There seems to be a “lack of persecution” element at work in the North American Church. Historically, when the church is persecuted it grows the most and currently we know that fewer and fewer people in North America are finding church a worthwhile cause. When the best examples of persecution we can muster involve things like the approval of gay marriage, naughty words in the movies, and taking the morning prayer out of our public schools, I think it is safe to say that from an historical perspective we are not persecuted at all. If I may digress for just a moment… the problem is not that we CAN’T pray in public, its that we DON’T pray in private.
Is this lack of substantial persecution a bad thing? In some ways, yes, I believe it is. Much like our personal faith, if our corporate faith is never adequately challenged, it becomes lazy and loses its agility. Here is where the difficulty arises. The Americas were established on Christian principles so it is no wonder that we are not persecuted very much since, however bad you think society is and how quickly it is crumbling, the foundations of our society are still firmly planted in the Judeo Christian tradition. You could sort of see it coming really: we set up our countries to be free of persecution knowing full well that persecution is what purifies faith.
Matthew 5:10 says “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” For us to partake in the blessings promised in this verse, where we live, we need to set the bar pretty low when defining persecution. In John 15:20 we read
“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” It has been reasoned by some that since we are not persecuted, we are not truly followers of Christ (and its not just the JW’s either). Others reason that we must generate persecution as proof of our membership in the true body of Christ. This becomes a tricky task when you live in a country founded on the very same principles for which Christians were once persecuted and even put to death.
“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” It has been reasoned by some that since we are not persecuted, we are not truly followers of Christ (and its not just the JW’s either). Others reason that we must generate persecution as proof of our membership in the true body of Christ. This becomes a tricky task when you live in a country founded on the very same principles for which Christians were once persecuted and even put to death.
To live in a country where it is rare to be truly persecuted and impossible to be martyred seems to be a disappointment to some. As a body and as an organization, the Church was still in its infancy during the time in history which the New Testament describes. Judging by the claims of most conservative Protestant sects then, what they are trying to emulate is infancy. They foster a sort of perpetual immaturity that they then claim is representative of a childlike faith. The Church was something new and contrary in those times; there were no nations based on Christian belief like ours is, even though we as a nation seem to want to destroy that foundation. So are we now to seek persecution rather than enjoy the liberty and freedom we have gained to share the good news?
We spend far more time complaining about what we are not allowed to say in the public square than we spend saying what we can.
