Would American Christians Benefit from Some True Persecution?

Faith under attack

^{by Rob Kerby, Senior Editor}

Just days ago, newly converted Christians of the Sedang ethnic minority in Vietnam’s Central Highlands were terrorized – their homes and personal property badly damaged or destroyed in the fourth consecutive night of raids. Some of the faithful seriously were injured from beatings in broad daylight, according to Morning Star News. Since becoming Christians in the past year, five families in mountainous Kontum Province have reported constant harassment from villagers upset that they are no longer contributing to communal sacrifices and other practices because of their new faith. The attacks constituted a third wave of sustained violence since their conversion, leaving their property severely damaged and their lives threatened. Attacks were primarily motivated by strong tensions within the ethnic group over the families leaving the “old ways.” Local Communist officials freely permit and even encourage such conflicts, sources said. Local officials commonly incite and employ area thugs to attack Christians, whose united faith is perceived as a threat to government ideology and sovereignty. Often officials themselves put on civilian clothes or otherwise disguise themselves, joining in the attacks, sources said.

Faith under attack

“At Pakistan’s Saddar Arifwala police station, an elderly Christian man, Niyamat Masih, died after police hung him upside down and beat him with clubs after his son eloped with a Muslim girl. Marriage between a Muslim man and a Christian woman in Pakistan’s male-dominated society receives praise, but any marriage between a Muslim woman and a Christian man is unacceptable,” according to the British Christian Pakistani Organization. “When Masih’s family presented evidence that the Christian man’s torture to death had been concealed by officials, police retaliated by accusing Masih’s family of kidnapping the Muslim woman and threatened to jail his two daughters. Naeem Ibrahim, a Muslim political candidate running for a seat in the provincial assembly, meanwhile stepped into the dispute, asking the family to not pursue the judicial inquiry in exchange for the police withdrawing the abduction case against them.

Faith under attack

“In the United States we are seeing a rapid increase in cases where Bible-believing Christians are facing hostility, penalties and punishments merely for holding to the tenets of our faith,” notes Paul Batura, Vice President of Focus on the Family. Of course, he acknowledges, American Christians have never experienced anything like the intense persecution believers faced throughout history or even in many countries today. Indeed, “I hope and pray we do not come to the point in this country where Christianity is completely ostracized and broadly persecuted. Yet,” he adds, “if God allows that, I believe it will be for the ultimate purpose of testing, refining and strengthening our faith.”

Faith under attack

“Hebrews 13:3 tells us to ‘remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering,’ notes Dykstra. That’s one reason that annually Open Doors organizes an annual event called “Shockwave,” in which thousands of young people from countries around the world spend a weekend united in prayer for persecuted Christians in countries such as North Korea, Iran, China, Syria and Nigeria. The 12^th annual Shockwave in 2013 invited young believers from South Africa, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, India, France, Brazil, Germany and the United States who are “passionate, committed and unashamed of Jesus” to be a voice for the persecuted, to tell the story of the persecuted church, and to unashamedly stand up for those who suffer for following Jesus.

Faith under attack

“Shockwave is an amazing way to have young people from around the world praying for the persecuted church," said Open Doors President Steve Ridgway. 1 Corinthians 12:26 tells us that we are one body – when one member suffers, we all suffer,” adds Dykstra. “When one member is lifted up, we all rejoice. The persecuted and free church are not two separate entities, but rather are one body. The persecuted church needs the free church to support them and most importantly to lift them up in prayer. The free church learns lessons from the persecuted, who have stood strong in the face of persecution. Christ is the head of the body and uses both churches in unique and powerful ways. “

Faith under attack

“In the Bible persecution is seen as being ‘normal,’” notes Ripken. “In the former USSR many told us that persecution was like ‘the sun coming up in the east.’ I asked one leader why he had not written his story for posterity and he replied sharply, ‘When did you stop reading your Bible? Our stories are reflected there. Why would we need to write such stories again? Read your Bible!’” So, asks Ripken, “How does one know when to leave Joseph in Pharaoh’s prison” so that he never rises to become second-in-command of Egypt? So, that he never is authorized to build the vast storehouses to save Egypt from the famine to come? “To successfully extract Joseph from jail prematurely,” writes Rypkin, “would lead to the starvation of both the Jews and the Egyptians. Dare we believe today that sometimes God needs for Joseph to be in prison? Are you tough enough to follow such a God?”