Guest Commentary by Rev. Dr. Wilfred A. Bellamy
We are not being alarmist, or conspiracy theoreticians, when we look at the tapestry of history, spread over time, and recognize again the signs of coming persecution for the Church of Jesus Christ. Because the persecution itself is not already upon us we may decide not to consider it, or reckon with it, but that doesn't mean that the tide of persecution is not gradually advancing. By ignoring the evidence there is a strong possibility that we will find ourselves unready and ill-prepared if persecution does come our way.
Persecution
has historically worn a number of garments. It has appeared in the form
of a required religious conformity, or in the persuasions of a
political system that denied non-conformity. There have been times when
economic stringency made being a Christian a daily struggle, to care for
home and family, and to suffer discrimination. Many are the countries
in which the sound of marching boots on a hard surface have been the
precursor to suffering and imprisonment as the people of God have been
called upon to stand firm in the truths they hold dear. The Church has
had its martyrs throughout the ages and in several countries is having
them even as we write.
The
signs of a suffering Church are all around us. The News is replete with
stories of myriad locations in which Christians are paying the ultimate
price for their faith, while one type of marauder or another decimates
their homes, or villages, and bombs their cities. This is not
imagination. There is no fiction in the narrative. This is true. There
are more Christians being persecuted for their faith, with the approval
of the law, today, than ever occurred previously in the history of the
world.
So
why should we expect not to be included? Are we religiously protected?
Do we imagine that the culture of tolerance and diversity that pervades
American society will somehow protect us? Or can we anticipate that our
own failure to be tolerant could lead to our persecution? Are we
politically protected? A government of the people, and by the people,
and for the people, must surely serve as a guardian to the freedoms of
the people. Yet already our democratic neighbor to the North has
discovered that a preaching Pastor will be prosecuted, under the law, if
he broaches certain unapproved topics in his sermon. While further
afield the defense of the Christian faith is interpreted as an offense
to an alternate religion and that is not acceptable.
The
soft under-belly of the Church is economic. She is seriously vulnerable
where giving to the Church is tied to a tax benefit, and the local
church itself is tax exempt, and Ministers of Religion have other
certain tax advantages. Do we hope or imagine that this situation can
continue unhindered for generations to come? Recent American history
would deny that possibility. Already close scrutiny is being given to
the economics of Christian organizations, and that will doubtless
continue until a workable resolution is found ... one that can be
implemented without too much of a national outcry. The squeeze to the
family in the pew and to the organized church, will produce widespread
economic hardship, forcing smaller congregations to close their doors.
This
writer recalls a conversation with a Nigerian Pastor, some fifty years
ago, in which the gentleman was startlingly prophetic when he stated
that he believed that the primary task of a Minister in his country was
to prepare the Church for persecution. This has been proven true in West
Africa and is also true in many other countries of the world. Will it
prove true in America? The signs are all around us. We must learn from
history. We who stand week by week before the people of God who listens
faithfully to our prepared messages from the Lord, must begin now, if we
have not already done so, to prepare our people for persecution. We
must so ground them in the truths of the Word of God, that by His grace,
and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, when they are called upon to
stand, they will do so with indomitable courage and fortitude for Christ
and His Gospel.
--Wilfred A. Bellamy, Ph.D. is the preaching supply pastor of Thomson Presbyterian Church in Thomson GA, an ordained minister, a former missionary to Nigeria, and the former Coordinator of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
