When I think about persecution, I think of my fellow brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria who are losing their lives for believing in God. I think about the Chinese believers who are restricted in what they are allowed to do, and how pastors are sent to jail for no reason.
All I have to do is look in my inbox to see one of the weekly updates I receive from Open Doors or the Voice of the Martyrs to realize that persecution is happening everywhere. I think about those men and women around the world who daily have to face life and death and I think "no, persecution in the west, never, it can't happen here. Can it? But wait we have freedom of religion!! Right?"
Can it?
The Duggars from the hit TLC show 19 kids and counting and the Crew from Duck Dynasty will be the first to tell you that persecution is alive and well. Both of these shows have had petitions started by people who want to see them shut down because they took a stance for their Biblical beliefs.
The Cost for taking a stand
There are costs for taking a stand for what is holy and right. The Bible warns us that it will bring persecution. We may lose our job, loved ones, friends and families, houses, jail etc.
Donald Knapp and his wife are another couple who are taking a firm stance for Christ. The Knapps own a for-profit chapel in Idaho and are Christian Ministers. They are not a church, but rather Christians that run a business. Their business is to marry couples in their little chapel. When couples come to get married they are given scriptures and sermons to take home and listen to even if they aren't believers.
Overnight their lives were changed as same-sex marriages were legalized in Idaho. A same sex couple approached them to be married in their chapel. The Knapps declined to marry them as it goes against their beliefs as Christians and as ministers.
The same sex couple decided to file a complaint against this chapel saying they were discriminated against by not being able to get married there. The Knapps now face jail of 6 months and fines of up to $1000/day for everyday they don't agree to marry the couple.
This couple faces a serve punishment for following their convictions. They have chosen that their whole lives are to reflect Christ and they can't just for the sake of it being easier give in to pressure. The Knapps did not give in to pressure, they were willing to go to jail rather than abandon their convictions. The ruling was eventually overturned.
Scary Times ahead
As Christians we need to be aware that little by little our rights to freedom of religion are being taken away. Just today I received word that my state government is trying to pass a law that will affect my parental authority as a believer being able to exempt my children from certain topics in the school curriculum that I do not believe in. We are going to see our rights as believers taken away since what we believe in goes against what society accepts as the norm. And let's be honest, the mob, sorry I mean society rules what is acceptable.
As a parent I am sacred about what persecution looks like in my world because if I am honest with myself I like my comfortable life. I like being able to say I am a Christian and go to church without repercussion. I like being able to have a worship service anywhere, or posting what I want on Facebook about Jesus. But as I look around me the days for that may be numbered.
I just hope and pray that when the persecution comes I will gather my strength from the Lord and that I will never deny Him. That at the end of my life (hopefully when I am an old great grand mum, the Lord will welcome me into His arms saying "well done good and faithful servant, well done!"
How do we respond to persecution?
If we do not live our Christianity to the fullest outside the church walls the world will never see the power of God. They will only see hypocritical and Sunday Christians. People who say one thing but in the face of persecution and trials fall away and deny Jesus just like Peter did. We are not to give in to the ways of the world no matter what the cost is.
Our response is to love God and love our neighbours as ourselves, no matter who our neighbours are or what they are doing. The world needs people to love and forgive them, to pray for them, to extend them grace and compassion even when they don't reciprocate it back.
We are also called to take a stand for our beliefs and there may be a time soon when more people are going to have to publically stand for Jesus even if that means losing everything.
Jesus told us that they world will hate us. We have been living in a bubble in the West, but like all bubbles, they pop and we are about to truly taste what it means to live for Christ.
'Stand firm brothers!'
Genevieve Wilson is a happily married stay at home, home-schooling mum of 3, whose passion is to see people come to know Jesus. She worked 8 years as a missionary with Youth with a Mission(YWAM). She has a heart for justice and to see the abolition of the modern day slave trade.
Genevieve Wilson's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/genevieve-wilson.html