According to Open Doors International, a missional organization with a heart to serve and support persecuted Christians across the globe, there are greater than 365 million Christians who’re facing very high or extreme levels of persecution today. The majority of those brutal attacks are happening within the eastern hemisphere, with Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia holding the best concentration of those unlucky happenings.
While this news is heartbreaking and devastating, we should be aware that now we have an enemy at large. The way he attacks certain regions is strategic and methodical (1 Peter 5:8). As Christians, we must face the fact that suffering is a harsh a part of this life, but it surely bears a heavier burden when the darkness of this world is met with our light. However, when that does occur, our first response needs to be to pause and pray. So, before we proceed, will you pray with me?
A Prayer for the Persecuted
Father God,
We lift up our hearts for the innocent victims involved in brutal attacks on the idea of their faith. We know that You are a just and sovereign God and that You will guard them (and us) from our oppressors. You have warned us that we are going to face persecution, be blamed, hated, and falsely accused because we don’t follow the ways of this world but answer to Your Son, Jesus Christ. So, we ask that You give us strength to proceed to face firm in our convictions, fight for what is nice, and shed light within the darkness that cloaks various parts of this world which might be in desperate need of Your love. We earnestly pray for the unreached and lost and for his or her salvation. We ask that You put a hedge of protection around those that are within the grips of the enemy and help us reach out with truth, love, and style in order that You may shine through our words, deeds, and actions.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
What Is Christian Persecution?
It could also be sensible now to ask, what exactly is Christian persecution? The short answer is, someone that’s given hostile treatment or suffers attributable to their faith in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, mistreatment could be done in quite a lot of ways, including not only physical abuse, but mental and emotional torture as well. The point of persecution is to inflict pain in a method to intimidate, silence, punish, and even cause death upon someone that’s professing or living out their faith.
These horrendous acts of harassment and oppression began with the origin of sin (Gensis 3, Psalm 51:5). As sin was spread world wide, essentially so was hatred. We see this unfold from the very starting as each the Old Testament and New Testament have reports of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual persecution of God’s people.
In Exodus 1-3 we see the fate of the Israelites under the rule of Egyptian pharaohs. Then in Daniel 3 we see the persecution of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for his or her refusal to worship the king, remaining faithful to the one and true God. Then there have been the prophets, Amos, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Uriah, amongst others, who were cruelly persecuted and met with resistance for his or her efforts in spreading the need of God.
The New Testament holds the identical theme, as faithful followers of Jesus endured brutal and crippling oppression and torment. John the Baptist was rebuked, imprisoned, and even beheaded for following what the religious rulers believed to be a false messiah (Matthew 11:9, Luke 3:19-20, and John 3:6-12). Paul, the faithful missionary also got here up against great objection upon sharing the gospel (Acts 20-28). Then in fact there was Jesus, Himself, who was persecuted. The Son of Man that led an ideal life, preaching of God’s grace and judgement while making a ministry that prolonged love and peace, offering healing with real hope, was mocked, tormented, arrested, and crucified by a twisted group of leaders (Matthew 26:3-5).
Are Believers Being Persecuted in America?
Persecution is nothing recent because it has been happening because the starting of time and sadly continues across the globe today, but it surely begs to query – Are Americans being affected? Yes! Unfortunately, Americans are being persecuted for living out their faith. Despite what some may claim or consider, the church is under spiritual attack and sadly the First Amendment that permits residents the best to exercise their religion of our alternative, is experiencing tension, especially within the evangelical sector. While we may currently live in a free country, the stakes are high, and our sweet land of liberty and opportunity appears to be growing thinner by the day.
Americans are sensing the stress, and it’s sparking a nationwide debate, especially in relation to their quality of life and the security of their families. While the persecution in today’s culture isn’t the identical that we see in other countries, as mentioned previously, Satan is strategic and uses certain measures that could be devastating and life-altering. Basically, he is just not one to back down and hits America in a unique and unique way.
Just a few examples include private Christian business owners being chastised, accused of prejudice, and even being drug through court, witnessing their lifelong businesses and dreams shatter all because they refused to bend, cater to, or create something that goes against their Christian beliefs. The church can be a major goal as many preachers have grow to be jaded and complacent, slowly twisting the reality with a purpose to conform to a majority of individuals, sadly leading many astray, while others feel confused and even unwelcome. Not only that however the slander and malice proceed in our schools and on social media attacking our youth causing unnerving and alarming statistics showing a rapid decline of emotional and mental health, resulting in grave consequences.
The bottom line is that the social hostilities are very high, and it is obvious that there’s a growing trend of Christian persecution currently happening in our beloved nation. However, while we may know that this is an element of our fate being followers of Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12), we also need to know easy methods to respond with dignity and style while standing firm in our faith.
How Do We Respond?
While this topic can surely bring forth many mixed emotions, especially in relation to the attacks on our own inner circles, we’re commanded to hope for our enemy (Matthew 5:44). Yes, we must pray for our oppressors! Yet, we will only do that after we allow the Holy Spirit to talk through us and on our behalf, otherwise we are going to bend to our flesh and react in a way that would discredit the gospel.
Speaking of the gospel, let’s tuck some Scriptures in our back pocket to lean on in times of desperation and when we want hope. John 15:18 reminds us that Jesus not only knows of our suffering, but He endured it Himself. 1 Peter 1:6-7 tells us that suffering glorifies God. And Matthew 5:10-12 offers us hope through a promise, declaring that our present suffering gives us everlasting glory within the inheritance of God’s kingdom.
Through our prayers and clinging to God’s precious guarantees through His Word we’re in a position to stand firm in our faith and speak truth with love and style. We must also rejoice in our present suffering, humble ourselves, and trust that God is on top of things.
Praise God and rejoice.
That’s right! Matthew 5:11-12 tells us that the world will persecute us and take a look at to destroy our testimony, but our response needs to be to praise God and rejoice in His holy name. We praise God knowing that this world will eventually crumble and fade away, but now we have hope in a life beyond this one. The beauty behind our rejoicing is that it could prompt and lead others to query our faith, looking for to know our source of peace and hope.
Turn the opposite cheek.
Luke 27-30 calls for us to like our enemies and bless those that curse us. This is a relatively tall order and contradictory to what our initial response could also be. Yet Jesus is telling His followers to not allow abuse (especially verbal) to be a method to retaliate and strike back. Humility is essential here because if we would like to fight the nice fight, it comes from doing the best thing, not getting sucked right into a place of anger or revenge.
Trust God is on top of things.
“Vengeance is Mine,” declares the Lord (Romans 12:19). This should bring us each comfort and excitement knowing that regardless of how crazy the world gets, God is fully aware of what is happening and His righteousness and justice will come to spoil the wicked and evilness that plagues this world. However, this must also break our hearts knowing that so many have fallen for the world’s scheme of what is correct and fallacious, effectively living a lie. As we trust in God, we should always also ask for Him to open our eyes to what breaks His heart, and purposefully live in a way that’s desirous to share the excellent news with those around us.
“He said to them, ‘Go into all of the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'” Mark 16:15
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/katleho Seisa
