Persecution

A few days ago, while in a Christian bookstore I just happened to pick up a book containing stories of Christian martyrdom from the 14th century. The few lines I read shook me to my core. Seriously. I cannot get the images produced by the words out of my mind.

I read of a man burned alive for his faith in Christ including the details of how he suffered as he burned. And it got me to thinking, "this man suffered horribly for his faith in Jesus, and what do I do? Do I ever really suffer for Christ? Am I willing to suffer in such a way?” Usually I think along very selfish lines: “what do I want from Christ? What do I want Him to do for me?” or maybe “How can I serve without it taking up a lot of my time?”

As many of you know, persecution continues today. In North Korea, for example, believers who evangelize can expect to live about three months. Giving a Bible to someone brings death if revealed to the authorities. Witnesses have seen entire families taken to prison because the mother, father or even a child in the family confessed belief in Christ. In our culture, I fear we want a comfortable Christianity. If it required a life and death decision for us to read our Bibles, how many of us would keep reading it? Yet every day real people, real brothers and sisters in Christ fear taking their Bible from its hiding place. Many of them we would criticize for not having the courage to do so. But perhaps they just do not want to die yet. Some have secretly memorized large portions of Scripture such as the Gospel of John by writing it over and over. They hide the word of God in the safest place, their hearts. Yet if caught speaking of their faith, they will go to prison. In spite of all this, more and more people come to Christ. (Voice of the Martyrs, March 2010)

While I do not desire to put anyone on a “guilt trip”, I believe we need to think about the cost of following our Lord. Walking with the one who loves us more than life may become risky. However,we need not worry or become fearful. God is still in control. Persecution is coming perhaps, even in this nation, but God remains here with us, and the future is in His loving hands.

If you would like to read more about persecution in today’s world, go to prisoneralert.com. or persecution.com. At prisoner alert, you can write to an imprisoned Christian.