In Acts we read of floggings, stonings, murders, all kinds of things.  Historically we know of other things also, such as Christians being fed to lions, and Christians being lit on fire to light the streets of Rome at night.  The thing it often comes back to as that we are glad that those days are behind us.

Except they’re not.  We often forget about our brethren in other parts of the world, in which physical persecution is just as much a reality for them as it was for the Christians in the first century.  A few years ago, I heard about a brother in China named San Fernando from a mutual friend.  San Fernando was a brave man.  He was imprisoned for being a Christian.  The soldiers beat him and whipped him repeatedly.  He became blind in one eye as a result of those beatings.  They would pour water out on the ground in front of him, saying he could be free if would renounce Christ.  He never did.  Thankfully he was released after several years of imprisonment.  Some aren’t.  Those days are not behind us, my friends.

Here’s a few countries that are hostile to Christians: China, North Korea, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, and India.  That’s not by any means in exhaustive list.  I commonly hear that over 40 nations in the world are hostile to Christianity.  That is a lot of Christians facing physical persecution, perhaps even death for their faith.  We forget about them a lot.  Next time you read about persecution, don’t think about how glad you are that those days are behind us.  Think about and pray for the Christians for whom this is very much a present reality.

I have a second point, though.  Physical persecution is not the only persecution there is.  In Matthew 5:11-12, Jesus says “"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  Here the focus is not so much on physical persecution, it is more on verbal persecution.  Are Christians persecuted verbally in America?  You better believe it.  I’ve been called retarded for my faith and I’m sure you have too. 

It doesn’t stop at verbal slander though.  The storm is brewing stronger.  We are seeing a growth of government control in suppressing religious expression that is growing with time.  It started with the misuse of the Establishment Clause.  Now it’s growing.  The Family Research Council and Liberty Institute released a report last year on Christian persecution in America.  Here’s some of the incidences they found: A federal judge threatened a high school valedictorian with incarceration if she didn’t remove references to Jesus from her graduation speech.  The state of Texas has sought to regulate what religious seminaries can teach.  The U.S. Department of Veterans banned the mention of God from veteran’s funerals, overriding wishes of the family.  A federal judge said that prayers made before a House of Representatives could be made to Allah, but not to Jesus.

You get the idea.  Stuff like this is becoming more and more prevalent.  Here’s the point I want to make: we may not be facing the kind of persecution that Christians in China are facing, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t eventually.  If we can’t handle the verbal taunts that we’re facing now and still remain faithful, we won’t be faithful when the real trials come.  Let’s take the advantage of this easier time to prepare ourselves.  As for myself, I know what I will do.  I will take strength in Yahweh.  If Satan ever brings the hosts of Hell down on the United States of America, I’ll be ready.  Will you?