Since the day the Church began at Pentecost, Christianity has continually been under attack. Rome had killed Israel's King, but Jesus was resurrected by God (Jn. 19:16-22; 20:1-16; Acts 2:24). Tensions between Rome and the Jews escalated until Rome finally had had enough. Up until the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Rome did persecute Christians (Acts 12:1), but it was mainly the Jews who sought to eliminate us. Saul of Tarsus, who had been in agreement with the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:1), was commissioned by the high priest to apprehend believers dead or alive (Acts 9:1-2). Following the destruction of the Jewish temple and the city, Rome, apparently believing that Christians were merely a sect of the Jews, included them in their vendetta against Israel.
During the two millenniums since its birth, the Church has spread throughout the world. Following His resurrection and just prior to His Ascension, Jesus instructed His disciples to take the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the Earth (Acts 1:8). It was the persecution of the early Church that hastened the dissemination of the Good News (Acts 8:1). Persecution achieves two positive results. It causes the people with the message to spread out, and it insures those claiming to be believers are genuine.
The First Amendment of America's Constitution protects the rights of its citizens to believe and worship as they choose. It states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...." However, there is a growing opposition to Christianity in our country. There are those who would prohibit the preaching of Jesus as the only way to eternal life (Jn. 14:6), saying that by denying the validity of other faiths, we are practicing "hate speech." These new laws will not only prevent the freedom of Pastors to preach the Gospel, Christians may soon be required to alter or destroy Bibles because they contain negative language toward those of other religions. Apparently it is okay for the Qur'an (Koran) to instruct Muslims to kill all infidels (non-believers in Islam - See Verse 9:123 - "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you."), but the Bible, which teaches Christians to love their enemies, is crossing the line.
Jesus said, "I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John 17:14). As American Christians, our culture has given us a false sense of belonging. We have been free for so long, and we have taken our freedom for granted. It has been "easy" to profess Christ, but if the things continue to deteriorate, being a Christian will be very costly. I am not looking forward to increased persecution, but it will certainly "weed out" those who are Christian in name only. And that is a good thing. How else will they realize they need to be born again? I think I would rather suffer a little persecution now, than for them to suffer eternal damnation with the rest of those who reject Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done!
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