Can Christians in the United States Be Persecuted?
Church HDR (Photo credit: I_am_Allan)
The scripture of Luke 21:5-19 is a prophecy made by Jesus Christ that predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem which occurred in 70 AD. He then warns His disciples of false prophets and that there will be wars and many difficult times before He returns. He then tells them of the coming persecution of his followers. Many people here in the United States believe that there is no persecution of the Church in this country because of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
When preaching on this subject, many mainstream pastors will focus on the verses about the wars, earthquakes, and pestilence. They will tell their congregations that these are not necessarily signs of Jesus’ return because they happen. They have always happened, so preachers will tell us not to be worried. With this style of preaching, Christians in the United States seem to have been lulled into complacency.
These preachers will glance over verses 12-19 in this passage. Today, mainstream preachers would lead us to believe that the Church in our nation is not persecuted and that we should pray for persecuted Christians in foreign lands. They say this while children are told they cannot celebrate Easter or Christmas at school. Christians in our military are threatened with disciplinary action or dishonorable discharge for sharing their faith. Christians in Michigan and other places with growing Muslim populations are being told not to pray or display evidence of their faith so that “minority” religions and atheists are not offended.
Jesus still encourages us that He, through the Holy Spirit, will give us the words to say in Truth. He also warns us that everyone we love will turn on us. Everyone will hate us. Does this include our preachers? We in the United States are not exempt from Jesus’ prophecy. We should not be complacent simply because the First Amendment of the Constitution protects us from religious persecution from the government. Our laws have been misread and miss-taught for a generation.
We must be as prepared for persecution as the Church in China and Egypt. This persecution has already begun, and it is getting worse. As in the parable of the bridesmaids, we must always be ready for Jesus’ return. We must have our hearts, minds, and souls focused on Him as we live our lives. As Jesus said in Luke 18-19 (NIV), “But not a hair of your head will parish. By standing firm you will gain life.”
Related articles
- A Christian Mission (cbrigdenblog.wordpress.com)
- 14,000 martyred for their faith each year, says Gospel for Asia (christiantoday.com)
- Book review: ‘The Global War on Christians’ (christiantoday.com)
- ‘The Persecution Of Christians Is Increasing’ (voiceofthepersecuted.wordpress.com)
- Living Dangerously: Christian Persecution Around the World (rotimachali.wordpress.com)
- Separation of Church and State v. Church as State (cbrigdenblog.wordpress.com)
6 responses to “Can Christians in the United States Be Persecuted?”
Trackbacks / Pingbacks
- - December 12, 2013
Thoughts of a Reformed Liberal 
Great article Catherine. With all due respect to you and our brother & sisters in faith, our “persecution” here in the U.S. is largely about discomfort while overseas believers and followers are being persecuted horrifically. Having said that, there IS a clear bias in the media against Christians. It is more vogue to decry and laugh at the “fundamentalists” who believe. Our children are persecuted even here in Texas, a VERY conservative state. We celebrate the winter “holiday” but not Christmas. The Jewish children observe their Hanukkah, but in the auspices of being “tolerant” we are forced to tolerate everyone else and placing Christ in the shadows.
One friend who recently moved here from California commented on how un-PC her husband’s company (Fed Ex) was for a Christmas party they celebrated last year with. There apparently was a large number of Indian and even some muslims in the crowd. She felt that was “intolerant” on the Christians’ part. Huh?
It was TOLERANT on the non-believer’s part to permit their co-workers to exercise their religious beliefs and not be offended by it. It is TOLERANT of the Christians to likewise, respect Ramadan or whatever other religious holidays their colleagues observe.
Long story short, it seems to me, it isn’t so much a belief problem as it is an basic understanding of what words mean. We are profoundly and astonishingly ignorant of our own language.
Excellent commentary! Unfortunately many pastors in the West are fearful of losing their ‘numbers’ by boldly speaking the truth of God’s word.
During interviews with pastors starting with the question, “How often do you speak about persecution and pray with your church for the persecuted?” Too often their answer is, “Not enough” and “You can only tell Christians in the west so much before they want to run for the hills.”
It is a disservice to their congregations and one day, they will be held accountable. Grateful for the many pastors who are seeing the pending storm on the horizon and alerting sleeping Christians, waking them up!
That is disappointing. We can learn much about faith and trust in our Lord when we are concerned and care for those now in extreme persecution. I also believe this makes us more in tune and aware of the subtle ways it is creeping into our society.
Thank you for being a VOICE and raising awareness of global persecution and what may be in store for us in the near future. Continue to do so. If we don’t take a stand to uphold our religious rights, we will lose them. Silence is consent!
May our Lord bless and guide your path, always!
Thank you for your comments. Gerald, the discomfort that we are feeling can turn into full fledged painful persecution at the drop of a hat. Look at what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Slowly but surely our state is becoming the national religion rather than True faith.
The examples I listed are only scratching the surface. Look at Hobby Lobby and Catholic Charities having to fight the government against the mandates from Obamacare that would cause these companies and organizations to violate their deep rooted Christian faith.
I pray that we may remain strong and be able to stand up against the tyranny that is being waged by this regime.
Good commentary, Catherine. I am in complete agreement with you that we in this country cannot think genuine persecution, far beyond some sort of inconvenience or aggravation, is a real potential. In the 70s, I found it difficult to convince anyone, especially “churched” people, including pastors, that any warfare would come to this country. Somehow, they seemed to think we have a magical shield around us here. To this day, that attitude seems to exist, rather than gratitude that our land was spared during two world wars. 9/11 is seen as an anomaly, never to happen again. Human beings in families, businesses, and, sadly, churches have shown themselves capable of betrayal and hatred. With the “right” incentive, be it money or intimidation, many can and will turn on their own in the event of war. Like insanity and genius, a thinner line between peace and open conflict than we would like to acknowledge exists.
Speaking of religious persecution. I have written a novella that addresses this topic. In ancient Rome Christians were not always persecuted; but overnight with a change of ruler, Christianity was declared to be illegal. My book, Agnes of Rome, addresses this subject and how it was overcome. You can follow this link to check it out at Amazon.