Persecution and Following Jesus

Several things recently have turned my focus to the persecution of God's people. Sunday, November 9th is designated as the “International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church” and so it is good for us to think about this reality and to pray for brothers and sisters in Christ who are daily undergoing persecution because of their faithfulness to Jesus. The news reports that I read, mention on a daily basis persecution taking place in various parts of the world such as India, Pakistan, Iraq etc. What can be overlooked in our North American context is the cost of following Jesus. This is especially true where North American churches are preaching a gospel of “easy-believism” or “non-Lordship” salvation that minimizes the commitment one makes to Jesus as a “professed” Christian. I've recently been reading John MacArthur's twenty-fifth anniversary edition of The Gospel According To Jesus What Is Authentic Faith? (Zondervan, 2008) which rightfully challenges and exposes the biblical distortion of the gospel in the non-Lordship gospel. One might have hoped this message would've disappeared off the scene but alas they seem to be still flourishing with their own theological society and journal.

Recently, I finished reading John Piper's, Spectacular Sins And Their Global Purpose In The Glory of Christ (Crossway, 2008) and appreciated Piper's clarion call and possibly prophetic call to prepare the saints in our North American churches for potential hard times of trial and possible persecution. Piper focuses on the role of “spectacular sins” in God's sovereign and global purposes and rightly points us to Jesus and our victory in him over the evil that abounds in this world. In an age of seeker-sensitive and emergent church approaches that water-down God's truth and ignore the confrontational truths of sin, hell, God's wrath and judgment this is a timely call to awake and be prepared because “the times are a changing” and Christians in North America may soon find, like others throughout the world, that there is a real cost to following Jesus.

The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States has been viewed by most as signaling a time of change is coming. Some are delighted but others are very concerned, especially among some Christians that I've read and spoken with recently. There is a concern that many things that Christians value and strive for will be lost or undermined and abortion become even more firmly entrenched then previously, euthanasia gain greater momentum, and Christians will be “silenced” legally in voicing any public opposition to homosexuality. Certainly if these and other freedoms and rights are curtailed or rescinded it will present a much different climate for one to be a “professing” Christian and not simply a “closet” Christian. Yet, what these Christians I've spoken with and read do understand is the biblical truth that God is sovereign and sets up and brings down leaders according to His plans and purposes. So, thankfully, we can rest with confidence that God is in control! They also realize though that it may be part of God's purposes to bring about a political and national context where Christians will begin to be discriminated against, legally arrested and persecuted for a commitment to Jesus. This will present a real challenge for the church in North America. It may also mean the next Barna poll instead of listing 60% of all Americans as “professing” Christians will show possibly only a 20% profession or less when it begins to actually “cost” to follow Jesus!

God has his purposes in allowing His saints to be hounded, persecuted and killed by evil people and regimes in this world. It certainly “raises the stakes” in terms of professing to be a Christian and identifying with them! It also purifies the church as the uncommitted with “one foot in the world and another in a pew” leave and as the true saints are weaned from this world and prepared for eternity. The discipline and judgment of God are intended for the good of God's people and the advancement of God's kingdom (Heb 12:7-13). God's purging of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 isn't your typical “church-growth” strategy but the church grew greatly as a result (Acts 5:12-13) and persecution caused the gospel to be taken to other places (Acts 8:1) so others were saved (Acts 8:4ff). There are of course other purposes that could be listed but ultimately God intends to glorify Jesus in it all.

I highly recommend the monthly devotional magazine, Tabletalk which is published by Ligonier Ministries and available from Sola Scriptura International in Canada. In the November 2008 issue there are three outstanding articles on missions providing an overview and description of the church situations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The article by Peter Hammond on the situation in Africa provides insight into the conflict between Animism, communism, Islam and Christianity. God has used persecution in Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Rwanda etc to add to his church many souls as pastors with arms or feet cut off fearlessly carrying the “good news” to lost sinners. Hammond writes that reports indicate that as many as five million Muslims may have turned to Jesus in Sudan in the past twenty years and in Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco etc the number of Muslim converts continues to grow. Hammonds notes that on al-Jazeera TV in Saudi Arabia a leading Sheikh complained that “sixteen thousand Muslims convert to Christianity” every day! The Sheikh claimed Islam is losing six million Muslims a year to conversions to Christianity. Even if these numbers are exaggerated to stir up opposition to Christians and the gospel, it is clear that in the very face of Satanic hostility and persecution by sinful men God is greatly adding to Jesus' kingdom and exalting Jesus' name among the nations!

So, who knows in the wise purposes of God what exactly He has in store for the church in North America, but it may include persecution. If we are truly followers of Christ we should be ready to give even our lives, if required, to proclaim the glories of Christ, having set our affections on things above and knowing our citizenship is in heaven where Jesus is and awaits us (Col 3:1-2).


Randy