There are times when I lay my Bible down after reading about the suffering of Christians around the world, and one question quietly settles deep into my heart.
Would I remain faithful if I were in their place?
It is easy to answer that question while sitting in a comfortable chair, with a roof over my head, food on the table, and a Bible resting in my lap. It is much harder to answer it honestly when I think about the price so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are paying every single day.
Around the world, countless believers wake up knowing that simply calling Jesus their Lord may cost them everything.
Some gather in secret because meeting openly would bring imprisonment.
Some whisper hymns rather than sing them for fear someone might hear.
Some hide pages of Scripture because owning a Bible is considered a crime.
Some have lost their homes.
Some have lost their families.
Some have lost their freedom.
Some have given their very lives because they refused to deny the name of Jesus Christ.
As I read their stories, I cannot help but ask myself,
"Lord... would I remain faithful?"
We Have Been Greatly Blessed
Here in America, many of us have experienced blessings that countless Christians throughout history never knew.
On Sunday morning, we can drive to church without fearing armed soldiers waiting outside the doors.
We can open our Bibles publicly.
We can sing at the top of our voices.
We can invite our neighbors to worship.
Most of us have never feared that government officials would burst through the church doors during a worship service.
Most of us have never wondered whether the building where we gather would be locked from the outside and set on fire because we belong to Christ.
Most of us have never feared that our wife, husband, children, or grandchildren would be murdered simply because our family follows Jesus.
Those freedoms are tremendous blessings, and we should never take them for granted.
Yet I sometimes wonder if comfort can quietly become a greater danger than persecution.
Comfort can lull us to sleep.
Ease can make us forget how precious our faith truly is.
The Cost of Following Christ
Jesus never promised His followers an easy road.
In fact, He told us the opposite.
John 15:20 (KJV)
"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you..."
Paul wrote plainly,
2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV)
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
Those words have echoed through the centuries.
From the apostles...
To the early church...
To believers living under oppressive governments today...
The cost of following Jesus has often been very high.
Yet those faithful saints remind us that Christ is worth every sacrifice.
An Honest Confession
If I am honest, I do not know how I would respond if persecution came to my own doorstep.
In my heart, I want to say,
"Lord, I will never deny You."
I believe that.
I desire that.
But then I remember Peter.
Peter loved Jesus.
Peter sincerely believed he would never fail.
Yet when the pressure came, fear overcame his courage.
Matthew 26:33-35 (KJV) records Peter's confidence, but only a few verses later, we read of his denial.
Peter's story humbles me.
It reminds me not to place confidence in my own strength.
Instead, I must depend entirely upon the grace of God.
Why Have I Been So Blessed?
Sometimes I wonder why the Lord has allowed me to live such a blessed life.
Why have I enjoyed the freedom to preach His Word for so many years?
Why have I worshiped openly while others worship in hiding?
Why have I slept peacefully while others stayed awake listening for footsteps outside their door?
Why have I held a Bible in my hands when others possess only a single torn page of Scripture?
I do not know the answer.
God's ways are higher than mine.
Perhaps He has given me these blessings so I might use them faithfully while I have them.
Perhaps these years of peace are not merely for my comfort but for His service.
Whatever the reason, I do not want to waste the opportunities He has placed before me.
Grace for the Hour
One lesson I have learned through the years is that God does not always give tomorrow's grace today.
He gives grace when we need it.
When Stephen stood before those who would stone him, God gave him grace for that hour.
When Paul endured prison, beatings, and shipwrecks, God gave him grace for those moments.
When countless unnamed believers faced lions, prisons, torture, and execution, God met them there.
Paul testified,
2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness..."
Those words comfort my heart.
I do not have the strength within myself to endure whatever may come.
But I serve a Savior whose grace has never failed one of His children.
Pray for the Persecuted Church
It is easy to say,
"I'll pray for them."
Sometimes those words roll too quickly off our lips.
But prayer is not a small thing.
When we cannot stand beside our suffering brothers and sisters, we can faithfully carry them before the throne of God's grace.
Hebrews 13:3 (KJV) reminds us,
"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body."
Notice the words,
"as bound with them."
God calls us to enter into their suffering with compassionate hearts.
Their pain should matter to us because they are family.
If My Day Comes
I do not know what the future holds.
None of us do.
Perhaps I will finish my days quietly.
Perhaps greater trials lie ahead.
Only the Lord knows.
But this has become my prayer.
"Lord, if the day ever comes when my faith is tested by suffering or persecution, do not let me depend upon my own courage.
Give me Your strength.
Give me Your grace.
Give me a faithful heart.
Help me to stand when standing is difficult.
Help me to speak when silence would be easier.
Help me never to deny the One who never denied me.
If others have remained faithful through prison, torture, rejection, and even death because of Your sustaining grace, then I know that same grace will be sufficient for me."
Until That Day
Until that day comes—if it ever does—I will use the freedoms God has given me.
I will preach while I have a pulpit.
I will write while I have strength.
I will tell others about Jesus while my voice can still be heard.
I will pray for those who suffer today.
I will encourage fellow believers to remain steadfast.
And I will remember the promise of our Lord:
Revelation 2:10 (KJV)
"...be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
That is the desire of my heart.
Not that I would be remembered.
Not that I would be admired.
But that, by the grace of God, I would be found faithful when my race is finished.
For in the end, the greatest words any child of God could ever hear are these:
Matthew 25:21 (KJV)
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
May that be true of every one of us, whether we serve Christ in times of peace or in seasons of suffering.
