REMEMBER THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED

1 Thessalonians 5:17:  …pray without ceasing,…

Hebrews 13:3:  Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-2:  Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.

NOTE: This blog was first written in August 2021 and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was just unfolding.

We are to always be in readiness to pray, and to pray regularly. This includes for the persecuted church. The word persecute in the context of hostility to the Christian faith means basically to chase away, harass, hunt down, or mistreat a person based on his or her Christian beliefs. Even in America, where for a long time we have enjoyed freedom of worship, there is growing hostility toward Christianity and Christians unless they compromise with the world’s standards of right and wrong. As our society’s moral fiber continues to degenerate, more serious and even dangerous persecution looms on the horizon for us in this country. In other countries, it is already here and has even been active for a long time.

In a lot of other places on this earth, Christians experience serious persecution: Loss of employment, health benefits, family, freedom, property, even their lives. They are regularly beaten, robbed, raped, enslaved, or tortured; their homes, businesses, and places of worship vandalized or destroyed. A number of them have to worship in secret to avoid arrest, even then running the risk of their groups being infiltrated and turned in by informants. When captured, sooner or later they are forced to either renounce their faith or suffer various consequences, none of them pleasant. Surveillance is on the rise, particularly in China, where believers have to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid being detected and watched. The list goes on and on. Those who think it will never happen in America are naïve in the extreme. Meanwhile, what can we as Christians do?

We must remember the persecuted and pray for them. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ just as much as those who go to church with us are! Recently I watched a video online where a carefully electronically disguised Christian in Afghanistan was asking for prayer and for the Christians left there as the Taliban terrorists take over the country to be prayed for and remembered. The courage in his voice was inspiring, but the pain was overwhelming. No one with any degree of feeling could watch this video and not be deeply moved. The unspoken plea, the sense of quiet desperation and heartache in his voice, was almost palpable.

Seldom has any video gotten to me like this one! This is not some make-believe “what if” scenario; this is for real! Real people are undergoing real suffering in real time. The man who made this video may well be dead by now, he and his family. We cannot—we must not—forget these Afghan Christians, nor any other believers anywhere who are being persecuted for the faith. By the grace of God this is not us. One of these days it very likely will be us.

What are we going to do then? What happens when totalitarian darkness descends like an iron fist upon us? When churches are shuttered and burned, Bibles are confiscated, and us Christians right here in America are hauled off to prison camps or murdered in the streets? When the damage from soft-peddled “Churchianity” is exposed and superficial believers apostatize to avoid persecution? Where will our cutesy Christian platitudes be then? We will be wanting and needing prayer more desperately than ever before! Our time for this has not arrived yet, but for others it has. Their safety is gone, their security in this world a memory in the cruel present as they undergo all manner of horrific sufferings at the hands of the unreasonable and wicked, those who do not have faith. Remember them. Pray for them. Give materially if you are able to organizations who strive to help our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:17:  …pray without ceasing,…