Christianity Today recently reported on the world’s most dangerous countries for Christians. According to the report, “Every day, 13 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith…, 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked…, 12 Christians are unjustly arrested or imprisoned, and another 5 are abducted.” 1 That’s every day.
Open Door, who created the report, states, “Around the world, more than 340 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution, just for following Jesus. That’s 1 in 8 believers, worldwide.” 2
But, as the report points out, the amazing thing about these numbers is how many people continue to follow Jesus and be a part of the Christian faith even when that choice can easily lead to imprisonment, attacks, and death. The big question here is not why they do it. The question for us is, could we do the same?
Over the past year, much has been said about persecution in the United States. Christians fear they may lose the freedom to worship as they please, to conduct their businesses according to their religious morals, and to speak out on divisive social issues. They fear living in a nation where Christians are marginalized and where we may soon be persecuted like our brothers and sisters around the world. But should we be afraid?
Here are three things Christians in America seem to fear that we shouldn’t:
Death
Most Christians would agree that we do not need to fear death. The Bible is full of assurances of life after death, and that life for believers will be so much better than what we experience in our mortal bodies. We must all die sometime (unless the Lord returns soon), so facing death should not be terribly difficult for Christians.
And yet, for many it is terribly difficult.
It’s natural to not want to leave our families or be taken away before we’ve finished what we see as our life’s work. But if we truly trust God and his promises, we have to believe that his timing is best. What we must decide is do we truly trust God and his promises? Can you say with the apostle Paul, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)? Can you say as Jesus did, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46)?
Loss
Moving from mortality to immortality shouldn’t frighten us. But while we live on this earth in a mortal body, it’s natural to want a comfortable life. Nobody wants pain, poverty, or persecution. No one wants to lose their comforts, their freedom, or their rights.
And yet, letting go of the things of the world is exactly what Jesus tells us to do. Instead of caring only for ourselves, Jesus tells us to serve others (Matthew 20:26). Instead of worrying about what we have, Jesus says to seek God and his kingdom (Matthew 6:25-33). Instead of holding onto our possessions here on earth, Jesus encourages us to build up our treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
Jesus commended those who left their homes and families to follow him (Luke 18:28-30). He warned his followers they would face persecution and loss because of their witness (Matthew 10:17-22). But he also said he would reward those who remained faithful in spite of it all (Matthew 5:12, 10:39, 42).
The End Times
I think many Christians are trying to trust God with their lives and with all they have. And yet so many still appear fearful. They fear having liberals in control of the government. They fear censorship of their speech. They fear living in a world that embraces evil more and more. They seem to fear most of all that the End Times are approaching.
Jesus spoke of a “great tribulation” during which the world would suffer through such a terrible time that no one could survive if the tribulation was not cut short (Matthew 24:3-28). But Jesus began his description of this time by calling them “birth pains” (Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8). It’s a strange description, but one that should give us hope.
Jesus spoke of labor pains again when he was preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21). In the verse before this, he said, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20).
As the mother of two children, I can attest that birth pains are nothing to look forward to. Yet birth pains at the right time are a herald of a wonderful event about to take place—the birth of a baby! No woman who is thinking clearly would try to stop her contractions when the time has come to give birth, no matter how painful and frightening those contractions might be.
In the same way, Jesus was warning his followers they would go through a painful and frightening time, but it was okay. The terrible “end times” were simply a means to deliver God’s promise of a millennial kingdom and eventually a new heaven and new earth. A mother doesn’t get to choose the time when her child will be ready to come into the world, and we don’t get to choose the time God will be ready to change our world into something infinitely better.
