Persecution Guaranteed

After the siege of Rome in 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi said to his soldiers, “Men, all our efforts against superior forces have been unavailing. I have nothing to offer you but hunger and thirst and hardship and death. But I call upon you who love your country to join me.”

In a similar way, after the allies were forced to evacuate Dunkirk in 1940, Sir Winston Churchill told his fellow Englishmen, “All I can offer you is blood, sweat and tears.”

These human leaders refused to send their armies to war under false pretenses. Our divine Savior gives believers a glimpse into the same kind of difficulty and hardship in Mathew 5:11 when He says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (NIV).

Paul warns Timothy, his son in the faith, of the same fate. In 2 Timothy 3:12, the apostle writes, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (NIV). Not “may.” Not “possibly.” They will be persecuted. So if you’re not being persecuted, ask yourself if you’re living a godly life for Jesus Christ.

For years, we have seen the gradual watering down of the gospel message, and God’s people did nothing. For the past 50 years, we have been watching seeker-friendly Christianity and a cheap gospel being preached all across the land, and God’s people just went along.

For years, we have seen the desperate need for the gospel to be beamed into the millions of homes with radios and televisions. God’s given us all the technology to do that, so Christians gave a couple of dollars in the offering plate and thought they were the last of the big spenders.

For years, we have seen our country attacked and attacked and attacked. But current and former administrations, whose job it is to protect the citizens, all they did was make speeches. One decided to drop a million-dollar bomb on a ten-dollar tent.

Now we are facing Islamic hostility, Islamic expansionism and Islamic proselytizing on university campuses across the United States. We see Islamic takeovers of financial institutions from Barclay’s Bank to the rest of them. Not over there; it’s over here. It’s happening in this land: the United States of America. I could go on about the thousands of mosques and the jihadi schools springing up all over this country. Islamic prayers are being offered in the White House, in legislative assemblies and in schools across the land.

It is time for every one of us to wake up. The persecution of Christians is real, and it exists inside and outside the United States. I could tell you stories upon stories from Nigeria, Pakistan, the Middle East and other countries, but I’m sure you hear the news as much as I do. My goal is to encourage persecuted believers in these discouraging times.

I made a decision a long time ago that I will not inflame people’s political or religious passions. Instead, I will lift up the cross of Christ and let Jesus draw His people unto Himself. And as the Lord commanded us in Mathew 5:44, I will love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. I trust that you will do the same.

www.leadingtheway.org