An illusion exists, even now, that there is safety in following Jesus. Somehow, someway, American Christians failed to embrace the truth Christ himself didn’t just hint at, but stated explicitly: you want to walk this walk? You’re going to carry a cross the whole way. (Luke 9:23)
It’s easy to be a cultural Christian here in a land where it’s still mostly safe to stand up and be counted among the believers. It’s easy to slide into the belief that Jesus wants your son’s t-ball team to win, every light to be green when you’re running late, and the red wine stain to come out of your new $85 blouse. And I do believe He cares about these things. He does. If He has numbered the hairs on your head, He’s big enough to care about the little things, too.
But then…
Beheadings. Bombings. Prison. Beatings.
Being a cultural Christian? It’s a luxury– a luxury that much of the world’s believers cannot afford.
Tomorrow is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. If you worship in community, chances are good that you’ll sit among other believers tomorrow and beseech God to have mercy, to give strength, and to embolden the faceless many all around the globe who live under threat of discrimination and even death for their willingness to bow to Jesus as Lord.
This is a good thing.
But before we get there, before you are in your Sunday best, thumb scrolling through the Bible app on your phone because your hard copies at home are just too bulky to carry nowadays, thinking someone should really have kicked up the heat in the sanctuary earlier this morning, please …. remember this:
When we say “the Persecuted Church,” we mean people. Men in prison for hiding a tattered copy of the Book of John under the floorboards of their houses. Mothers holding their babies in a circle in the dark, whispering hymns, terrified of being turned in to the authorities by their own husbands. Pastors who have held the hands of mothers and fathers mourning the beating death of their son, who dared to deny Allah. People.
Meditate on that. Pray sincerely. Be convicted of the burden we have to minister to those in chains for the Gospel.
Tomorrow, I’ll share resources for taking this day of prayer beyond the confines of the church. But for today, prepare your heart.
I didn’t even hear a word about this day. We celebrated All Saints Day by remembering those who’d gone on before us. None of them were persecuted.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention.