Positive Results of Persecution Against
Christians
Barbara Henderson
There is no doubt that Christians are
facing dreadful persecution throughout the world. In some places they are being murdered daily
because of their faith. As usual the
helpless are attacked. Cowardly conduct is
the way of life for the persecutors.
In the USA Christians are currently
being persecuted politically, socially, and economically. As the liberal population demands that
Christians affirm immoral action all Christians are beginning to feel the
pressure to embrace wicked behaviors regardless of what God Almighty has to say
about the matter.
In the military Christians Chaplains,
who were hired to represent Christian soldiers are being persecuted for simply
telling people what the Bible says on particular topics. (one example – there are more)
People are being fired from their jobs
for proclaiming Jesus Christ as the way of salvation.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/01/13/christians-rally-to-defend-fire-chief-who-wrote-anti-gay-book/
(only one example)
Christians speaking about what God calls sin
are in danger of losing their jobs. This all sounds like persecution to me, but
it is excused without any reason except Christian belief based on the Bible is
not politically or socially acceptable to many who are in power either
politically or socially. http://radio.foxnews.com/2011/08/18/teacher-opposed-to-gay-marriage-could-be-fired/
I could post links to real persecution
of Christians all day long, but the evidence is so overwhelming that it isn’t
necessary to do that. If someone refuses
to admit Christians are being persecuted from the point of literal murder and
torture to being ostracized socially and economically they are willingly
ignorant.
Knowing that Christian persecution is
growing calls for a response from Christians and the entire world.
It is disappointing to watch physical
persecution grow around the world. From
the slaughter of Christians in communist nations during last century to the
slaughter of Christians by Islamic terrorists right now the response of the
world has been basically non-existent. This is heartbreaking to say the least.
Islam plans to murder all the Christians who don’t convert and thus rid the
world of followers of Jesus Christ. The
opposition to their efforts has been minimal.
Do not misunderstand what I am going
to say. I abhor and hate what is happening to fellow believers in Jesus
Christ. It is a tragedy. However, historically there has been a consequence
of persecution of believers. That
consequence has been more believers.
Persecution destroys lives and murders people with the plan to utterly
destroy Christ. People who may not want
to murder Christians still want to marginalize them and ridicule their
beliefs. It appears they want Christians
to have less respect socially and politically than those who believe in the
Great Pumpkin.
BUT……
Christians have security that these
deniers of Christ do not have. Here are
some things to consider:
Persecution of the saints throughout history
has not silenced the New Testament Church of Jesus Christ. In fact just the opposite has occurred. Persecute the saints and the church grows in
number.
The reaction of the church has not
been to mount a physical war. The crusades were sanctioned by the Catholic
church – but they were specifically to STOP the invasion of the Moslems. They were literally self-defense. As any thinking person is well aware Islam is
a religion with tendencies of extreme violence and slaughter. Obviously not all followers of Mohammad
practice violence. However, persecution even to death is taught in their book.
Christians are allowed self-defense against such terrible actions.
Christians have traditionally fought
persecution collectively and individually by preaching Jesus Christ as the Son
of God and the way to heaven. Shut up
one preacher and God will raise up another to take his place. The game plan of Christians today to combat
the rising tide of persecution of Christians should be more evangelism.
I do want to point out that legal
recourse is allowed. We aren’t to take
our Christian brothers and sisters to court, but we are allowed legal defense
that is available to other citizens.
Paul went to great lengths to stand before Caesar in Rome.
He was illegally mistreated and he refused to simply be set free and go
on his way. The Biblical account of
Paul’s journey to Rome is amazing! The shipwreck is just astounding. Paul was a single minded fellow. Christians of lesser faith would have decided
that God didn’t want them to go to Rome after the shipwreck. Paul’s determination did not falter. Making use of the courts for legitimate
reasons is not a sin. Within the
boundaries set by the Bible for Christian behavior it would be up to the
individual Christian whether to take something to court. Sadly the courts seem
to be stacked against Christians regardless of the law. Never the less, sometimes legal action may be
the right thing to do.
On the other hand evangelism is always
right regardless of its popularity or even legality. There may be consequences for taking the
gospel to the lost. In some countries
you can get jail time – notably Iran at this time. China is also a dangerous place for an
evangelist as well as many other countries.
Christianity can get you tortured and murdered in many places. Evangelism is still the best answer to
persecution. Those who oppose Christianity
on any level don’t realize that their opposition is the fertilizer that will
cause Christianity to stand out even more.
The way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ the Son. Our God who is the God of creation, has the
power and authority to make the rules.
He has been very clear regarding the rules and that He does not
change. The end of the story is that God
wins and non-believers spend eternity in hell.
It is the duty of Christians in both
times of peace and times of war to proclaim the way to heaven through Jesus
Christ. There is no other way. Some people will hear and be saved. Then their
voice will be one of many proclaiming Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life
along with other Christians. This is the
best victory against those who hate Christ.
But the consequences of Christian persecution will ultimately not be
what the persecutors intend. Jesus
saves. Tell the world.
Something else to consider is
this. Evangelism is the one size fits
all cure. Rejection of Jesus leads to
every sin and immorality. Right now
there are so many anti-god activities going on that it would take a book to
comment on the main ones. There is no
great benefit on cataloging each of them as everyone knows what is going
on. We may not know the extent of the
deviations from godly normal behavior, but we know what is going on. We don’t have to become an expert on
pornography to know it is rampant in society and that it is pure evil. Each sin could be attacked on its own wicked
‘merits’. Certainly we should speak out
against sin when necessary. Do take a
side in some of the agenda’s being pushed on society today. But the cure for all sin is Jesus
Christ. The best help for the world in
general and for the individual is through telling the truth about Jesus.
One example that I absolutely love in
the Bible is the story of Paul getting kicked out of town after town for
preaching and just going on to preach at the next town. (Acts chapter 14) He
didn’t change his message to ‘reach people where they live’. Of course he did take into consideration the
background of the people to whom he was speaking. If people had no concept of the God of
creation he wouldn’t start his preaching by expounding on the doctrine of the
trinity.
What Christians need to remember and
thank God for daily is the sure knowledge that the end of earthly history is
that Jesus wins. Every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is going to happen. Pray that many will confess Jesus before it
too late. Heaven is waiting for God’s
children. Hell is waiting for those who
refuse His offer of peace with God through Christ’s own blood.
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