What does persecution look like to us? Generally here in the US it may be nothing more than friends asking you why you don’t go out to the club or parties with them, or laughing when you put yet another Bible verse or Christian song on Facebook.
But for Christians in some parts of the world, it is a much different scenario.
I attended a conference last weekend for Voice of the Martyrs. The speakers included a missionary from Colombia who has become friends with guerrilla leaders, the wife and daughter of Iranian martyr Haik Hovsepian, a staff member who meets with and provides resources to people willing to risk everything in an effort to spread the gospel to their people, and a man from China who, for a time, did his mission work by night and taught English to members of the Communist party by day.
One of the speakers said that when we are faced with persecution, it is impossible to be lukewarm Christians. In any of the countries we heard stories from, it is impossible for people to be on the fence. They must either proclaim the cross or deny it when faced with persecution; there is no middle ground.
They need to make a choice, every day, between their faith and their security.
While we are fortunate not to be forced to make that choice, it should challenge us. The work done in countries lacking freedom of religion needs to be carried out carefully in order to continue. But here, we are free to talk about what we believe whenever and with whomever we want. Does that mean we can only talk about the Bible or spiritual topics and never anything else? Of course not. But it does mean that when an opportunity presents itself, we should embrace it.
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)
And of course, we always have prayer available. As much as we may wish it, it is not always possible to be right there, physically providing aid to our persecuted brothers and sisters. But we can always lift them up in our prayers, asking the Lord to continue giving them courage and perseverance in the midst of their battles. That is the challenge I am going to leave you with today. It may not seem like much, but it is one of our most powerful weapons.
Below is a powerful song by Gilbert Hovsepian, one of the sons of Haik Hovsepian (the Iranian martyr mentioned above). It also contains interviews about the inspiration for the song – and I highly recommend watching the entire video.
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