As American society transitions to being a post-Christian culture, it is inevitable that Christians will experience increasing levels of persecution. America has never been a Christian nation. However, as American values drift even further away from Christian values, and as explicit rejection of Christian faith increases, the fact that America is not a Christian nation will become more and more clear. As Christian values become increasingly out of sync with the values of the dominant culture, Christians will increasingly be faced with the choice of acting against their conscience or suffering negative consequences at the hands of American society and government.
Although the level of persecution experienced by the American church is quite trivial compared to what many Christians around the world experience, there have already been many cases of American Christians being persecuted and having their first amendment rights blatantly violated. This has caused fear and outrage among many Christians, and led them to throw their support behind whatever political party or candidate they believe will preserve their religious freedoms. There is, of course, value in trying to preserve the constitutional right to freedom of religion. But there is a problem with Christians being motivated by fear and anger, and being solely focused on self-preservation, rather than on taking risks for others. As American Christians face the prospect of increasing persecution, it is important that we step back and ask what the biblical Christian response to persecution is.
The first thing to say about the persecution of Christians is that it is normal. Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that they would be hated, persecuted, and even killed for His sake (Matt 5:10-12, 44, 10:23, 24:9-10; Mark 13:13; Luke 6:22, 21:12-17; John 15:18-25, 17:14). The New Testament epistles reinforce this theme, teaching that Christians are destined to be persecuted and hated by the world (1 Thess 3:1-4, 1 John 3:13) and that suffering for the sake of Jesus is a normal part of the Christian life (Phil 1:29; 2 Tim 1:8, 2:3; Heb 10:32-39, 13:11-14; James 5:10-11; 1 Pet 4:12). The apostle Paul even goes so far as to say “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). If this is the case, then we should seriously ask ourselves to what extent we American Christians, who have hitherto experienced very little persecution, have been genuinely seeking to live godly lives in Christ Jesus.
The second thing to say about the persecution of Christians is that we should not be afraid of it. After the apostles Peter and John were arrested and threatened by the Sanhedrin for preaching the gospel, their response was not to pray, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and please protect us.” Instead, it was to pray, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29). They prayed this even though they knew that that would bring even more persecution upon them. A willingness to accept persecution and suffering for the sake of being faithful to Jesus as we follow Him on the way of the cross is central to New Testament ethics. Though Christians do not desire persecution and suffering for its own sake, we should actually rejoice in such suffering (Rom 5:3; Col 1:24; 1 Pet 4:13), since it shows that we are “counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the sake of the Name” (Acts 5:41). Suffering persecution for the sake of Jesus is meaningful and redemptive, since it is a “sharing” in the sufferings of Christ (Rom 8:17; Phil 3:10; 2 Cor 1:5; 1 Pet 4:13). If we are afraid to experience a little persecution, and make avoiding it our top priority, this reveals a deep-seated spiritual immaturity and lack of theological understanding. We should not be filled with fear of persecution, but should actually respond to it with joy.
The third thing to say about the persecution of Christians is that we should not respond to it with anger. Though the world’s persecution of us is evil, we cannot judge those outside the Church (1 Cor 5:12). Those who are outside the Church are under the control of Satan’s power (I John 5:19). They are dead in their sins (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13). They are slaves to sin (Rom 6:17). They are still in need of being saved from their sin. Therefore, it makes no sense to expect them not to sin. Though they are our enemies, our Lord commands us to love our enemies (Matt 5:44). Therefore, we should not respond to their persecution with rage or hate, but with love and compassion. As we pray for them, we should aspire to St. Abba Isaac the Syrian’s description of a mature Christian: “he brings forth prayers every hour with tears for the speechless creatures, the enemies of truth, and those who do him harm, so that they might be protected and purified. . . this pity is aroused in his heart until he has likened himself in this respect to God.”[1]Abba Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies.
In sum, instead of responding to persecution with shock, fear, and anger, Christians should respond to it with acceptance, joy, and love. This is how the early Christians responded to persecution. Since they had no political power, and since there simply was no legal “right” to freedom of religion, they simply had to accept persecution at the hands of the Roman government and society as a fact of life. There were many professions in Roman society–in government, the arts, education, etc.–which were simply forbidden for Christians because no one would allow Christians to participate in them without violating their Christian conscience. Are American Christians willing to accept that this may become true for them in American society as well? Are we willing to accept being despised, persecuted, and marginalized in our society for the sake of Jesus? The answer to this question will reveal whether we really are committed to following Jesus on the way of the cross as His disciples or not.
Now, unlike the early Christians, of course, we do live under a government that has a Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion. So, even though we cannot expect non-Christians not to persecute us, we can point out that, by doing so, they are violating their own law, and ask them to treat us fairly according to their own moral and legal principles. As we love our persecutors and pray for them, we sometimes can and should ask them not to treat us unjustly. As theologian Karl Barth puts it, “Christians would be neglecting the distinctive service which they can and must render to the State, were they to adopt an attitude of unquestioning assent to the will and action of the State which is directly or indirectly aimed at the suppression of the freedom of the Word of God. For the possibility of intercession for the State stands or falls with the freedom of God’s Word. Christians would, in point of fact, become enemies of the State if, when the State threatens their freedom, they did not resist, or, if they concealed their resistance–although this resistance would be very calm and dignified.”[2]Karl Barth, Church and State.
There is room for Christians to object to government persecution, but this objecting must be done in a respectful and loving manner. And even if the government refuses to listen and continues to persecute us, this should not be of serious concern to us. For we know that persecution is the normal experience of faithful Christians, an experience in which we can rejoice.